Rescue kittens in Brazil!
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 ...
DP’s mother has died from pneumonia secondary to emphysema from a lifetime of smoking. His father died five years ago from complications of lung cancer, ditto ditto.
Don’t smoke, folks.
Ouch.
Condolences.
My sympathies.
I don’t plan to smoke unless someone lights me on fire.
He and Sally went to Myrtle Beach yesterday, so they were there when he died. They’re staying until Monday to help his brother with arrangements.
There are 171,476 vocabulary words in English in current usage.
See story here:
https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-are-in-the-english-language/
Plus, if you go by dictionaries which also contains words not in common usage, there are 470,000 words in English in the Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section
While Italy has 270,000 in its largest dictionary. (Of course, Italian hand motions and other facial and bodily gestures in Italy contain millions of variations in meaning, I get your drift.)
All this at this link:
https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-are-in-the-english-language/
I tend to use the same words over and over again, particularly if I can make them rhyme.
Contrariwise, I don’t like to use the same word in prose usage to a noticeable extent. (Essentially I like to show off, and to expand my vocabulary.)
English is the best for so many types of composition, but it doesn’t have the suavidad of Spanish.
Thank you, Bob.
Yayyy, Geekette!!!
I’m sorry for your loss.
I want to buy some of those stickers for next Halloween. Perfect timing, right before the election.
That is sad news, but I’m so glad DP was able to be with his mother when she passed. Give him my condolences please.
Rescue kittens in Brazil!
Sweet little Floofs!
Good morning.
Another frigid morning, but the day may get up to 49°. Heat wave!
The shower has been had, and I was warm for a while. Maybe this time next year, I’ll be warmer when I’m out of the hot shower and the heated bathroom. ;o]
My Favorite Son will be going back to Little Rock today, and because of all the activities since Thursday, I didn’t get to spend much time with them! We went to breakfast with my DiL’s parents and my grandson, (his wife had to work) but I haven’t eaten much the last week, so most of it came home with me, including my DiL’s sandwich, which she forgot to take with her!
They will be flying out about the same time I’m in church, so I’ll give a mental wave as they fly over Southern Utah.
Good morning! I need a shower, too.
It’s very warm here. I might have had a lie-in, but cats.
It’s going to take me a while to get used to going to church at 1030, but most of that is the preparation. It takes a while to get this old face ready!
For the first time since last year, I couldn’t decide what to wear to church, and picked one outfit but changed my mind. Gloriosky! It’s been a while since I’ve done that!
That’s very good, Bob! But then, I’ve never read a bad poem from you.
Thanks!
Today’s choir outfit is black and white.
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