SPEED-FREAK MOUSE RAVERS SQUEAK THEIR LAST

Listening To Loud Music While On Speed Could Be Bad For Your Health.
Especially If You're A Mouse.

"it seems that listening to pulsatile music strengthens the toxic effects
of methamphetamine," says Jenny Morton of Cambridge University. She exposed
mice given the drug to silence, white noise or loud music-either music by
The Prodigy or Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor, which share a similar
tempo, she says.

Loud music alone didn't harm the mice. In fact, all those given injections
of plain salt water instead of speed fell asleep during the "rave". But the
loud music seemed to intensify the effects of methamphetamine. Of the 40
mice exposed to Bach, 4 died during or after the experiment, and no fewer
than 7 of the 40 exposed to The Prodigy died. Morton doesn't think mice can
tell the difference between violin concertos and rave music, however. "They
just heard pulsating noise," she says.

The murine ravers; also behaved abnormally. Mice on methamphetamine usually
charge around for half an hour, lapse into agitated repetitive movement
called stereotypy, then charge around for another half-hour or so before
becoming normal again.

This was the pattern for mice exposed either to white noise or silence. But
the mice listening to the music spent the whole fourour rave glued to the
spot or walking backwards, showing agitated stereotypic movements. "They
jiggle backwards and forwards and move their noses from side to side," says
Morton.

These mice also suffered more brain damage, as measured by the number of
glial "repair" cells found in brain regions that are targeted by
methamphetamine. "if you saw how the mice behaved, you wouldn't want to
take methamphetamine," says Morton. "I might go to raves, but I wouldn't
take methamphetamine."