<p>Rationale: (±) 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ‘ecstasy’) is a recreationally abused psychostimulant that leads to detrimental effects on memory performance. MDMA’s acute effects on memory are often attributed to a working memory impairment resulting from compromised serotonin systems. However, recent evidence from non-human animal experimental studies suggests that acute MDMA may impair memory performance through an MDMA-induced increase in dopamine (DA) release, leading to overstimulation of DA D1 receptors. The overstimulation of D1 receptors during acute MDMA exposure is thought to indirectly impair memory by increasing a subject’s susceptibility to proactive interference, leading to a perseverative pattern of responding during memory tasks.  Objective: This project investigates the hypothesis that acute MDMA impairs memory performance via overstimulation of D1 receptors. The acute actions of MDMA will be assessed using DA D1 mutant (DAD1-/-) rats which possess a selective down-regulation in functional DA D1 receptors. On the basis that acute MDMA impairs memory function via overstimulation of D1 receptors it is predicted that, compared to control rats, DAD1-/- rats will be protected from the acute memory deficits caused by MDMA. Due to the novelty of the DAD1-/- rat model, prior to the assessment of the acute effects of MDMA on memory performance in these rats, behavioural and neurochemical characterisations will be conducted.  Methods: Firstly, a behavioural characterisation was conducted to explore the tendencies of DAD1-/- rats, compared to controls, in a drug free state. Behaviours relevant for motivation and reward, movement, and memory were the focus of the behavioural investigation due to evidence suggesting a role for D1-like receptors in these functions. Secondly, a neurochemical assessment of DAD1-/- and controls rats in response to MDMA (3 mg/kg) was assayed using c-fos expression, a marker for neuronal activity, in several brain regions with known DA innervation. Thirdly, to assess the acute effects of MDMA on memory performance, DAD1-/- and control rats were trained on a spatial working memory T-maze task, delayed non-matching to position (DNMTP), over 25 sessions. Once trained, rats were administered either MDMA (1.5, 2.25 and 3 mg/kg) or saline fifteen minutes prior to testing on DNMTP, with all subjects experiencing all drug doses three time each. In addition, to further investigate the hypothesis that overstimulation of D1 receptors impairs memory performance, the effects of a D1 receptor agonist, SKF 81297 (0.5, 1, 1.5, 3, 4.5 mg/kg) on DNMTP performance were also assessed.  Results: The behavioural characterisation revealed that DAD1-/- rats are capable of performing many behaviours relevant for reward processing, movement and memory function. However, DAD1-/- rats were impaired with regard to some reward-related behaviours, such as the acquitision of lever pressing for sugar pellets. The assessment of c-fos expression demonstrated that DAD1-/- rats express less c-fos in the medial prefrontal cortex, striatum and nucleus accumbens compared to control rats following MDMA administration. Lastly, the effects of acute MDMA administration on memory performance were tested. During the third block of MDMA administration, control rats demonstrated decreased accuracy on the DMNTP task at both the 2.25 and 3 mg/kg doses. The decrease in accuracy during MDMA exposure in control rats was driven by an increase in perseverative errors. On the contrary, DAD1-/- rats were not impaired on the DNMTP task following acute MDMA at any of the doses tested. Administration of SKF 81297 did not lead to any systematic changes in performance, but at the 3 mg/kg dose DAD1-/- rats displayed increased accuracy compared to control rats.  Conclusions: DAD1-/- rats were protected from an MDMA-induced decrease in accuracy on the DNMTP task compared to control rats. This finding challenges the assumption that MDMA’s acute effects on memory performance are wholly due to serononergic mechanisms. Specifically, the current study provides evidence for the hypothesis that acute MDMA exposure impairs memory performance in rats.</p>

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

No abstract

No abstract

(±) 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a recreationally abused psychostimulant that impairs memory performance. This effect is often attributed to a working memory impairment resulting from compromised serotonin systems. However, recent evidence from non-human animal experimental studies suggests that acute MDMA may indirectly impair memory performance through overstimulation of dopamine (DA) D1 receptors, which increases perseverative responding during memory tasks. This hypothesis was explored using DA D1 mutant (DAD1-/-) rats which possess a selective down-regulation in functional D1 receptors. Adult male Wistar DAD1-/- rats and wild type controls were trained over 25 sessions on a spatial working memory T-maze task, delayed non-matching to position (DNMTP). Once trained, the rats were administered MDMA (1.5, 2.25 and 3 mg/kg) or saline fifteen minutes prior to testing on DNMTP with all subjects experiencing all drug doses and saline three times. We predicted that controls would demonstrate decreased task accuracy following MDMA, driven by an increase in perseverative errors. In contrast, we predicted that DAD1-/- rats would be protected from MDMA-induced perseverative errors due to their reduced D1 receptor function. As predicted, during the third block of MDMA administration, control rats demonstrated decreased task accuracy following 2.25 and 3 mg/kg doses, driven by an increase in perseverative errors. In addition, DAD1-/- rats were protected from MDMA-induced task deficits. These findings challenge the assumption that MDMA’s acute effects on memory performance are predominantly due to serotonergic mechanisms and provide support for the hypothesis that acute MDMA impairs memory performance in rats via overstimulation of D1 receptors by increasing perseverative behaviour.