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 ...
Yes. One for this host.
Howya. Terrible news about the officer.
Woot!!
I have to go mail a letter and put my insurance document in the truck before it gets buried under paperwork that needs to be filed.
Then, I think when I come back in, I’ll vacuum, since Rocky is still out. She stopped by on Sunday to get a couple of packages and she looks so much better than she did a couple of weeks ago. She’s lost weight, too, which is a good thing.
Overall, she looks and sounds much better than I’ve ever seen.
Crikey. I woke up at midnight and couldn’t get back to sleep. I hate when I do that!
Yes, and just a little too close to home. It’s terrible news when anyone gets shot anywhere, but Jersey City is just across the Hudson from where I work. I’ve spent some nights there when I was experimenting with Air B&B. And we really don’t need anyone thinking pulling a gun on an officer is an acceptable alternative - ever!
Now I feel even more sad.
I hate to think anyone values the life of a First Responder so little that they think its OK to gun them down.
God is watching and marking them, each and every one. He is also counting the tears of the widows, parents, siblings and children.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We have snow. We also have a divine, second-amendment-supporting sheriff.
Concur.
Well, here in NYC it’s illegal for anyone but a LEO to carry a gun. You know how much THAT helps around here.
I don’t know what it’s like in NJ, except I’ve heard it’s easier to get opioids than to protect yourself with a gun.
Our sheriff also supports the Second Amendment. He’s a Methodist.
Is it your contention that those two pieces of information are related somehow?
No. Those are just two pieces of information I know about our County Sheriff.
However, it was sort of in response to Silentgypsy’s comment: her sheriff is divine, while ours is just a Methodist.
Comical, yes. Contentious, no.
Which is why, when asked about such matters, I tell people that I am a poet.
Ever the diplomat, eh, Bob?
;o]
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