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 ...
Sounds very interesting. I had no idea there was such a thing, because I live in the South.
I’m glad some Christmas cheer stopped by, too.
I still feel crummy today, but I’m up.
I was just going to ask, but then my last post was all about me and the cat, so...
Hopefully, you’ll feel a little better after some tea and TLC. I’d be there to help you if I could.
I’ve seen the windshield covers, but the price scared me off, so I put it in the category of “Wishful Thinking.” It has a storage bag too, which is where the thing is right now, but I didn’t roll it tightly enough, so it didn’t go all the way in. I’m excited for daylight!
New Nephew and Niece moved from Folsom CA to Pleasant Grove, which is about 30 miles from where I grew up. Their house is on the “bench” so they have a nice view of the valley and the algae bloom on Utah Lake. Which never happened when I was growing up.
Anyway, it was nice that they thought of me, and wanted to help with my truck, which they know is critical to everywhere i need to go. And I guess they were also thinking of my ol’ lady hands. I’m too cold on a regular basis to wear gloves. There’s no sense putting cold hands into gloves. It will just keep the hands cold.
It sounds like an ideal item. We have errands today, but maybe I’ll go back to bed for an hour or so before stores open.
I truly hope you feel better as the day wears on. There are days when I feel awful, but I’ve gotten used to it because 99% of the time, its CFIDS related. Colds and flu aren’t common. Probably because I don’t socialize much. So I’ll send you a hug because thought I don’t have those things very often, I remember how I felt when I had them.
{{{Tax-chick}}}
Good morning. Happy Vet-ness-day!!
I’ve been officially asked to stay on commuting to NYC until the end off the project (9/2020 right now). I’ve been told I would be put entirely in charge and asked how much money it would take.
Of course, it’s not just money. It’s also the career success. And it’s being apart from Mrs. ArGee all week. We’ve started our conversation.
Those of you who pray for wisdom for us dummies, please do.
I’ll worry for you.
I’ll pray for you and your wife to reach an agreement that you both can live with, while making the best move of your career. It’s only a job, and it’s only temporary, so you’ll decided the best thing all around, I’m sure. :o])
Thank you.
How curious. My BFF is on a cruise around Australia. She’s hitting all the best places. I’m disabled, so I can’t go.
A question I first asked about Leona Helmsley; How disabled do you have to be to not be able to sit somewhere?
When my late fadder turned 70 us menfolk in his family decided to surprise him with a trip to Cocoa Beach to go fishing. My son and I got delayed and missed the pick-up but my older brudder showed up at his house at 5am to wake him and take him fishing.
My mudder knew what was going on. But she said she was standing next to dear ol’ dad as he went to the door hoping he would notice who that was in the strange vehicle before he raised his rifle and killed his oldest son.
Surprises that come with a knock on the door can be a very bad idea.
No need to worry. We prepare, but we don’t worry.
So long as all the best places don’t hit her back she should have lots of fun.
One can either pray or worry, not both. As an agnostic, I will worry for you.
You can’t sit on a commercial airliner with your oxygen tank, for one example.
Hey, did you hear the one about the dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac? ;)
It dogs me every night...
I just upgraded to a new phone, same type as my old but with 8 times the memory, and 8 times cheaper than the latest and greatest.
I’m having trouble transferring some of my old data to the new phone. Anything later than 7/1/18 in my messages just doesn’t want to go, ditto for my phone call data.
Working on it...
As far as technology is concerned, 7/1/18 is last century and the phone is demeaned by trying to hold it.
At least, that’s my guess.
!
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