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[09 Sep 2009|02:24am] |
http://www.maps.org/publications/2001_zakzanis_1.pdf
Katelyn Fugate
Human Drug Abuse
September 9, 2009
MDMA is a stimulant, often referred to as ecstasy. Ecstasy produces effects in the body such as increased tactile sensitivity, impaired memory and learning, and liver toxicity. The article I chose is entitled, “Memory impairment in abstinent MDMA users: a longitudinal investigation.”
The study discussed in the article stems from the idea that ecstasy decreases the activity of serotonin in the brain for an extended period of time after usage. Serotonin has been proven to be related to learning and memory. Because of this, it is hypothesized that those who use MDMA may be at risk for a great deal of long-term neurotoxin effects. The hippocampus may be particularly affected. Since the hippocampus is the area of the brain responsible for formulating new memories and learning, it is reasonable to hypothesize that MDMA users may have lasting impairments to their memory.
The study discussed in the article is performed over a period of one year. The purpose of the study is to validate or invalidate the idea that MDMA deteriorates memory and learning over time.
The study utilizes 15 MDMA users as participants. Participants were required to pass a drug test. Participants were eliminated due to factors such as dyslexia, pregnancy, eating disorders, and migraines. Most participants reported unusual sleeping patterns, which is common for MDMA users. Since sleep deprivation affects cognitive performance, participants were asked to sleep 7-9 hours for 7 nights. Participants also abstained from drug use for two weeks.
Participants completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III Vocabulary and Block Design subtests and the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test. The study utilized the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test to analyze “immediate and delayed recall.” Participants were then shown portraits and asked to remember the first and second names of the individuals pictured. Participants were then asked to recall those names immediately and after a short delay. Next, a belonging of the participant is commandeered during the study and placed somewhere within the room. The participant is told to ask for the object before leaving. An alarm is also set for 20 minutes in the future. The participant is asked to ask a specific question when the alarm goes off. Next, ten drawn objects are shown to the participant. The participant is asked to name those objects. After a delay, the participant is asked to select the previously viewed items from a group of 20.
The participant is presented with a story, verbally. The participant is asked to recall as much of the story as he/she can immediately and after a delay. The participant is also presented with five faces. A delay occurs and the participant is asked to choose the original five from a set of ten. Finally, the experimenter produces a route comprised of five parts in the room. Immediately, the participant is asked to re-draw the route.
The study found that continued usage of MDMA is in fact associated with a decrease in several aspects of memory. Retrospective memory appeared to be particularly affected. Some tasks did not decline with continued MDMA use. These included remembering to ask the experimenter a specific question after an alarm, remembering to deliver a message, and remembering to ask for the return of a belonging.
One year passed before subjects were tested again. After one year, test scores either decreased or remained static. Large declines in scores on the RBMT were found.
The study fully supported the idea that continued MDMA use is likely to negatively affect the ability to recall first and second names. It is also likely to affect the immediate ability to recall a route.
As with all correlational studies, more research is generally needed before drawing conclusions. It also must be noted that it is difficult to draw conclusions when working with polypro users. Prior studies have shown that drug users who had taken ecstasy amongst other drugs expressed impairments in memory. However, there has been no study comparing drug users who have not taken ecstasy to recreational drug users. Therefore, the possibility remains that the impairments in memory could be related to other drug use. Another concern was the self-report of drug consumption by participants. It is clearly heavily unreliable.
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[02 Aug 2009|02:07pm] |
so scuds had 4 kittens yesterday, but i woke up this morning and there were 6!
( kitty pix )
i have 11 cats now. i think i have far surpassed the prereqs for crazy cat lady.
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[15 Jun 2009|02:29am] |
www.latfh.com
(Look at this fucking hipster.com)
most hilarious thing i've seen in a long time.
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| a talk with george |
[21 Apr 2009|12:04pm] |
First of all hang out a lot with Hemmingway
Spend some time fighting bulls in Spain
You should go three rounds with Archie Moore and Sugar Ray
It’s so damned scary you won’t mind the pain
Be ringside at the rumble in the jungle
Make friends with Hunter S. and Jackie O.
And when they shoot poor Bobby down, you wrestle Sirhan to the ground
Love your friends and miss them when they go
You should write a book or two and start a magazine
Even if it never makes a dime
You should swing out by your feet above the circus ring
At the very least throw parties all the time
Time and tide will never care
Not so far from here to there
We just go
Enjoy yourself, do the things that matter
Cause there isn’t time and space to do it all
Love the things you try, drink a cocktail wear a tie
Show a little grace if you should fall
Don’t live another day unless you make it count
There’s someone else that you’re supposed to be
There’s something deep inside of you that still wants out
And shame on you if you don’t set it free.
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[10 Oct 2008|03:54pm] |
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Of everything I've lost and forgotten about, I miss faith most.
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[30 Apr 2008|01:15am] |
i'm happy for the first time in awhile. even though the summer has disappeared and i'm too stubborn to revert back to sweaters for these two days of blackberry or dogwood or redbud winter. my mom asks me if i'm wearing socks on the phone and i wiggle my toes and say yes. my feet have never liked wearing socks. i've been skipping classes and burning gas and being too rowdy for my own good. i stayed up late last night listening to boys play banjo and guitar and hand drums. i don't know if i'm confused or what. maybe my head's still a little dizzy from spinning into that wall the other night. you never can tell. but i'm not weary and i'm not scared. my arms are pretty open and my heart's thumping, even though my voice usually can't find a place in the air to settle when you're around. what am i doing? i'm not feeling meek.
and i feel like going out of the way and dropping my friends off at the door in the pouring rain even if i have to park the car two miles away and telling an enraged man in kfc who's yelling at his tiny little kids and jerking them by their arms to go fuck himself and giving the mexican man named salzar that my church adopted money even though i know he's going to spend it on drugs and i'm okay with that if drugs make him happy.
because i just want everyone to be happy.
you were talking about how people always pride themselves in not doing things. not drinking and not cheating on their wives and not smoking pot and not cursing. and people don't DO anything.
world, you are the null hypothesis.
i made my own page of postsecrets.
i'm curious about what every day will bring.
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[28 Dec 2007|11:49pm] |
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you are what you lvoe
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[05 May 2007|03:48pm] |
HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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[05 Mar 2007|12:36pm] |
I'm bored, in the KVHS lab, and here are some things I found saved on the U Drive.
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| ATTENTION |
[27 Feb 2007|02:21pm] |
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 chipper |
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music |
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brooklyn - neva dinova |
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If anyone wants to play baseball when it gets a little warmer, please message me.
I like baseball
I don't have a bat or a ball or a glove so please bring that.
Thanks
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[03 Feb 2007|01:49pm] |
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I had the craziest dreams last night.
Dream 1.) I had this little girl and I lived in this really tall house with her and this man is trying to kill her. So he climbs up to the top of our house and says he's going to kill me unless I leave. I jump out of a window in the house and she's all, "You can't just leave me :(" but I do anyway. She looks JUST LIKE ME, too. Just shorter. So I leave her and go down into our yard and there are a ton of people down there, watching, in lawn chairs. And he hides up in the house somewhere and starts sniping us. There's one girl down in the yard and he points at her and says that he can't kill her because she has the information that he needs, so I had behind this girl the entire time. Some people start trying to run away, but turns out we're located on the edge of a cliff. So it's either jump or get sniped. The girl I'm hiding behind keeps slouching down in her chair and making me visible so I keep telling her to stop slouching and she won't and I get really pissed off and I can't remember much else. I think I was getting ready to escape at the end of the dream.
Dream 2.) I go to Alaska. But it's not really Alaska. There are three small areas. Two of their names were "The black woods" and "Black Heights." Yeah, what the hell, why is Dream Me so gay. But anyway, I go all kinds of places.. mostly stores.. and they're all really really outdated because I guess in this Alaska such a small number of people buy things, they never restock. There's a Gadzooks in this little shopping area in Black Heights and it sells like granny dresses and big bulky suits. It was odd.. And every person that I tried to interact with was creepy as hell.
Dream 3.) Ashley was in some kind of talent contest and I was her "prop." I was supposed to pick her up and make it look like she was flying and all this crazy stuff. So we're in this tiny, dark room with these judges and some random people from school and all of the contestants are introducing themselves by "flying in" and saying their names. I remember Tosha was in it, too, and all of the contestants were supposed to have a crown and she made hers out of a toilet paper roll and she was crying. Then they served cake for the judges but I didn't know it was for the judges and I took a bite and Justin Howell starts yelling "KATIE JUST TOOK A BITE OF THE JUDGES' CAKE!!" so I run out the door. And I go into this gymnasium area where I see Krysta Combs...... who hands me her iPod and says, "Here. This is my boyfriend singing a song he wrote for me." So I listen and all I can think for the rest of the dream is "Wow, if someone wrote this song for me I would stay with them forever" and it wasn't until the second that I woke up that I realized it was Gwen Stefani singing "Don't Speak."
..So weird. I had the longest night ever.
I just took a shower.
And uh.. that's really all I had to say.
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[21 Jan 2007|10:24pm] |
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excited |
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I WANT TO BE AN EDITOR.
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[25 Dec 2006|12:40am] |
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music |
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walking in a winter wonderland - tony bennett |
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I luv luv luv you guys.
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[30 Aug 2006|12:05pm] |
I don't get how Hemingway can say that "Hills Like White Elephants" is not about abortion.
Any other interpretations?
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[25 Jul 2006|04:18pm] |
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If any of you know any GSP alumni, send me their email addresses. I want an iPod.
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[24 Dec 2005|02:40am] |
Happy Christmas Eve.
:)
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[20 Jul 2005|07:52pm] |
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bad religion |
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So these two atoms bump into one another on the street and one atom says, "OH NO! I LOST AN ELECTRON!"
The other atom is like, "Are you sure?"
And the first atom is like, "I'm positive!"
Ahahhaaha
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[16 Jul 2005|09:14pm] |
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mood |
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happy |
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music |
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audrey hepburn in pill form : the stiletto formal |
] |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
:)
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[13 Jul 2005|08:10pm] |
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mood |
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impressed |
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music |
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do you realize : flaming lips |
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Woah.
My dad has kissed Daisy Duke.
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