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.

[Tax-chick]

Well, that’s good.

[Darksheare]

I hear bad ideas.

[Tax-chick]

Faxing a cat, yeah.

[Darksheare]

Faxing, cat thinks it sounds like bathing.
Goes full “buzz saw” during digitization.
Becomes rampant computer virus.

[NicknamedBob]

"Faxing a cat, yeah."

That's why we used Darks. People like cats.

[Tax-chick]

[Monkey Face]

I hear bad ideas.

I think your Committee must be related to my Committee. Not a lot of good ideas come when they're in an overtime session. :o|

[Monkey Face]

I shoulda stood in bed this morning. I don’t feel much like doing laundry today. But it needs to be done. Rain and all.

[Monkey Face]

The Floof looks as if she wants to be swallowed up in the softie.

Good morning.

[Tax-chick]

Sorry about the rain. It’s not, for a change, here.

[Tax-chick]

Looks like a bathroom rug on a bed. Somebody wants Kitteh to be very comfortable.

[Monkey Face]

Or a faux fur throw. Kitteh looks very comfy, indeed.

Part of me wants to go back to bed. That part of me may win.

Good luck to me!

[Tax-chick]

Good luck to you!

[Monkey Face]

Laundry = 1

‘Face = 0

*sigh*

[Tax-chick]

Oh, dear.

[Covenantor]

Good morning...

>

[Tax-chick]

I see people at risk of losing a limb or two.

[savedbygrace]

Is it a coincidence that the first syllable in dopamine is dope?

[Tax-chick]

Yes, it is. The prefix "dopa-" began as an acronym, DOPA, for dioxyphenylalanine.

And thanks for dropping by the Undead Thread, where every day features Academic Instruction and Educational Activities.

[ArGee]

OK, so I shirked my duties on Friday. My excuse is that I had a lot of work. But that’s no excuse.

Happy Monday, everyone.