Your Brain On MDMA — Transcript

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1. 0:00With an estimated 2 million pills being smuggled into the US every day and ⅓ of students
2. 0:05at universities like Stanford saying they have tried it, MDMA or ‘Molly” has become
3. 0:09a popular drug of choice. But what exactly is it, and how does it affect your body?
4. 0:15Scientifically known 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine, MDMA is usually taken in pill form and supposed
5. 0:22to be composed of the pure chemical. Ecstasy, on the other hand, is the term for MDMA which
6. 0:27has been chemically altered with other additives like amphetamine or caffeine.
7. 0:30In it’s pure form, MDMA affects the neurotransmitters in your brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals
8. 0:35in your body which relay messages, while also controlling things such as reflexes, emotion
9. 0:40and memory. In particular, the neurotransmitter called serotonin controls appetite, sleep,
10. 0:44memory, learning and in this case, mood. When something really great happens in your life
11. 0:48- say you fall in love - there is an increase in the release of serotonin from nerve cells,
12. 0:53which ultimately stimulates your body and makes you feel happy. And it just so happens
13. 0:57that when you take effective amounts of MDMA, these same cells are triggered to release
14. 1:01enormous amounts of serotonin, along with other neurotransmitters like dopamine and
15. 1:05norepinephrine, which trigger even more electrochemical firing in the brain. This change creates the
16. 1:10intense experience of happiness, feeling social, increased empathy and the inability to sleep,
17. 1:16which is likely why it is such a popular party drug.
18. 1:18These feelings generally lasts around 3-8 hours, as your brain cells naturally work
19. 1:22to reuptake the serotonin and have it chemically destroyed. But because MDMA releases so much
20. 1:28serotonin, your body also destroys more than usual. This means when your brain function
21. 1:32is back in its ‘normal state’ there is less serotonin available to bind to your receptors
22. 1:37and make you feel good with normal events. This can also lead to a fairly severe hangover
23. 1:42with side effects such as negative mood, spouts of depression, irritability and feeling extra
24. 1:46tired.
25. 1:47Despite the negative effects, MDMA is being studied as a potential therapy for posttraumatic
26. 1:52stress disorder and anxiety. PTSD patients generally have a decrease in brain communication
27. 1:57between the amygdala and the hippocampus, but MRI analysis has show that MDMA actually
28. 2:02increases communication in these regions. However, this treatment remains fairly controversial
29. 2:07as studies on rats and monkeys have shown that even small amounts of MDMA can not only
30. 2:11destroy the endings of brain cells involved in the release of serotonin, but potentially
31. 2:15cause permanent brain damage.
32. 2:17If you haven’t already seen it, we have a new video on The Science of Taste where
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