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There's a good chance you hallucinated this week without ever knowing it
Inverse ^ | October 11, 2019 | By Jack Barton on

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 ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: dontreadthetag; dopamine; hallucinations; hearingvoices; jayaubreyjones; koalaoil; laurel; molassesmaiasma; monkeyfacerules; pangolin; penguinhumor; psychosis; schizophrenia; undeadthread; undeadthreadhere; unghandmoose; yanni; yannilaurel; yourbrainondrugs
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To: Tax-chick

By the way, the library said it’s getting some valentine bookmarks “soon.” My DVDs are due on the 4th, so hopefully, they have some by then!


2,801 posted on 01/31/2020 1:40:56 AM PST by Monkey Face (A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether or not to say it. ~~ FB ~~)
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To: moose07

PS: Congratulations to Blighty!! Good move. :o])


2,802 posted on 01/31/2020 1:43:31 AM PST by Monkey Face (A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether or not to say it. ~~ FB ~~)
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To: moose07

I like milk in my tea. Good morning. Here’s Drama Queen home from work.

Happy day to England!


2,803 posted on 01/31/2020 2:14:40 AM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Monkey Face; fanfan; ColdOne; Cyber Liberty; null and void; Tax-chick; Anoreth; ...

2,804 posted on 01/31/2020 2:17:52 AM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Tax-chick

Mischievous Morning Floof is ready to pounce!

Good morning.

I need to get busy with letters, especially Charlie’s because the poor ol’ guy gets really upset if he doesn’t get a letter on Monday or Tuesday.

After I shut down the laptop yesterday, I got a call from Carol. She had talked to my Avon lady (we both are in dire need of Avon cosmetics!) who said there was a nice place to eat here in Hurricane, and they want me to meet them this evening at 1700 for dinner. She doesn’t understand what evening activities do to my system. It has taken me 30 years to get to the point where I can half-way enjoy life and actually do things. But if I get off that schedule, I pay for it.

Going somewhere else (like, to NC or AR) is different because I’m focused on the external environment, until I get back.

So I’ll go. Not happily because its such short notice, but I’ll go because its .9 of a mile from where I live, according to “Greta Goober.”


2,805 posted on 01/31/2020 2:47:51 AM PST by Monkey Face (Your contest is not with him. It is with yourself. ~~ Boyd K Packer ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

I hope it works out okay for you. Maybe you can store up some rest during the day.

We have Envirothon all day. I’m working on getting lunches made.


2,806 posted on 01/31/2020 3:00:58 AM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Tax-chick

Good luck on your outing today! I hope everyone learns something new. ;o]

Every time you tell of this, or camping, I’m envious!


2,807 posted on 01/31/2020 4:04:25 AM PST by Monkey Face (Your contest is not with him. It is with yourself. ~~ Boyd K Packer ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

Camping is waiting for better weather. Today we have Wildlife in the morning and Oral Presentation practice in the afternoon.


2,808 posted on 01/31/2020 5:06:40 AM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Tax-chick

Wow. I was fairly fortunate growing up because my dad had been a grandchild of Pioneers, and he made sure we had all the latest books on science. There was no such word as “sciences,” but the books we had access to were encyclopedic in scope and range.

I hope your day is good! :o])


2,809 posted on 01/31/2020 6:21:25 AM PST by Monkey Face (Your contest is not with him. It is with yourself. ~~ Boyd K Packer ~~)
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To: Tax-chick

Stuning kitteh.


2,810 posted on 01/31/2020 8:41:36 AM PST by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Tax-chick

Soot Sprite!


2,811 posted on 01/31/2020 9:44:46 AM PST by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: Monkey Face; Silentgypsy; Darksheare

We had some congealed Globull Warming during the day in Wingate, but it had gone to just wetness by the time we were ready to leave.

Next, I’ll go to Walmart.


2,812 posted on 01/31/2020 12:38:28 PM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Tax-chick; Darksheare; Silentgypsy

Well, we have sun and high thin clouds and 53°.

My iHerb order didn’t show up yesterday, even though I paid for next day delivery, because it takes a while to go through customs. At least that’s what the answerer claimed when I asked about the delay. I told her I live in the US, I ordered in the US, and I’ve been ordering from iHerb in the US for almost 12 years, now, so please credit my account the $6.

Boy. This week has been a marvel of financial idiocy that seems to be self-replicating. Still waiting for UPS to get though customs and make the delivery, since it was last spotted in San Jorge.

Meanwhile, the fire extinguishers were replaced today, mine being one of the first. So we’re all good for another year.

I’ll leave a little early for the café because I want to go to Walgreen’s and get my prescription, then I’ll go to TJ’s and get a table for four. I really don’t like meeting new people in strange settings. It’s that CFIDS thing that makes me stutter a lot.

I’ll take most of my pills in a bit, then take the others just before I eat whatever I’ve ordered, so that when I come home, all I have to do is try to unwind. Crikey. My voice is failing me in the meantime.

I’m goofy, now. Deprived of my afternoon ritual while still at home. ;o]


2,813 posted on 01/31/2020 1:12:37 PM PST by Monkey Face (Your contest is not with him. It is with yourself. ~~ Boyd K Packer ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

Best wishes on the evening. Maybe you could rest beforehand.


2,814 posted on 01/31/2020 2:08:50 PM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Tax-chick

Too late. Roy just called. Now there are five of us. *sigh* Time to go put my face on. Still waiting for UPS. :o|


2,815 posted on 01/31/2020 2:15:39 PM PST by Monkey Face (Your contest is not with him. It is with yourself. ~~ Boyd K Packer ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

Big smile, say “Thank you” a lot.


2,816 posted on 01/31/2020 2:31:58 PM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Tax-chick
Big smile, say “Thank you” a lot.

I do that, anyway. When a person has a chronic illness, they find all kinds of ways to mask it, if at all possible. I do it by being polite. It's second nature to me now. ;o]

2,817 posted on 01/31/2020 2:43:18 PM PST by Monkey Face (Your contest is not with him. It is with yourself. ~~ Boyd K Packer ~~)
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To: Monkey Face; Tax-chick
Somebody said they got a message from Elon Musk.

🕺

And who can argue with that?

2,818 posted on 01/31/2020 9:53:16 PM PST by NicknamedBob (If you can't do something well, you won't do anything good.)
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To: NicknamedBob

How exciting! Anything secret about the future, or just chat?


2,819 posted on 02/01/2020 3:01:56 AM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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To: Monkey Face; fanfan; ColdOne; Cyber Liberty; null and void; Tax-chick; Anoreth; ...

Kitteh lives in Shanghai.

2,820 posted on 02/01/2020 3:03:09 AM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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