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 ...
Greetings ‘Face.
So far so good.
It feels like a release from Goal after 47 years. A kind of stunned...”Now what?”
Luckily we have Donald J’s Love child at the helm.
Wiill be out the door shortly, so (((Hugs)) to ‘Face.
Backatcha, Moosie!!
Good morning, Moose07. It’s Trash Day here, and all is well. We’re off to Monroe this morning, but not yet.
We had snow last Friday, just some flakes mixed with rain about midday. All the wildlife here says we’ll have an early spring.
Good morning. The spring peepers are peeping in the woods, and Bill the Cardinal (and Bill, Bill, and Bill) are twoop-whoooping all over the place.
What? Morning aGAIN?
Happy Tuesday, everyone.
I haven’t checked the weather recently. OK. We have some. It’s sort of gray-ish out there. That probably means something.
It means be careful out there.
My circus will be hitting the road in about half an hour.
Hello, Moose. How’s Brexit going?
Congrats on finally making it, BTW.
w00t!
It was 17° when I went over to check the mail. Even after the attempted mailbox break-in, the doors are unlocked and the porchlights are off. Next break-in may be the office door and then what? I made suggestions, but was evidently ignored because enduring losses from three break-ins in Vegas doesn’t make me a security expert.
I ordered some DVDs yesterday and two are in. The one I really wanted won’t be in for a few days, but the current ones are due today. So we shall see.
There are only five seasons of “Shetland,” so I’ll have to watch them again. Just, not right now. It looks as if “Father Brown” is going for at least one more season (8) and “Death In Paradise” seems to have no limit, because all actors seem to be happy with their banishment to the Isle of Guadeloupe for filming for the foreseeable future. The “Father Brown” character has been given lines that border on zeal. I liked him better when he was just gently hinting at it, but now, even with the zeal, his character admits to doubting his religion. So at least he’s still human. What a thing to philosophize about... ;o]
I guess that’s what I get for being housebound due to a chronic illness. :o|
Thanks! And happy Monday II aka Tuesday to you!
Your weather is eventing like ours is.
I’m watching a show that says we have to move the magnetic poles back to where they were (250 miles south for the north pole) or :drum roll: CATASTROPHE! The Solar Winds are blowing off the red (iron rich) soils and therefore, we have to stop the winds.
Golly. I’ve heard of the Sky Falling but this is totally hilarious! But it’s what happened to Mars and the planet that is sideways with its poles. The “scientists” know that, how? *snort*
Back from WW and other excursion. Now we should do something useful with ourselves.
Ouch.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen single digits, but I have lower double digits to remind me what its like to be really cold. Stay warm, Nully. And don’t let Mom and the GS go out to play! ;o]
I spent the last hour trying to figure out how to upload the photos from my phone to the 3T slave via the laptop, a thing that was automatic with my last phone, and as a result, I’ve deleted the files on my phone that indicate to me that Goober was on a sniffing recon. GAH!
Anyway, so much for my morning, in which nothing was accomplished.
Next up is the trip to the library in an hour. In the cold and biting wind.
We’re out of printer paper, and Frank needs new pants, but I’m stuck here waiting on a delivery. Should I turn on an educational podcast - “Noble Blood,” quite riveting, loads of death - and chop vegetables, or call it a loss and go watch “Miami Vice”?
I don't quite see how that makes sense. I don't have faith in what I have faith in?
I have questions about Christianity come up frequently. So far, they've all been answered to my satisfaction.
That's always been my question about avowed agnostics. There either is a God or there isn't. If there is, then it's the most important question in the universe to answer. If you don't think it's the most important question in the universe to answer, it's probably because you have the answer.
I could never watch “Miami Vice,” probably because I could never see the draw of 1/8” long beard and bare feet in loafers. But it was popular, and for that, Don Johnson and whatisname are thankful. But please, watch it and wish I were there with you!
It just means that his character has doubts about something he most assuredly took for granted all his life. But since I don’t write his scripts, I can’t say for sure.
Some people have to search a long time to find something that we think is second (or first) nature. My Favorite Daughter being one. A new year, a new religion to search. She’ll get there, eventually. All I can do is wait and continue to pray for her, just as I always have, along with her brother. Mothers always pray for their kids. I think. :o])
I decided on Noble Blood, but now I need to go sort laundry.
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