Ecstasy (MDMA) effects upon mood and cognition: Before, during and after a Saturday night dance.

Three groups of young people (aged 19GÇô30 yrs) were compared: 15 regular ecstasy users who had taken MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) on 10 or more occasions; 15 novice ecstasy users who had taken MDMA on fewer than 10 previous occasions; and 15 controls who had never taken MDMA. Each S completed a cognitive test and mood scale battery 4 times: an initial drug-free baseline, at a Saturday night dance/club (on-drug), then 2 days later, and 7 days later. On the Saturday night, regular ecstasy users took an average of 1.80 MDMA tablets, novice users took 1.45 MDMA tablets, while controls mostly drank alcohol. The consumption of cannabis and cocaine at the club was similar across groups. All 3 groups reported positive moods at the dance club (on-drug), although there were borderline trends for less sadness/depression in the MDMA subgroups. However 2 days afterwards, the ecstasy users felt significantly more depressed, abnormal, unsociable, unpleasant, and less good tempered, than the controls. Cognitive performance on both tasks (verbal recall, visual scanning) was significantly reduced on-MDMA. Memory recall was also significantly impaired in drug-free MDMA users, with regular ecstasy users displaying the worst memory scores at every test session. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)