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 ...
I might do black and white next week. I wanted bright colors, today. Just because. So it’s a teal top and olive green skirt, green heels or black boots. And bright jewelry!
That sounds very cheerful!
Thanks to Asuncion, I have an array of very tasteful jewelry in black, white, and black-and-white. Thanks to many friends, I have an array of very tasteful shawls to go with all my outfits and jewelry.
I am the most blessed of tastefully-accessorized church ladies!
And you even have cats! Who could ask for more?
I would like to have more cats, but it wouldn't be fair to Jake and Shannon.
Well, when they go over the Rainbow Bridge to be with Wednesday and your other cats, you can adopt a litter to keep them together.
I don't have as many pieces of Asuncion's handmade jewelry as you, but I'm very loud about wearing them..."Did you notice my jewelry set? One of T-c's talented friends made this for me! I love it!" Like that!
I haven’t forgotten you wanted a purple set. We just all got very busy. Was it October or November that’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month?
And now I need to buckle down and make song pages for Mass today. We thought, until yesterday afternoon, that we might change one of the songs, but it was too complicated to do without a lot more practice.
Asuncion has a favorite songwriter, Patricia Morales, who writes wonderful lyrics but very complicated and non-intuitive melodies, not something you can pick up on the fly.
October is Domestic Violence month, but it’s OK about the purple set. No hurry! I’m not going to complain because I know there are times when life gets in the way when we aren’t looking. :o]
Yes, I knew someone like Patricia Morales. But it was a he, and his arrangements of familiar hymns were beautiful but difficult. Under his baton was the first time I ever broke a sweat trying to get it right.
I have no idea what happened to that score, but I suspect it is in Somewhere, OK.
Ms. Morales writes totally new pieces.
I would hate to see what his new music was like. He was actually a bona fide Maestro. He looked the part, too.
I just checked FB. My hometown newspaper says this part of Southern Utah has gotten 178% of normal snow/water equivalent. Crikey!
Such a nice blue kitteh!
Good morning.
I need to comb my hair then go to Walmart. I can’t believe I slept so long. I don’t feel rested (CFIDS at work) so I’m not going to push myself. I’ll just do what I feel like doing. So no laundry.
I can say from experience that the laundry will always be there another day.
It’s raining here.
I’m not going to worry about laundry. I’ll sort it and get it ready to go in the morning, so when I wake up I can head for the laundry room.
It’s a dry 29° here.
Everything I normally do is going to done later, and I’m not going to stress about it.
Jake said it was a good morning to go to bed, so we did, until children started turning up.
I think Jake is a little wizened ol’ man trapped in a cat’s body, full of the knowledge of eight generations of Catdom. It would probably be to your advantage to take heed when he whispers “NAP!” as he brushes against your leg.
Shannon followed me into the bathroom to complain that there’s no sunbeam in Tom’s former room, where her bed and blanket are the only furnishings.
Poor Shannon. That poor ol’ lady kitteh is having a hard time, these days. No Sunbeans and no Tom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.