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 ...
Thank you.
What a precious brand new Morning Floof!!
Good morning.
I slept in, darnit, then had to hurry to get my shower so I can get the tea down me. I try to take it every twelve hours. I don’t know how that’s going to work over the next few days, what with my schedule being at the mercy of my son and his other family.
Good morning. I was about half an hour later than usual. I was dreaming about committee meetings. *sigh*
I’m exhausted, and I need to put on my Big Girl Panties and suck it up for the next four days. Unngh. I can see the relapse building from here.
Try to think positively and enjoy the events.
I don’t know why I posted that because I wasn’t done. Not a good sign!
I will start my letter to Charlie today, because I don’t know how I’ll be feeling come Friday, since I have no idea what the plans are. The “celebration” revolves around me, but no one has consulted me in what I want to do. They just went ahead and made plans. I think I mentioned this yesterday. But what I want to know is, can they DO that?? :o|
So. Today, I’ll empty the vacuum cleaner and do the rugs and sweep up the Gonzo feathers. Yesterday, he actually “cheeped” once. I think he’s also off his feed as he doesn’t look as hefty as he was. I hope he doesn’t mourn himself to death.
Poor Gonzo.
And good luck with the weekend.
I just went in to put a clip in my now-shorter hair to get it out of my face and I realized I can’t change a thing about what’s coming in the next few days, so I need to stop thinking about it.
CFIDS causes me to overthink everything. Ya know? I thought, once I had gotten out of therapy for the anger caused by CFIDS, that I would be able to accept my life for what it is. But the truth of the matter is that I still find myself thinking I’m that same person who moved to Vegas in 1989, and I’m not. Not even close. Some days I see part of that Me and other days, she’s nowhere to be seen.
So I’m going to ask you and the other regular Undeaders to either ignore me when I say stupid stuff or remind me that the stuff I’m saying is stupid.
I’m asking that because I’m too close to the situation to see it for what it really is.
So please?
I think we just say, “Everyone rattles on sometimes; it’s just life.”
Excellent. I’ll try not to rattle too loudly. ;o]
Just don’t go ALL CAPS on us. That’s really stressful.
Good morning, everyone. Happy Wednesday.
Can I go back to bed, too?
Given that the 2 holiday weeks I was 2 days at home and 2 days at the hotel, I”ve been trying to learn to sleep again at the hotel. Last night was actually a pretty good night’s sleep for me.
We’ll see if I can hold on to it.
Of course they can do that.
Life can also wreck their plans.
Ask any general officer.
And as I rattle on in life, I notice the rattling is much louder.
I’m pleased for you! I was cold last night, and I dreamed about committee meetings and woke up with my jaw aching.
I was too, and then a few months ago I began taking one of those joint supplements and the rattle in my joints isn't quite as loud as it used to be. :o]
That makes no sense...
Since you didn’t use the term “night terrors” in your post, I’m hoping that your committee-meeting dream was relatively innocuous.
Sometimes I post and answer emails while asleep. My family thinks that’s hilarious.
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