3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) Modulates Cortical and Limbic Brain Activity as Measured by [H215O]-PET in Healthy Humans
Abstract
[H(2)(15)O]-Positron Emission Tomography (PET) was used to examine regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) after administration of a single oral dose of the serotonin realeaser and uptake inhibitor MDMA (1.7 mg/kg) or placebo to 16 MDMA-naïve subjects. Psychological changes were assessed by psychometric rating scales. MDMA produced distributed changes in regional blood flow including increases in ventromedial frontal and occipital cortex, inferior temporal lobe and cerebellum; and decreases in the motor and somatosensory cortex, temporal lobe including left amygdala, cingulate cortex, insula and thalamus. Concomitant with these changes, subjects experienced heightened mood, increased extroversion, slight derealization and mild perceptual alterations. MDMA also produced increases in blood pressure and several side effects such as jaw clenching, lack of appetite and difficulty concentrating. These results indicate that a distributed cluster of brain areas underlie the various effects of MDMA in humans.
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MDMA may affect cerebral blood flow, which could confound BOLD signal, and this possibility cannot be ruled out.
“Further, MDMA may have actions on cerebral blood flow that affected either global or regionally-specific BOLD signal.”
From Effects of MDMA on sociability and neural response to social threat and social reward (2009) · cites this paper as Gamma et al. 2000
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References 24 · Cited by 162
- Authors
- Gamma, A.
- Affiliations
- Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Gamma, A
- ORCID
- Gamma, A
- Venue
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- Published
- 2000-10
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 388-395
- ISSN
- 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1967791661
- Cited by
- 162
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 6.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis
- Keywords
- MDMA, ecstasy, regional cerebral blood flow, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, cortical activation, limbic system, amygdala, cingulate cortex, thalamus, mood improvement, perceptual alterations, derealization, blood pressure, adverse effects
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Analysis of Variance, Blood Pressure, Brain, Cerebrovascular Circulation, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Psychometrics, Regional Blood Flow, Tomography, Emission-Computed, Serotonin Agents, N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
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