Cellular Mechanism for MDMA-induced Learning deficiencies

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Article Published: March 19, 2008

If anyone is curious in the nitty-gritty cellular mechanisms behind the impairments of learning and memory in regular MDMA users - this article suggests one. They propose that tau-phosphorylation is the culprit, the element of every cell's microtubule assembly cycle that is disruptive (as opposed to constructive). This article suggests that MDMA exerts some of its primary deleterious structural effects on dopamingergic and serotonergic terminals by means of amplified tau phosphorylation - especially in the CA2 and 3 regions of the hippocampus. This would cause the skeletons of dopaminergic neurons to collapse and die.