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 ...
Yes, you did.
Sorry I’ve been AWOL. Here’s my advice. Unfortunately, I know more about Manhattan. But I think Manhattan and Brooklyn are where most people who aren’t raising families live. (OK, very rich people raise families in Manhattan.)
There are hip places (nabes) for young people, I didn’t live there. They will be noisier all the time but they will have many more fun things for young people to do without having to travel far. A lot of young people seem to think the only thing to do for entertainment is to get blasted, at least that’s what my daughter said. But there are enough who like to sit in sidewalk cafes and eat, snack, drink coffee, etc. and enjoy the ambiance. And, at least for a while, that’s still good. De Blasio is trying to wreck it, but his term is about up.
He will probably have to pay a realtor to find an apartment and he will probably have to pay a hefty security deposit. This is serious money and is often used to discourage people from moving. Realtors can want as much as 10% of a year’s rent. The security deposit will possibly be 2 months’ rent. And rent is high in Manhattan.
A realtor will try to show him 3 places. The first 2 will be dives and the 3rd will be above his budget. If he’s firm he can get shown some good buildings. Research will help him here. He should wade through Apartments.com and do research on the nabes and buildings in the nabes and let the realtor know he knows his stuff.
Don’t be fooled by nabes in Harlem that are being gentrified. That college student who was stabbed by kids a while back was in one of those nabes.
Everything around NYU is expensive because NYU has some of the highest tuitions in the country. But it’s a super hip place for young people.
Almost all buildings are mixed use. There are businesses on the first floor and residences above. Don’t rent above a restaurant or a food shop if possible. It’s not just the noise, it’s the rodents. They’ll be worse above food establishments.
Try not to be on the top floor and try not to be lower than the 3rd floor. More break-ins happen on those floors.
He will adjust his expectations. That’s just normal. You will likely look at the apartment he picks and ask why he decided to live in such a tiny, awful place. But it will be good by young people standards in NYC. All he’ll do there is eat and sleep. My daughter even sat out on the fire escape to read because her apartment was so tiny, and she had a separate bedroom (with closet doors that couldn’t close because of her bed taking up that space). Once he gets used to this, he will really enjoy living in NYC while he’s young. My daughter couldn’t imagine leaving until after she turned 30.
One more thing - nobody begging for money is in dire straits. They all know where they can get a meal, a coat, food for their baby, food for their dog or cat, etc. If he decides he wants to help the homeless I’ll recommend some places to start so he can learn the difference between someone in need and a scam artist. I’m assuming you raised him to have a big heart.
If there are any more questions, ask away.
I’m stil here. Happy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, all.
Things got a little better on the job today. I hope it sticks.
Thank you very much, ArGee. I will forward this information, and I’ll let you know if he has questions about it.
I’m glad the job took a turn for the better!
If Bill moves to New York, he’ll want me to take his cat. And my mom told me, “If I outlive Polly, you’ll have to take her, because nobody else will.”
Do I look like the kind of person who wants everyone’s Please-Take-This-Cat or what?
Bill shares your opinion of DeBlasio.
Sometimes immediately after someone goes, “that won’t happen!”
Almost as if that’s a cause-and-effect.
I can’t answer about whether you look like that kind of person because I don’t have a cat.
My daughter is the kind who would say, “You can take my cat when you pry it from my cold, lifeless fingers.”
FWIW: Lots of New Yorkers have cats. Lots of NY apartments will take cats. My daughter got her cat while living in a NY apartment. And she almost never found a roach once the cat moved in. She NEVER found a whole roach. And she never saw meeses.
Mrs. ArGee finally decided that saying “I will NEVER ... “ was taken as a personal challenge by God to make sure she would.
I wondered where you drifted off to. Glad to see you’re safe and your job is improving! That falls into the “It’s all good” category. ;o]
Now that you mention it... :o])
TC, at least you don’t find yourself saying, “That’s not a cat, that’s a lynx.”
At least, I hope you don’t.
Coincidental!
No connection at all!
;-)
No, not yet. Thanks for reminding me it could always be much worse.
LOL!
I just read that Clive Cussler, the adventure novelist, has died. He was 88.
What a life!
Well darn! I loved his books because he put his real life son into them as the main character/hero. I think I’ve read maybe 15 of them. Especially books in his NUMA Series.
What a mind! I’d like to see his car collection.
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