Evidence of Neurotoxicity of Ecstasy: Sustained Effects on Electroencephalographic Activity in Polydrug Users

According to previous EEG reports of indicative disturbances in Alpha and Beta activities, a systematic search for distinct EEG abnormalities in a broader population of Ecstasy users may especially corroborate the presumed specific neurotoxicity of Ecstasy in humans.105 poly-drug consumers with former Ecstasy use and 41 persons with comparable drug history without Ecstasy use, and 11 drug naives were investigated for EEG features. Conventional EEG derivations of 19 electrodes according to the 10-20-system were conducted. Besides standard EEG bands, quantitative EEG analyses of 1-Hz-subdivided power ranges of Alpha, Theta and Beta bands have been considered.Ecstasy users with medium and high cumulative Ecstasy doses revealed an increase in Theta and lower Alpha activities, significant increases in Beta activities, and a reduction of background activity. Ecstasy users with low cumulative Ecstasy doses showed a significant Alpha activity at 11 Hz. Interestingly, the spectral power of low frequencies in medium and high Ecstasy users was already significantly increased in the early phase of EEG recording. Statistical analyses suggested the main effect of Ecstasy to EEG results.Our data from a major sample of Ecstasy users support previous data revealing alterations of EEG frequency spectrum due rather to neurotoxic effects of Ecstasy on serotonergic systems in more detail. Accordingly, our data may be in line with the observation of attentional and memory impairments in Ecstasy users with moderate to high misuse. Despite the methodological problem of polydrug use also in our approach, our EEG results may be indicative of the neuropathophysiological background of the reported memory and attentional deficits in Ecstasy abusers. Overall, our findings may suggest the usefulness of EEG in diagnostic approaches in assessing neurotoxic sequela of this common drug abuse

Introduction into the Role of the Cerebellum in Emotion

The cerebellum is well known for its contribution to motor performance, but less for its involvement to cognitive and affective processing. The growing interest of clinical and neuroscientific research has resulted in a fascinating focus on the cerebellar mechanisms of emotion. Advances in functional neuroimaging and noninvasive stimulation protocols have successively delineated circumscribed cerebellar areas with its functional and topographic connections to the conventionally predominating cerebral cortex in basic as well as high order emotion processing. This encompasses all information processing stages which include perception and attention, and the evaluation and integration of emotion cues to the trajectories in motor, cognitive, and affective behavior. Not surprisingly, research has identified the cerebellum being part of the brain's network associated with art, morality, and social cognition. This book will provide an overview of the details of these intriguing issues, supporting a contemporary understanding of the fundamental as well as specific features of cerebellar functions within emotion processes

Current and Future Perspectives of the Cerebellum in Affective Neuroscience

The importance of the cerebellum in basic as well as higher order domains of affect processing in the brain has been vividly elaborated and specified by the contributions collected in this book. Indeed, according to increasingly precise research findings in functional neuroimaging and functional neurophysiology, individually delineable areas of the cerebellum play a role in virtually all process levels of the responsible networks of emotion perception, attribution, and experience via a variety of reciprocal connections to the limbic system and distinct areas of the parietal, temporal, and prefrontal cortex. The works in this book identify alternative perspectives in neuroscience research that offer new directions in future investigations. Important aspects will be to pin down the precise cerebellar processes in multiple sensory integration and allocation in cognitive and affective evaluation, and also cognitive-affective as well as motor behavioral responses. In this context, imaging and electrophysiological techniques will highlight the spatial and temporal, and thus the topographic and topological, specificities of the cerebellar areas to the respective networks. In the final chapter, questions and suggestions for future neuroscientific investigations are identified, from whose developments several fields of neurological and psychological disciplines could benefit in order to open up therapeutic avenues for people with cerebellar disorders

Current and Future Perspectives of the Cerebellum in Affective Neuroscience

The importance of the cerebellum in basic as well as higher order domains of affect processing in the brain has been vividly elaborated and specified by the contributions collected in this book. Indeed, according to increasingly precise research findings in functional neuroimaging and functional neurophysiology, individually delineable areas of the cerebellum play a role in virtually all process levels of the responsible networks of emotion perception, attribution, and experience via a variety of reciprocal connections to the limbic system and distinct areas of the parietal, temporal, and prefrontal cortex. The works in this book identify alternative perspectives in neuroscience research that offer new directions in future investigations. Important aspects will be to pin down the precise cerebellar processes in multiple sensory integration and allocation in cognitive and affective evaluation, and also cognitive-affective as well as motor behavioral responses. In this context, imaging and electrophysiological techniques will highlight the spatial and temporal, and thus the topographic and topological, specificities of the cerebellar areas to the respective networks. In the final chapter, questions and suggestions for future neuroscientific investigations are identified, from whose developments several fields of neurological and psychological disciplines could benefit in order to open up therapeutic avenues for people with cerebellar disorders

Introduction into the Role of the Cerebellum in Emotion

The cerebellum is well known for its contribution to motor performance, but less for its involvement to cognitive and affective processing. The growing interest of clinical and neuroscientific research has resulted in a fascinating focus on the cerebellar mechanisms of emotion. Advances in functional neuroimaging and noninvasive stimulation protocols have successively delineated circumscribed cerebellar areas with its functional and topographic connections to the conventionally predominating cerebral cortex in basic as well as high order emotion processing. This encompasses all information processing stages which include perception and attention, and the evaluation and integration of emotion cues to the trajectories in motor, cognitive, and affective behavior. Not surprisingly, research has identified the cerebellum being part of the brain's network associated with art, morality, and social cognition. This book will provide an overview of the details of these intriguing issues, supporting a contemporary understanding of the fundamental as well as specific features of cerebellar functions within emotion processes

The Cerebellum and Disorders of Emotion

Neuropsychological and experimental brain research have provided independent lines of evidence in support of cerebellar involvement in disorders of emotion. Medial cerebellar structures and their connections to the limbic system are involved in visceral aspects and the generation of emotions, whereas the posterolateral cerebello-thalamo-cortical loops are implicated in emotion regulation and subjective sense of control. Disturbances within these cerebellar-centred circuits are proposed to underlie homeostatic dysregulation and suboptimal predictive coding that provide a transdiagnostic mechanism by which the cerebellum may contribute to the vulnerability and persistence of mental disorders

Prevalences of drug misusers and their consumptions.

<p>30-day-prevalence (30), 6-months-prevalence (6) and 12-months-prevalence (12) of drug consumption regarding differences in group and consumption order (results in percentage).</p

EEG subbands of Alpha and Theta activities in regard to drug consumption order.

<p>Histogram of spectral power by electroencephalographic frequency in 1.0 Hz steps within the Theta-band, and in 0.5 Hz steps within the Alpha-band, according to groups of polydrug-users with and without Ecstasy consumption and drug naives, in a study cohort of 146 polydrug-users and 11 drug naives as controls.</p