First study into the effects of MDMA on the resting brain

Researchers from UCL and Imperial College London are carrying out a neuroscience study to examine for the first time how the resting brain responds to MDMA, the pure form of the Class A drug ecstasy. The study is funded by Channel 4, and recorded footage of it will be shown on two new science programmes this autumn, ' Drugs Live: The Ecstasy Trial ', alongside a live studio debate to explore issues linked with MDMA. The research uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the effects of MDMA in healthy volunteers under laboratory conditions. Volunteers are supervised by medical staff, before undergoing an fMRI brain scan and a series of cognitive tests to examine MDMA's effects on empathy, trust and memory. In addition to providing fundamental information on how MDMA affects the resting brain, results from the study might also inform future research into whether the drug could be of use as a clinical treatment. The study has been designed by psychopharmacologists Professor Val Curran from UCL's Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology and Professor David Nutt from Imperial College London. Professor Curran said: "Ecstasy has been used as a recreational drug since it hit the rave scene in the late 1980s. In all those years, surprisingly few controlled, scientific studies have analysed its effects upon humans. "This new study looks at the effects of MDMA on an individual's brain and behaviour. How does it affect empathy - our ability to put ourselves in someone else's shoes?