The party drug mephedrone can cause lasting damage to the brain, according to new research led by the University of Sydney.

"Mephedrone is highly addictive in the worst possible way. Users tend to binge on massive doses of the drug over short time spans," said Craig Motbey, a PhD candidate in the University’s School of Psychology and lead author of the research published in PLOS ONE, the Public Library of Science journal, today.

"Combined with the fact mephedrone is skyrocketing in popularity worldwide, with Australia following that trend, our finding that high doses can cause ongoing cognitive impairment spells a significant risk for users."

Also known as ‘meow meow’ and ‘MCAT’, mephedrone’s immediate effect on the brain is similar to a combination of ecstasy and methamphetamine.

"You get the euphoria and touchy-feeliness of ecstasy together with the intense addictiveness of methamphetamine or cocaine," said Motbey.

The current results, based upon experiments with laboratory rats, provide evidence of mephedrone’s ability to damage memory.