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 ...
That Morning Floof is exactly how I felt when I woke up. Miserable night.
Good morning.
Today is a new day, and the laundry is done and hanging to dry. The bed is still waiting to be made, but I’m good. I’m working on it. Slowly. Because I may want to go crawl back into it.
Gonzo yelled at me as I left, again, poor baby.
I didn’t want to get up this morning, either. I was so cold! But I knew the coffee pot would shut off if I didn’t get up, and then I’d have cold coffee.
Life is an uphill struggle.
I woke up cold, as well, but that’s usually and every day thing for me, so I empathize with you!
I discovered late in life (my 50’s) that I preferred cold coffee and tea to hot drinks. Even in the winter. I’m trying hard not to struggle uphill — just waiting for the hill to level out...
While I was doing laundry, I realized I left my readers home, so working a puzzle in my book was “different.” If I were doing the sheets and towels today I would have come back and got something to read with!
That reminds me ... laundry!
Good tagline!
Thank you. There’s a related article. I’ll see if I can find it.
Good morning. Happy Monday.
I am working this morning. Don’t tell any black people. I had to take the car into NYC to get inspected today. I had to wait quite a while during the inspection, and the place wasn’t exactly warm.
I’m still trying to warm up.
I had to save that to read later. Very interesting!
It’s a gloomy day here again, and my back is almost back to the condition it was in before I had the epidural. :o|
My grandson, Connor (served in Afghanistan) has been snowed in without power for three days. I told my Favorite Daughter that she should either spank him (there are three kids under the age of six, one of which is just two weeks old) or insist that he enroll in some emergency preparedness classes or research that and teach himself. :getting off of soapbox:
Oh, crikey! Cold is bad. I am so sorry!!
I think the Liberals are the ones not to tell. I mean, they want to make victims out of everyone except conservatives.
Here’s hoping you warm up soon! :o]
Maybe he likes being snowed in without power. Do they have a wood stove?
I’m working today, too.
I think they have a fireplace, but they spent the time in a hotel with the baby, while the two other kids were at their maternal G-ma’s “at the beach.” I’ve been on beaches in storms, and I sure wouldn’t want my short little peeps to undergo that!
I’m not working today. I’m a slug.
Where do they live?
Oregon. Somewhere close to Portland, so I’m guessing they have the ocean for a back yard.
We spent a summer in that area, once. Seems like forever ago.
Thank you.
Hey, y’all.
Howya!
Well, it turns out this place isn’t exactly warm, either. In fact, I call the conference room they gave me and my team to use the Meat Locker Room. So far, I haven’t been challenged.
But I am getting warmer.
I know that feeling...
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