Residual Effects of Ecstasy on Decision-Making & Driving

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目的总体目标是评估娱乐性MDMA（“摇头丸”）使用者可能受损的判断和决策的神经认知机制，以及这些缺陷机制与安全驾驶机动车辆所需的复杂战略和战术决策操作的关系。年轻人对摇头丸的广泛使用引起了人们的关注，特别是因为它与交通事故的风险有关。流行病学研究和个案研究表明，判断力受损和高风险是最有可能导致与摇头丸有关的交通事故的原因。研究还表明，在娱乐性摇头丸的使用、可能的血清素神经毒性、决策能力下降、冲动控制和其他执行功能机制以及对驾驶行为的潜在影响之间存在联系。这些问题似乎在摇头丸的娱乐性使用停止后仍然存在很长时间，这表明神经药理学损害可能是长期持续的或永久性的。虽然摇头丸的残余认知效应已经在非药物摇头丸使用者中得到了广泛的研究，但这些研究主要集中在记忆、分散注意、语义识别、言语推理和学习的机制上。对于摇头丸如何直接影响断瘾者的判断/决策、工作记忆和冲动控制机制，我们所知甚少。因此，我们将测试一系列关于摇头丸使用者认知和驾驶行为的假设。我们的总体假设是，娱乐性使用MDMA，以及在较小程度上使用其他药物（如大麻），会产生残留的认知影响，从而导致驾驶任务中的判断错误。根据额叶功能的神经心理学测试，这些判断错误与特定执行功能的下降直接相关。阐明摇头丸对判断、决策和冲动控制的残余影响，除了在推进认知神经科学的基础知识方面具有明显的价值外，还具有几个重要的实际意义。在医学方面，它将有助于确定药物滥用导致额叶功能下降的情况。在社会方面，这项研究帮助我们更清楚地了解如何识别那些可能在路上对他人和自己构成风险的人。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall aim of this project is to assess the neurocognitive mechanisms of judgment and decision-making that may be impaired in recreational MDMA ("Ecstasy") users, and the relationship of these defective mechanisms to the complex strategical and tactical decision-making operations needed to safely drive a motor vehicle. The widespread use of ecstasy by young people causes concern, especially due to its associated risk of traffic accidents. Epidemiological research and case studies have shown that impaired judgment and higher risk taking are the most likely contributors to ecstasy-related traffic accidents. Research also shows that there is a link between recreational ecstasy use, possible serotonin neurotoxicity, decline in decision-making, impulse control, and other mechanisms of executive functions, and a potential impact on driving behavior. These problems seem to remain long after the recreational use of Ecstasy has ceased, suggesting that the neuropharmacological damage may be long lasting or permanent. Although the residual cognitive effects of ecstasy have been studied extensively in drug free ecstasy users, these studies have focused primarily on mechanisms of memory, divided attention, semantic recognition, verbal reasoning and learning. Very little is known about how ecstasy impacts directly the mechanisms of judgment/decision-making, working memory, and impulse control, in abstinent users. Therefore, we will test a series of hypotheses on cognition and driving behavior in ecstasy users. Our overall hypothesis is that recreational use of MDMA, and to a lesser extent other drugs (e.g. cannabis), will produce residual cognitive effects that in turn result in errors in judgment during the driving task. These errors in judgment are directly related to decline in specific executive functions as measured by neuropsychological tests of frontal lobe functions. Elucidation of the residual effects of ecstasy on judgment, decision-making, and impulse control has several important practical consequences, in addition to its obvious value in advancing fundamental knowledge in cognitive neuroscience. On the medical front, it will help determine the conditions under which substance abuse leads to a decline in frontal lobe functions. On the social front, the study helps shed more light on how to identify individuals who may present a risk to others and to themselves on the road.