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’ll take the Tracker today and go get it back tomorrow. I can’t do it on the same day. I just have to wait too long for him, and then I’m too tired to drive.
Happy Monday III! Indeed, it sounds as though you and Mrs ArGee are going to be very busy for a while. So are you selling the home your in? Or will you rent it out?
I voted early for the Republican candidate because Utah makes it so very easy... My address means I qualify for mail-in ballots. ;o]
I didn’t even look to see who won the primary, here.
OK. I looked. Sanders took most of the Blue part of the state with some western and far northern counties going with Bloomberg, but Trump took the entire state on the Red side! That was a no brainer...
I haven’t even checked the outcome on our local races. I’ll get around to it eventually.
I went to Walmart.
Does Walmart have toilet paper? The last time I was there, this one was out of water AND toilet paper.
The third option - we will use it for storage until we are sure we don’t intend to retire to it.
Yes, we have toilet paper, bleach, all that stuff. It appears people here in Boring are too busy for panic-buying.
I’m hearing that stores are out of medicine around here. I’m expecting a major overreaction to the COVID-19 virus any time.
I’m just not able to summon up the slightest personal concern, although I’m sorry for those who are suffering, and I wish a full recovery to everyone who is ill.
We have plenty of soap, and if the Powers That Be decide to shut the county or state down, praise God. I could use the rest.
I’m not going to worry about it, either. I have what I need for now, and the initial panic should be over by the weekend, so life can get back to normal for the panickers.
Since I’m basically homebound, I won’t worry about it.
Tuna again? Really?
Hey, y’all.
Hey, it was on sale.
Lol
Greetings
I asked Tom to come over and put up a blind, and now he’s still here, even though I’ve given him the promised Girl Scout cookies.
*sigh*
Oh no.
Maybe he needs to be rebooted?
I think he’ll leave when it’s clear there nothing for supper except leftover chicken or a fried egg on toast.
I don’t worry about getting sick or dying. “To live is Christ and to die is gain” for me, and I have life insurance for Mrs. ArGee.
I do get annoyed at stupidity.
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