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 ...
Speaking of idioms (we were, weren’t we) when someone says, “I know, right?” What are they asking. It’s not like I can know what they know. So I don’t know if they’re right when they say they know it. Unless maybe they’re asking if I taught it to them.
This is one confusing language.
Do you have natural gas in your community? I've forgotten.
The problem with generators is the fuel. Gas generators let the gasoline go stale unless someone (no one) takes the time to maintain them.
Generators overseas can be fueled by kerosene, which doesn't go bad so easily, or even diesel, which is remarkably similar to home heating oil.
But a natural gas fueled generator can be set up to come on automatically if the power fails, even if you're not there. (More than a few hundred dollars.)
If your community allows solar, that could be best, if you get the right advice, but it is even more of an investment and an albatross at selling time.
As an afterthought, and for those in the market for "disaster" preparations, one could decide to invest in a hybrid vehicle which could potentially compete with Elon Musk's Solar Roof, Power-Wall, and Tesla electric vehicles by being set up in your driveway near the garage with a charging station for the electric portion of the hybrid vehicle, and an automatic switchover to the gas-operated function when power fails in the community.
This would have to be a very intricately convoluted system, but it could stand in for well over a hundred thousand dollars worth of alternate capability.
With power in the community, it would function as a regular hybrid, though constantly plugged when not being driven.
When power failed in the community, the system would check that the car was in a proper mode for the alternative function -- no people inside it and so forth -- then it would lock itself, start the engine, switch over to separate power feed to those appliances and devices needing power, (furnace et cetera), and begin sending power to those devices.
When stable power is restored to the community, the car would stand down from its alternative function, switch the house back to normal supply, and go back to monitoring the power grid. Perhaps the only difference a home-owner might notice would be that the car is locked if it wasn't before.
Nobody makes such a system.
It's actually more like twelve or twenty different languages all smooshed up together. Comprendo?
Greetings
No espeko espanol.
Mox nix to me.
From today’s impeachment testimony.
“I get it. You’re mad. The President’s mad. My Republican friends are mad. My Democratic friends are mad. My wife is mad. My kids are mad. Even my dog seems mad and Luna is a golden-doodle and they don’t get mad.”
ROTFL. Bonus points for bringing in your dog.
Greekings!
Countrified keys and Garcias. Sounds like a Tejano Conjunto.
And we do need large socks for our large feet.
I got a haircut. Paige, Hair Designer, who has been cutting my hair since this time last year, has left the salon. Nice as she is, I am not going to follow her to her new place of employment: I chose this place because it was convenient.
Her replacement, Emily, costs $10 less, and she did a good job. She was very cautious and cut little bits at a time, so at the end, it looked like she’d run a ‘possum pelt through a blender.
For my next trick, I’ll pick Pat up from school.
Calcified Fleas and Garçon!
For me, that would be an improvement. Mine looks a bad comb-over with the wrong kind of cobweb.
Garcon, there are calcified fleas in my soup!
Don’t worry, they won’t eat much.
The calcified Garçon, however, does eat a bit.
Patron: Waiter - there’s a fly in my soup!
Waiter: (pours soup in patron’s lap) Well, now it’s the other way around!
There’s a hawk sitting in the sun on top of my pergola. Understandably, no rodents or other birds are in sight.
Long day over here, kiddos, so I’m headin’ fer th’ barn.
Ta. :o]
We got power restored last night around 11pm-ish after almost 24 hours. SO now only the well pump is an issue. I have called three companies - two listed in phone book and one mentioned by my next-door-across-the-street neighbor - and didn’t get a real live person at any of the three. I left messages but so far no call-back.
Frustrating.
This is ArGee’s Well’s customer non-service. How may I frustrate you?
Internet search?
Internet search did net one other company in the area but just over the state line in NJ. Their web page says they can work in NY so I left them a message. We’ll see if they return calls. The other companies apparently don’t.
That in itself is interesting because you’d think when someone calls your well pump company and says ‘I don’t have any water’ that would be considered as a desperate customer who will grab the first company that calls back. Apparently that is faulty logic when dealing with NY companies..
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