Commentary on Halpern et al. (2011): strengthening the case against functionally significant serotonergic neurotoxicity in human MDMA (ecstasy) users.

摘要

Halpern and colleagues [1] have overcome some of the methodological issues raised previously [2] concerning their initial pilot study of ecstasy users [3]. Their latest study [1] found that of 15 neuropsychological tests tapping various cognitive and memory functions reported previously by others to differentiate ecstasy users from controls, only the Revised Strategy Applications Test (RSAT) showed a clear indication of poorer performance in heavy (but not moderate) ecstasy users compared to controls. Ecstasy users were selected for low exposure to other illicit drugs and alcohol, whereas in most other studies of this type the influence of potentially confounding associations between the use of ecstasy and other substances could not be ruled out entirely [4-7].