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 ...
Looks like the Floofs have a visitor! I had to look twice at that pic to make sure I saw what I thought I saw.
Good morning.
I have no idea what’s on the docket for today, except maybe to organize the pantry so I can actually find small things. That would be a new experience! ;o]
That’s cute! LOL!
Good morning. I have choir practice at 11:00 and a performance at 2:00. Not sure what else I’ll do today. Maybe clean the pantry ...
Is that a goggie with the Saturday kittehs?
Yes, it is.
Y’all are ‘way too ambitious for a Saturday. I feel like such an underachiever. G’nite.
Sleep well!
We’re all underachievers because there will always be someone else somewhere that is far more ambitious than we are!
Sleep well!
I have an ambition: get through the day.
Ditto, me! LOL!
If you keep your goals specific and reasonable, you’re more likely to achieve them. They teach us that in Weight Watchers!
Absolutely! I learned that in the School Of Hard Knocks. Life goes along much more smoothly when setting and reaching goals is a part of it.
Today, of course, I’ve had to modify it, but when CFIDS doesn’t interfere, I keep all goals. Some are postponed, some are done in increments, but they all get done. Eventually!
I’ve made it through all my choir requirements for the day. Well, except for making up more song sheets for future events, but that can wait. I’m going to lie down.
I discovered today that there are times when this place is absolutely glutted with wrinkly, cranky, slow-moving old folks and equally cranky and much nastier little dogs.
I have no idea where any of them come from, so rather than ponder it, I’m going to take my last dose of pills for the day and head down the hall.
(My dyslexia seems to come from my fingers keeping up with my brain before my eyes recognize what I’m saying. ‘Night.)
That Morning Floof looks like one of the best mousers we ever had!
Good morning.
I really didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, but its Sunday, and things need to be taken care of!
Because of the pain in my right shoulder, I’ll have to make an appointment with my PC doctor so he can order x-rays. I suspect it’s dislocated, so all I want is for it to be put back in place to stop the pain!
There was an old lady in the complex I lived in when I was in Del Rio, and every time she saw me, she’d say, “Don’t get old, Mija!” I didn’t like the alternative, and still don’t, but at least now, I understand what she meant!
(Post 3195 was prompted by a bunch of my neighbors (this side of the lane) arguing with someone who came to do outside work, and then each other about how the work was to be done. I’ve seen the truck here, before, but I have no idea it’s purpose.)
Good morning. I could imagine the exact scene from post 3195!
Every time I post an observation, I run the risk of being deemed “judgemental.” While I may judge an action, I really try to stay away from judging a person because that’s the way I’ll be judged. It’s too scary to take part in!
I need to go make the bed. Then it will be time for me to think about other things. Like maybe writing another letter. Or two.
What? No one to take it?
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