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 ...
Another brand new floofy kitteh!!
Good morning.
The laundry has been washed, and I will go in and hang it up as soon as I’ve finished my tea.
I found another “bill” from AAA and come to find out, it’s my car insurance renewal. Yep. I’ve been here a year!! I expect the registration renewal any day now. I hope its not as much as last year’s, though that was a pittance compared to NV.
Someone (Chuck? His wife, Lisa? A resident?) has put up a tree and also decorated the clubhouse, sorta. It looks nice. There were no decorations last year, so I don’t know what to make of this.
*tagline*
Hopefully.
Sure seemed like it was the clots again.
He’s right. They’re a plague on mankind.
Congrats on the laundry. I’m doing several loads: got behind yesterday p.m. because Tom the Son was washing.
He said this in the late 60’s, and converted it into a bumper sticker. It took up the entire bumper of any car it was put on!
I’m going to assemble the other half of the futon/sofa frame as far as I can, and then wait for Sharon and her husband to come over. I talked to my Favorite Son last night and he said the bolts I was struggling with to insert were that way on purpose, which I suspected. Hopefully, Jerry has enough upper arm strength left to get the bolts seated properly, so I can finish the thing once and for all!
Yeah, they don’t want the bolts to wiggle out as people sit on it, or eventually you’ll sit and the whole thing will splat to the floor.
It’s Monday here. Vlad says it’s not as cold outside as it looks, but I’m feeling extremely cold here indoors.
It’s 38° out, and I’m not happy about going out again.
The day is supposed to be clear so at least I can look out into a sunny day. Whenever the sun gets over the yardarm. The street is still damp with some puddles here and there, but I’m not planning on going out again.
Tomorrow my DVDs are due and if course, it may rain again...just because I have to go out.
Back from taking Pat to school and putting gas in the van. Now I’m boiling water to make tea, and then I’ll make the organization do something Educational.
Cold indoors is why I have the space heater, though it’s not in use today.
I’ve re-learned to dress in layers, but I still haven’t managed to snatch up any long johns for my legs. </whine
I have leggings, which I never wear on their own, but always under a skirt, because people just wearing leggings look like they forgot to finish dressing.
Ultimate disaster has struck.
I’m just watching the molasses disaster in Boston.
Somehow, it seems funny, but it couldn’t have been in real life. I mean Manner of Death: Drowning. Cause of Death: Molasses. That’s just not right!
I don’t know why I didn’t do that. I mean, I have leggings, and I wear them, mostly in summer, and because they’re so thin I discounted them as a means of insulation under my equally thin slacks. OK. I know why I didn’t do that. Too cold.
Every little bit helps!
Which ultimate disaster specifically?
Prayers up!
Beware of the blob...
Howdy, you.
Happy Monday. :o|
Coffee maker died.
I did manage to make something vaguely resembling coffee.
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