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 ...
OK...pictures or it didn’t happen.
Speaking of which, did the ones I sent come through OK?
Yes, they did. Thank you!
Good morning. Now I’m out the door. The laundry needs to be done.
It looks like Gonzo is eating a little more, but I can’t be sure. He still looks rather gaunt. Poor little guy.
What a pretty gray Floof! Any relation to yesterday’s?
The laundry is hanging to dry, the bed has been made and I’m still swamped with trying to get thank-you cards out. And then I’ll try to get the letters written that I’ve been owing. For weeks.
Yesterday’s were rescue kittens in Brazil. This is a purebred in Germany.
Stand down, kitteh. She said he looks GAUNT, not GREAT.
Good morning, all. Is it only Tuesday?
Happy day. Today looks to be as hard as yesterday.
But I guess I should try to be positive.
Today looks to be positively as hard as yesterday.
Tuesday. Trash day. Pat starts school. More rain expected.
My days are messed up. Hopefully, the next time my son shows up he’ll be able to visit and stick around for a while.
And yes, I think its Tuesday, but like I said, my days are messed up. I guess that translates to “my brain is messed up.”
Good luck on your day!
Oh, weow. They are both pretty!
One of my nieces took one of those stupid online games that was supposed to tell where you’re from and her answer (random choice) said Brazil. Oddly enough, her dad (my late brother) was part Portuguese! Well. It could happen... ;o]
Tuesday? Not trash day. I don’t think.
Messed up with Monday. My brain isn’t happy, for sure. The only day I got right was Sunday. *sigh*
Tuesday has been our trash day for a long time.
Tuesday and Friday in Henderson, here its on Wednesday. Or Monday and Wednesday, depending on whether someone is moving out and how much trash they leave behind.
Forest Floof? Or Maine Coon Floof?
Good morning.
I’ve gotten one letter written while waiting for you to post the Morning Floof, so all is not lost! I will finish a second and maybe write a third. Or maybe vice versa.
(My tagline went Walkabout so I had to recycle one.)
I think my kitchen timer is about to give up the ghost after over 20 years. I think I paid $10 for it, and that was a lot of money to me then, but it has been worth it!
Forest cat. In Scandinavia! I decided on a winter picture today.
SLC got hit with a monstrous storm again yesterday, and Provo currently has a temp of 18°. *shiver*
So a Forest cat in Scandinavia is perfect!
I’ve had my shower, but I need to get in and fold my sleep shirts then make the bed. And then my day can start for real.
We’re supposed to get a change from 70s and rain. If this is going to be a typical winter, long-term, we all need galoshes!
Vlad has the online test for the Geography Bee this morning. He will do spectacularly, of course, but it’s at a location we haven’t been to, so we need to leave a little after 9:00.
Happy Wednesday, everyone.
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