Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition
Published on: February 1, 2012
Functional MRI study of working memory in MDMA users
F Gerard Moeller1, Joel L Steinberg, Donald M Dougherty
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, 1300 Moursund, Houston, TX 77030, USA. frederick.g.moeller@uth.tmc.edu
Rationale:
Methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is known to cause degeneration of serotonin nerve terminals after acute doses in animals. Similarly, behavioral studies in human MDMA users regularly find abnormalities in memory, mood, and impulse control. However, studies of brain function using brain imaging in MDMA users have been less consistent.
Objectives:
The purpose of this study was to determine, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), whether individuals with a self-reported history of MDMA use would differ from non-MDMA using controls on activation while performing a working memory task.
Methods:
Fifteen MDMA using subjects and 19 non-MDMA using controls underwent fMRI scanning while performing the immediate and delayed memory task (IMT/DMT). The study was based on a block design in which the delayed memory task (DMT) alternated with the immediate memory task (IMT), which served as a control condition. FMRI scans were acquired on a 1.5 T scanner, using a gradient echo echoplanar pulse sequence.
Results:
Random effects SPM99 analysis showed significantly greater activation (whole volume corrected cluster P<0.05) during the DMT relative to the IMT in the MDMA subjects compared with the control subjects in the medial superior frontal gyrus, in the thalamus extending into putamen, and in the hippocampus.
Conclusions:
Although these effects could be due to other drugs used by MDMA users, these results are consistent with behavioral problems that are associated with MDMA use, and with animal studies on the effects of MDMA on brain function.
Insights
Individuals who use Methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) show greater brain activation in areas related to working memory compared to controls. These findings in MDMA users align with observed behavioral issues and animal study results.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use is linked to serotonin nerve terminal degeneration in animals.
- Behavioral studies in human MDMA users reveal deficits in memory, mood, and impulse control.
- Brain imaging studies in MDMA users have yielded inconsistent findings regarding brain function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in brain activation during a working memory task between individuals with a history of MDMA use and non-users.
- To utilize functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain activity patterns.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed on 15 MDMA users and 19 non-user controls.
- Participants performed an immediate memory task (IMT) and a delayed memory task (DMT) in a block design.
- fMRI scans were acquired using a 1.5 T scanner with a gradient echo echoplanar pulse sequence.
Main Results:
- MDMA users exhibited significantly greater activation in the medial superior frontal gyrus, thalamus/putamen, and hippocampus during the DMT compared to controls.
- Activation differences were analyzed using random effects SPM99.
- Statistical significance was determined by whole volume corrected cluster P<0.05.
Conclusions:
- The observed brain activation patterns in MDMA users are consistent with documented behavioral problems associated with MDMA use.
- Findings support animal studies demonstrating MDMA's effects on brain function.
- Further research is needed to differentiate effects solely attributable to MDMA from those of co-used substances.
