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 ...
Sounds like a few facts with severe deceptive nonsense thrown in.
There were a few kids wandering around in costumes last night when we got home from church around 7:45 p.m. Some of the neighbors had bowls of candy left out in their driveways.
I hear there might be more rain tonight.
Such a pretty little floof!
Good morning. I need to write some letters today, and it would seem now is a good time, while the day is still young and my brain is functioning rather well. For a change...
And oh, yes...I got a coupon for Great Clips for a $7.99 haircut, so I did it. I had about 3-4” taken off, and that has made an awful lot of difference. The new growth has made this cut look full, and I plan to have one more cut before the kids get here in January.
Good for you! I have that coupon, too, and I may insist some boy make use of it!
I have a meeting at 9:00, so I need to eat, dress, and boogie on outta here.
Ah yes, the Fawg...lest we forget the Fawg.
Haven’t had any yet this winter, but I am sure it is lurking in some remote wooded glade plotting it’s revenge.
Prayers all is well and good for you and yours Bob!!
Evening! The church had a bonfire this evening. Kids had much fun with flames.
Stay warm!
YOMMY! Floofy Cream Things!!
The shower has been had and in spite of the MST change, I managed to rack up an impressive 10 hours 10 minutes of sleep. I was exhausted! The previous two nights’ sleep had been interrupted for several hours at a time.
It was evidently what I needed because I feel pretty good, as CFIDS goes.
I’m glad you had a good night! I set my bedside clock for the current time, but I’ll have to wait for electronically-competent youth to get up in order to set other clocks.
I took them to Mass last night, and then we went to a bonfire put on by the Family Life Committee, where they had hot dogs and marshmallows and stuff. Then we washed up and were in bed by 10:00 EDT. I heard Sally shoo-ing the byos off as she was leaving for work.
Shannon does not like temperatures in the 30s.
I’m with Shannon.
I don’t like temperatures in the 30s, either.
(I won a spelling bee on the word “temperature” in the sixth grade!)
You just have to break your long word down into syllables!
I reset the clocks on the coffee maker and the microwave. Maybe I’ll try the stove, next.
Aha, it worked! Who needs teenaged boys?!
If you know one electronical gadgetry re-set, you know them all. Respectively. Some variations, but with a lot of them, the clocks are “atomic” and don’t need to be reset. The satellite does it.
The kid that was my competition was in the 5th grade (one classroom, first year of the school, later rented it to BYU for their law school) was the Brainiac of the room. I was a girl and that meant I was too stupid to win, by his standards, anyway. He left out the “a” and I was jubilant!
;o]) *fist pump*
I like it when people who think they are clever are dethroned ... except when it happens to me ;-).
My computer changed itself. The clock in the living room is analog. I’ll have to stand on a chair to wind it back.
I’m feeling flummoxed by the time change, as if I should rush off to Walmart before it’s too late.
Yes, comeuppance is good when it happens to the other guy, especially when they flaunt their superiority.
I just reset the one clock I use on a regular basis, and it has been with me since 1992! It has been dropped probably 15 times and the plastic is chipped in so many places it’s beginning to look like part of the design. But I hate to give it up! I bought it at Osco/Long’s/Thrifty Drug back in the day, and it’s gone with me through all the moves since then!
*tagline*
Now imagine you’re surrounded by them!
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