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 ...
I got a letter that had a cute hologram of a marmalade kitteh this morning! Of course, it was in yesterday’s mail, but I didn’t get it until this morning. Now I just have to find a good place to put it so I can see it.
The sky outside my living room window is a firey orange, and Admiral Fitzroy’s Storm Glass says we’re going to have thunderstorms. I hope it waits until I get done with my few errands.
Marmalade holograms are very low in calories.
LOL! Indeed! :o])
Marmalade half-n-halfograms are even lower in calories.
Is this going to be a “tastes great/less filling” dispute?
Not on my account! LOL!
The “less filling” part depends on how many you drink! ;o]
Thank you.
Hey, y’all.
Hello! Happy Friday. We had Envirothon all morning (forestry), and we’re leaving again in about half an hour for the Knights of Columbus fish fry, featuring the Cub Scouts’ dessert table.
Sounds good—happy feasting.
They also have broiled fish. I’m out of the habit of eating fried stuff.
Hey you! Hope you’re doing well!
The Morning Squee is looking at the moon.
Good morning.
I slept in. There seem to be more mornings of doing that than not. But I’m not feeling well, so...
I had to get some drawing salve, and was surprised how expensive it was. As long as it works so I can walk normally again!
In all the things I was forgetting to do yesterday, I almost forgot to write to Charlie.
Nothing is on the docket for today except to keep my foot up after I get the dressing changed on it.
Good morning!
I’ve forgotten what happened to your foot.
I stepped on a very small shard of light bulb yesterday morning, as I was headed for the shower. The box of light bulbs fell from the top shelf of the pantry when I was trying to find something else on Wednesday. I grabbed for it, because it was open, but I wasn’t fast enough.
A light bulb fell out of the box and broke, and I immediately tried to get it all swept up with water, but I obviously didn’t get it all. The odd thing is that the shard is toward the outside of my left heel and the pantry is on my right side, as I go into the bathroom.
Thanks. Now I remember your mentioning it. Ouch! We find pins in the carpet sometimes, and occasionally someone breaks a glass and doesn’t completely clean up.
I got your letter yesterday. I love the picture of Bill the Cardinal!
My friend worked very hard on that. In fact, it was the second one because she didn’t like the first one. She wanted it to be perfect for my friend, which I thought was touching. And I’m VERY glad you like it! She will be pleased when I tell her so tomorrow.
My heel is pretty painful, and I would stay off my feet entirely today, but I should go get my prescription for morphine. Maybe I’ll wait until Monday to pick it up. I still have a few left from this month, so... Being off my heel as much as possible if probably a good thing to let the salve do its work.
Please tell your friend that I think it’s absolutely perfect and I will treasure it.
And stay off your heel!
Shannon was acting as if she felt poorly the last couple of days, but this morning, she’s been chasing Lego around the rooms and leaping in and out of boxes. I guess she feels better!
I will tell her! She was modest about it when I thanked her for taking the time to make it. I’ll have to ask about the paper she painted it on. I like it! Nice and fibrous.
Maybe Shannon was a little off her feed because in her old age, she doesn’t respond well to having her human gone, even for a few days. ‘Face, the Pet Sykiatrust. Oh dear. I hear a bell. I need to take my phone and go see which apartment its in.
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