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Amphetamine analogs methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) differentially affect speech

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Abstract

Rationale

Most reports of the effects of methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on speech have been anecdotal.

Objectives

The current study used a within-participant design to assess the effects of methamphetamine and MDMA on speech.

Materials and methods

Eleven recreational users of amphetamines completed this inpatient, within-participant, double-blind study, during which they received placebo, methamphetamine (20, 40 mg), and MDMA (100 mg) on separate days. Following drug administration, study participants described movies viewed the previous evening and completed mood scales.

Results

Methamphetamine increased quantity of speech, fluency, and self-ratings of talkativeness and alertness, while it decreased the average duration of nonjuncture unfilled pauses. MDMA decreased fluency and increased self-ratings of inability to concentrate. To determine if methamphetamine- and MDMA-related effects were perceptible, undergraduates listened to the participants’ movie descriptions and rated their coherence and the speaker’s mood. Following methamphetamine, descriptions were judged to be more coherent and focused than they were following MDMA.

Conclusions

Methamphetamine improved verbal fluency and MDMA adversely affected fluency. This pattern of effects is consistent with the effects of these drugs on functioning in other cognitive domains. In general, methamphetamine effects on speech were inconsistent with effects popularly attributed to this drug, while MDMA-related effects were in agreement with some anecdotal reports and discordant with others.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from NIDA (Hart, R01 DA03746) and served as Gina Marrone’s undergraduate honor’s thesis project at Barnard College. We gratefully acknowledge Isabel Cajori Jay, Chantal Sowemimo-Coker, and Christina Perry for their help collecting listener-rated data. We also thank Drs. Stephen Heishman, David Epstein, and Peter Balsam for their comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Substance Abuse, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Dr., Unit 120, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Gina F. Marrone & Carl L. Hart

  2. Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA

    Gina F. Marrone & Carl L. Hart

  3. Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Robert M. Krauss & Carl L. Hart

  4. Department of Psychology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Gina F. Marrone & Jennifer S. Pardo

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  1. Gina F. Marrone
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  2. Jennifer S. Pardo
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  3. Robert M. Krauss
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  4. Carl L. Hart
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Correspondence to Carl L. Hart.

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Marrone, G.F., Pardo, J.S., Krauss, R.M. et al. Amphetamine analogs methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) differentially affect speech. Psychopharmacology 208, 169–177 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-009-1715-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-009-1715-0

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