Ecstasy and music: an explosive cocktail

The music-intensive effects of ecstasy from one to five days passed after eating rats, according to a study published in the journal "BMC Neuroscience."

Michelangelo Iannone, Institute of Neuroscience, Italy and colleagues injected rats with low doses (3mg/kg) or high doses (6mg/kg) of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy), or in the group control saline. The rats remained in a quiet environment or were exposed to white noise, that is to say, stable frequency, such as electronic music composers often use. The sound intensity was 95 dB, the maximum allowed in Italian nightclubs.

The researchers followed the electrocortical activity in rats with electrodes placed in the skull an hour before administration of the drug, at the beginning of the music and for 5 days after the end of the music.

The results suggest that low-dose MDMA does not alter cortical activity in rats compared to saline, when consumption was not associated with a loud noise. However, the electrocortical activity in rats given a low dose and placed in a very loud environment decreases significantly, which was not observed in the control group, the authors report.

The administration of high-dose MDMA causes a reduction in brain activity, both compared to the control group compared with low dose.

This reduction is enhanced by music and persists up to 5 days after injection of the drug, say the scientists. In rats that received a high dose of MDMA without being exposed to loud noise, brain activity returned to normal one day after administration of the drug.