Comment · Fri, November 9, 2012
Research Suggests no Neurotoxicity in MDMA
Original post in this thread
PuffyCheek · 194 points
In partial response to what I've been reading in the bestof'd thread here at /drugs, I think it would be good to start a discussion about the neurotoxicity in MDMA.
I feel as if the harmful effects discussed in the thread were overblown. According to a research done by the Harvard Medical School last year in 2011, users who were asked to use MDMA under a controlled setting over a certain period of time showed no signs of cognitive impairment nor decreased mental ability.
So the question remains, why do we have so much evidence from past research studies that show otherwise? The researchers at Harvard Medical School responded by saying that past research studies lacked a proper control environment. What that means is that past research studies did not control their test group to make sure they didn't engage in unhealthy activities after ingesting MDMA (i.e. going to a rave and dancing for 8 hours straight).
No research since 2011 has proved Harvard Medical School's conclusion wrong, that MDMA is actually harmful to your brain. No other research studies that I could personally find had settings as controlled as the one conducted by HMS.
That being said, research was done…
What they were answering
iplayloom · 1 points
Is it worth the risk before we know for sure?
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
I would not suggest it with amphetamine, because I don't like how it feels. I do not think that it is exacerbating excitotoxicity though. It just makes me irritable. However, MDMA has a much lower affinity for dopamine, so you do not get this effect. Also, since piracetam is an allosteric modulator of NMDA and AMPA receptors, it may in fact help prevent excitotoxicity and tolerance build up. Since piracetam does not bind to the same binding sites, your voltage-dependent NMDA receptor antagonists (Magnesium glycinate or memantine) are still allowed to do their work protecting your ion channels. If you are taking the supplements I referenced, you will be all good. All the current evidence points to it being safe, or to it being a protectant. I do not take it because I lose some of the empathy of the experience while on it. I also do not have a tolerance, so it's unnecessary.