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Recent reports show that ecstasy causes brain damage. In studies, ecstasy users had a lot fewer serotonin transporters, which are necessary to absorb serotonin from the spaces between the brain cells after it has completed its job. The more you use ecstasy, the more you lose these transporters, limiting your brain's ability to regulate mood, sleeping and eating habits, thinking and behavior processes, sexual function, and sensitivity to pain.
In another study, heavy ecstasy users had memory problems that lasted for two weeks or more after they stopped using the drug. The more ecstasy they used, the harder it was for them to remember what they saw and heard during the testing. Researchers believe that ecstasy affects one's ability to reason verbally and pay attention.
Research on animals shows that ecstasy may damage the parts of the brain that control mood, thinking, and judgment. Damage to animals' brains was evident six to seven years after they stopped getting the drug.
