There's a good chance you hallucinated this week without ever knowing it

Inverse ^ | October 11, 2019 | By Jack Barton on

[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.

[NicknamedBob]

Wakes you up like a potent cup of coffee, too. Gets your buzz on.

[Silentgypsy]

For some funny reason I want to ask if you’re logged in.

[Silentgypsy]

A clear-cut case of poltergeists.

[Darksheare]

Polterghosters.
Suspiciously act like cats.

[Darksheare]

“All I ask is a little patch of sky to call my own.”

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Found it.

Good advise ArGee! It was the plug in the bathroom that had popped.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Coffee hating poltergeists at that.

[NicknamedBob]

"It was the plug in the bathroom that had popped."

Sounds like too many outlets on that device, but now that you know about it, you should be okay.

[Tax-chick]

Mine was fixed. It was just unplugged.

[Silentgypsy]

Yayyy!!!

[Silentgypsy]

They’re the worst kind (like ants and fire ants).

[Silentgypsy]

They also conceal themselves in grumbling rugs and barking blankets.

[Monkey Face]

I keep trying to post but every time I send something, I end up with an error message. *sigh*

[Tax-chick]

[Monkey Face]

Late. but OH, SO WORTH IT!! Thank you!

Now, I’m off to bed.

See you tomorrow!

[Tax-chick]

Hope you have a good night! We’re going to stop by the library on the way to get Patrick from school.

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you.

[Darksheare]

Blgthrths!

[Tax-chick]

I thought that had a vowel.

[Darksheare]

Flying vowel, flying towel, same thing in the long run.