Posted on 10/14/2019 10:45:03 AM PDT by BenLurkin
In the 1950s, researchers stumbled upon a new class of drugs that provided relief for those suffering from schizophrenia. These drugs were known as antipsychotics and, as the name suggests, they reduced symptoms like hallucinations and delusions — primarily by reducing the levels of dopamine in the brain. This led clinicians and scientists to argue that dopamine was linked to the experiences of psychotic symptoms, and a concerted research effort ensued, seeking to solve the puzzle of why excess dopamine might produce hallucinations.
Although it was later shown that increasing dopamine could produce hallucinations, establishing a consistent link between them, it has not been clear why.
They achieved this by taking advantage of a simple fact: Your brain is lazy. It makes shortcuts to understand the deluge of information that bombards it daily. If you’re presented with consistent information, consistently, your brain adjust its expectations of reality in turn. This is the basis of Bayesian theories of how we perceive the world – that is, the brain makes inferences about the world around us based on statistics and probabilities on what is likely to occur.
[I]ncreasing dopamine made it more difficult for participants to adjust their perception — an effect comparable to how the hallucinators had struggled. Moreover, the extent to which participants struggled was strongly associated with the severity of hallucinations — but not with any diagnosis of schizophrenia. In other words, the difficulty appeared to be associated with a symptom, not a diagnosis.
Using brain imaging, the researchers also showed that an increased capacity for dopamine release, from a part of the brain known as the striatum (an area involved in schizophrenia), was associated with the severity of hallucinations. Together, these experiments showed that excess dopamine was associated with difficulty in accurately predicting reality.
(Excerpt) Read more at inverse.com ...
Nine of our children will be here. Elen, USMC, is in Okinawa. She phoned yesterday morning, which was her Wednesday night. She and some shipmates were cooking. El isn’t much of a cook, but she can handle basic stuff.
42° with lots of rain, and I think the night is going to bring very cold, very ugly things to the highways and surrounding areas... Pine Valley Mountain had lots of snow on it two days ago, when the last storm left us.
This one is a meaner storm so if tomorrow is clear, I will take some pictures!!
Hiya, Dog, and Dog’s pal, Anoreth! And the Elusive Bill! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! :o])
Bill has arrived.
And with that, I’m off to the warm bed to read.
My Favorite Son called early this morning, before he even got out of bed, for which I was grateful, because it reminded me of when he was a short person. I like it!
No calls from the Daughter, but she sent pics with her in them, so I guess that counts!! <3
See all y’all tomorrow day when you’re all hunged over with food and stuff.
Ta!
I hope you have a very good night.
stay safe
you are truly blessed 8^)
Yes, we are. All ten enjoy excellent health ... except for Sally, who enjoys imagining herself Poorly, but we give that as little time as possible. That reminds me, I should go upstairs and suggest she get up and shower and stuff.
She works third shift as a baker at Panera and has to be at work at 9:00 p.m. tonight. Panera gave her a turkey, but we already had one. Anoreth, who lives on her GI Bill plus what she earns on weekends at the axe-throwing bar, will take it home and make a couple of weeks of meals.
“the axe-throwing bar” now THERE is a phrase you don’t hear everyday...
So true, but it’s a thing. Anoreth was a Gunner’s Mate in the Coast Guard and a firearms trainer at Cape May, and now she pours beer and teaches axe-throwing at somebody’s Scandinavian nightmare come true. (She’s also a full-time student at UNC-Charlotte.)
She can make $500 in a weekend if the “banker bros” or law associates are “bonding.”
LOLOL!!!
Yeah, it’s a strange phenomenon.
Her dog would really like us to kick out out turkey, but it’s not quite ready.
enjoy
So now that everyone is immobilized by a tryptophan induced coma, Happy end-of-Thanksgiving-Day to all y’all.
I avoided cooking on Thanksgiving partly because I didn’t feel like it and mostly because Son #2 had to work. That leaves Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to determine what day Thanksgiving Dinner will actually be held - assuming a consensus can be achieved. The turkey is still feeling icy so another day of thawing in the back recesses of the fridge won’t hurt. Saves me having to apply the tepid water bath to speed the process.
The apple pie might not make it to the actual dinner as last glance revealed that a rather substantial segment was missing.
And the black and white in/outdoor cat FINALLY decided to appear on the back doorstep after being outdoors for over 7 hours. Mrs. NoC, being concerned, forced me to walk the perimeter with the cat-summoning-device around midnight but he didn’t show up then. And of course he is complaining of empty food plates which would have been supplied to his satisfaction if he had been inside. He might be forced to exist on dry food until Mrs. NoC (when she wakes in the later AM) or Beautiful Daughter (if he pesters her enough) slaps cat-food-can-contents on a serving platter..
Thanks, Chode. You too! :o]
As I was lying in bed, trying hard to warm up, I realized I had missed saying “Happy Thanksgiving, Elen USMC!” Please pass on my late sentiments and tell her I said thanks for everything she does! <3
Now that everyone is still somewhat sluggish after yesterday’s festivities, I can only say I’m thankful for living in the area I do, close to relatives I hardly see, and with topography I grew up looking at. In a sense. I only had to drive a few miles to see the red dirt, scrub oak, cedar and sage.
Now, I believe I’ll go take a hot shower and try to warm up. I really need a second space heater. Maybe Monday.
Since I have a piece of weather strip stuff for the door, I will see which of the adhesives I have that I can use to put it in place temporarily, as we have had rain for the last two days and nights. For now, I have a plastic garbage bag on the driver’s seat, but I’d like to stop the dripping. Or at least, most of it.
Jake was out all night. He was sitting on the window ledge outside the dragon room when I came downstairs.
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