In mice, ecstasy keeps social-developmental window open

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Referring to a drug as "mind altering" generally refers to its influence on immediate perceptions. But a lot of drugs that have been used for these effects have turned out to be mind altering in a more general sense: they can elicit longer-term changes in how the brain operates. Ketamine, for example, appears to provide rapid and sustained relief from depression.

A study released this week suggests we can shift MDMA, also known as ecstasy, into this category of mind alteration. Researchers have shown that the drug holds a developmental window open, allowing mice to learn social interactions much later in life than they otherwise would.

Social rewards

In humans and other animals, there are points in development when the brain is better able to learn specific things. Young children, for example, are able to pick up languages far more readily than older ones. The window where learning is easy is called a critical period, and these periods can been seen in a number of contexts. We know much less, however, about what opens and closes these developmental windows.

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