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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: Monkey Face

And Pat.


3,161 posted on 02/14/2020 6:01:47 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: ArGee; Tax-chick

So I take it you haven’t unpacked completely, then?

I got a package like that once! It was muffins and stuff and they sat outside on my patio in the snow for a day while I was stuck in Little Rock because a snowstorm dumped 3” of snow on McCarran’s runways, and Vegas has no snow plows. (They wanted to route me through Memphis, where I would have had to pay for a motel, and I just told them I’d stay one more night with my son.)

But the food wasn’t damaged! Probably because of the cold weather. Maybe this year, I’ll order some crumpets and lemon curd for myself for my birthday. Maybe.


3,162 posted on 02/14/2020 6:11:42 AM PST by Monkey Face (Common sense isn't a gift.It's punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it)
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To: Tax-chick

Ah. For some reason I thought Pat had classes.


3,163 posted on 02/14/2020 6:12:14 AM PST by Monkey Face (Common sense isn't a gift.It's punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it)
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To: Monkey Face

Pat has class Tuesday and Thursday this semester.


3,164 posted on 02/14/2020 6:28:18 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

Ah. What course(s) is he taking?


3,165 posted on 02/14/2020 7:54:04 AM PST by Monkey Face (Common sense isn't a gift.It's punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it)
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To: Monkey Face
So I take it you haven’t unpacked completely, then?

As little as we possibly could. And I've been mostly living out of a suitcase since we moved anyway.

Maybe this year, I’ll order some crumpets and lemon curd for myself for my birthday. Maybe.

I thought you'd canceled your remaining birthdays.

3,166 posted on 02/14/2020 7:59:55 AM PST by ArGee (Excellence or diversity? Ask for diversity, you get diversity. Ask for excellence, you get both.)
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To: ArGee
...I thought you'd canceled your remaining birthdays.

I should rephrase that. "Maybe this year, I'll order some crumpets and lemon curd for myself in celebration of a birthday." I can celebrate anyone's birthday at any time.

:o])

3,167 posted on 02/14/2020 8:19:22 AM PST by Monkey Face (Common sense isn't a gift.It's punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it)
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To: Monkey Face

That works.

For the rest of you, I’ve been reliably informed that if you put your birthday into a Google Calendar, and then cancel the series, you stop aging.

It IS Google, you know.


3,168 posted on 02/14/2020 9:30:56 AM PST by ArGee (Excellence or diversity? Ask for diversity, you get diversity. Ask for excellence, you get both.)
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To: ArGee

I try not to do Goober at any time unless I’m forced into it, by, like...Goober Maps. I hate Greta Goober because she’s always trying to put me on freeways instead of on the back roads that I can drive slow enough to enjoy.

GG is an absolute beast at night. I hate that voice! GAH!!


3,169 posted on 02/14/2020 9:44:17 AM PST by Monkey Face (Common sense isn't a gift.It's punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it)
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To: ArGee; Monkey Face; Tax-chick; Silentgypsy
"I’ve been reliably informed that if you put your birthday into a Google Calendar, and then cancel the series, you stop aging."

I just moved the decimal point; later this month, I'll be seven ... again.

3,170 posted on 02/14/2020 9:44:27 AM PST by NicknamedBob (If you can't do something well, you won't do anything good.)
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To: NicknamedBob

In that case, my dad was 30 on Lincoln’s birthday! ;o]


3,171 posted on 02/14/2020 9:46:00 AM PST by Monkey Face (Common sense isn't a gift.It's punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it)
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To: Monkey Face

Calculus and American Literature.


3,172 posted on 02/14/2020 10:38:50 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

I’ve always been afraid of things like calculus. Mostly because I had a hard time with division and fractions. Good luck to him in both classes!


3,173 posted on 02/14/2020 10:57:06 AM PST by Monkey Face (Common sense isn't a gift.It's punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it)
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To: Tax-chick

Thank you.


3,174 posted on 02/14/2020 11:37:58 AM PST by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: ArGee; Tax-chick; Monkey Face; NoCmpromiz; Darksheare; NicknamedBob; no-to-illegals; Covenantor; ...

Hey, y’all.


3,175 posted on 02/14/2020 11:39:31 AM PST by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: NicknamedBob

Happy Unbirthday.


3,176 posted on 02/14/2020 11:40:34 AM PST by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Monkey Face
"In that case, my dad was 30 on Lincoln’s birthday!"

Nope. The way I figger it, even Lincoln himself would only be twenty-one on Lincoln's birthday.

3,177 posted on 02/14/2020 11:50:28 AM PST by NicknamedBob (If you can't do something well, you won't do anything good.)
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To: NicknamedBob

Lincoln’s as old as he says he is.


3,178 posted on 02/14/2020 1:19:09 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: Silentgypsy; Monkey Face

Afternoon! Pat does excellently in school if he wants to.


3,179 posted on 02/14/2020 1:19:36 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; fanfan; ColdOne; Cyber Liberty; null and void; Anoreth; Monkey Face; ...

3,180 posted on 02/15/2020 2:10:33 AM PST by Tax-chick (You're only one book away from a very good mood. (Washington County, UT, Library)
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