Journal of psychopharmacology
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J. Psychopharmacol. (Oxford) · May 2006
Memory deficits in abstinent MDMA (ecstasy) users: neuropsychological evidence of frontal dysfunction.
Chronic administration of the common club drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is associated with long-term depletion of serotonin (5-HT) and loss of 5-HT axons in the brains of rodents and non-human primates, and evidence suggests that recreational MDMA consumption may also affect the human serotonergic system. Moreover, it was consistently shown that abstinent MDMA users have memory deficits. Recently, it was supposed that these deficits are an expression of a temporal or rather hippocampal dysfunction caused by the serotonergic neurotoxicity of MDMA. ⋯ In addition, they also showed a worse recall consistency and strong retroactive interference whereby both measures were previously associated with frontal lobe function. There was a significant correlation between memory performance and the amount of MDMA taken. These results suggest that the memory deficits of MDMA users are not only the result of a temporal or hippocampal dysfunction, but also of a dysfunction of regions within the frontal cortex.
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J. Psychopharmacol. (Oxford) · May 2006
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyThe impact of atypical antipsychotic medications on long-term memory dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum disorder: a quantitative review.
This meta-analytic review examines the efficacy of antipsychotic medications in ameliorating schizophrenia-related long-term memory (LTM) impairments. Twenty-three studies were reviewed that compared schizophrenia spectrum patients treated (a) with atypical versus typical antipsychotic medications, or (b) with various atypical treatments. In 17 atypical versus typical trials aggregating 939 participants, superior overall (verbal and nonverbal) LTM was detected in patients assigned to atypical trials. ⋯ Direct comparison between atypical trials revealed a similar effect pattern. A marginally significant superiority in overall LTM was detected for risperidone and olanzapine compared to clozapine (ES 0.28; 95% CI -0.04 to 0.59), which reached significance for verbal LTM (ES 0.36; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.67). Finally, the beneficial impact of antipsychotic medications emerged as a function of differences in the anticholinergic properties of the treatment arms being compared.