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 ...
People are greedy. They will take anything that isn’t nailed down, and chances are good, they will sell it.
I think I lived in Vegas too long. I don’t trust very many people. I still have a hard time being in the laundry room without locking the doors.
If I don’t see you between now and next week, have a safe and happy Christmas! I’ll toast a virgin eggnog to ya!!
(I just remembered that my mother used to make eggnog, and that the only recipe I know of that was written down was her fruitcake recipe. Since I’ve never been a fan of fruitcake, I have no recipe from my mother. They were all in her head.)
What very interesting colors on that Floof! I dub her “Goldy!”
Good morning.
I hope you’re feeling better today. I just got out of the shower and the change from that warm, moist room into this cold one was drastic.
My feet need some socks and shoes! Br-r-r-r-r-!
I am improving. I still have a croak and a cough, but I don’t feel like a total state of collapse.
Not as cold today as yesterday. No snow squalls to speak of. I should be OK driving back to the wildlands tonight.
And now, for a little more holiday cheer.
Very cute! Best wishes for your Friday!
I’m relieved to hear that, even if you did pass a milder form of it on to me. ;o]
Tea and lemon, or just plain lemon drops should help with that. (I need to find some of those...)
Several offspring are snuffling and moaning this morning. Hopefully everyone will be over it by Christmas.
THAT is cute, ArGee! Thanks!
I had to save it!
I scraped off the gunk that had floated to the top of the can of soup and substituted a pat of butter. It improved the taste of the soup no end!!!
Now, I need to write to Charlie so I can get it in today’s mail.
Interesting procedure!
You could shower with the bathroom door open?
In that case, you can't run for Congress. Feeling like a total state of collapse is kind-of a requirement. Or at least acting like one.
Yes, they are an astounding array of nincompoops and gerbils.
Then the heat and moisture of the bathroom would escape into the hall, and then be diverted into the bedroom. My apartment is laid out in a modified question mark, with the bathroom and bedroom on the bottom end. So I have a space heater in the living room, and I turn it on when I get up, but it hasn’t had time to warm the room by the time I get done with the shower.
Primitive living....
Ha-ha-ha!!
Good one! Thanks, Nully! :o])
Expect an outraged mob of gerbils at your doorstep in 3..2..1
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