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 ...
Oh, crikey. Jake, what is it with you?
How did the choir practice/birthday celebration go yesterday?
*tagline*
Good tagline. Choir practice and party was fun. One of my choir members told me that my Spanish has improved a lot over the last decade.
Nothing improves a learned language like having to speak it almost every day. So good for you! And it’s wonderful for the choir member to remark on it, as well.
When the missionaries are sent to foreign countries, they learn the basics in those languages at the various MTCs around the world and the rest of it they learn on the fly. They become proficient enough to become translators at the bi-annual conferences which are broadcast worldwide.
I have the utmost respect for people who learn a language and USE it! :o])
If I ever run away to Colombia with the credit cards, I’ll be almost all set to communicate.
I forgot to put Jake’s blanket into the current load of wash. Have to get it next time.
How are you feeling this morning?
DP and the yutes have just left for church, with much hollering and griping.
I hope when you go to Colombia, and find a nice place to live, that you remember me!!
I’ve been playing on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org instead of writing letters, and found a whole passel of mistakes on just two people in the family tree. I have to go to the Family History center one day this week and get this stuff corrected. GAH!
One of my nieces in ID has my late brother (her father) listed as “adopted” by my dad, but that didn’t take place. He took my dad’s name when he turned 18, but there was no adoption. She knows it but has never gone in and corrected the information.
With all the kibbitzers gone, I’ve done a menu plan and shopping list in about ten minutes. I think I’ll have a shower next. I can’t let Jake talk me into going back to be with him, though.
Thanks, but I want to go take a nap. I’m having some classic symptoms of CFIDS and have no business going to church, but I will go, in spite of it and against my better judgement. I have to talk to someone about how to get to the Family History center, and can’t get the address until I get a program, since I don’t keep the programs from week to week.
Anyway, I’ll try to keep a low profile this coming week, because I suspect this is going to be a rough ride. It’s looking awfully fatiguey out there... :o|
Snow tomorrow with a low of 18° and a high of 43°. Rain today. SLC is getting dumped on.
Darkfax Jake to me and I’ll take a nap with him. I just need an excuse.
Um, do I have to remind you that Darks and fax machines don't get along too well?
Oh and by the way, it's Groundhog Day ...again!"
Yes, yes...Darks and his fax machine are infamous, which is why Jake is a good candidate for faxing on the Darkfax machine... ;o]
Oh, yes, I managed to whomp up some corn chowder...the jury is out...
When will the jury rule?
I’m back from church and considering the next thing, which might be cleaning the stove.
But first, I need to text Anoreth and find out if she’s coming to dinner.
The chowder needs a bit of tweaking, because its a little bland, but otherwise, it’s quite tasty. And so simple I’m ashamed of myself for listening to my “Committee.”
Stove cleaning? LOL! My Favorite Daughter decided I had her wipe off the stove top when cleaning the supper mess just to punish her. She vowed she was never going to clean hers. Yes. That. She lasted six months and then her husband jumped on her for it. She still had to clean it, but she did it every day after that!! :o])
A reward was offered.
My Favorite Daughter wasn’t offered a reward — just consequences! She was 10, so... ;o]
Nobody ever died of cleaning the stovetop.
Yes, well, at that age, she thought for sure cleaning the stovetop was a fate worse than death. Now that she’s talking to me again, I’ll have to ask her if her stove top needs cleaning... ;o]
I’d let it go ;-).
Nah. We laughed about it within two years of her first marriage, so I doubt that she has any hard feelings. She come a long way since then, and she’ll be the first to say so.
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