Ecstasy/MDMA

Pharmacology

MDMA acts on a range of neurotransmitter systems in the brain; serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. It acts by inhibiting their re-uptake. Components of a neuron work to remove a neurotransmitter once they have been used by the neuron, and MDMA reduces their function, so causes an increase in the levels of these neurotransmitters. The combined impact on such a variety of systems cause the various effects, and lead us to consider it somewhere in between a stimulant and psychedelic. Its stimulant properties are from the noradrenaline and dopamine systems, where the serotonin system leads to the psychedelic, slightly out-of-body and emphathogenic feelings that are experienced with this drug.