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, very! But it sure has a strange story line. I should say three story lines...and the plot twists are something else.
For some reason, I want a nice fat greasy cheeseburger from Dairy Queen. They don’t open until 1030. :o[
The yutes are writing thank-you notes to their grandmother, who send them Hallowe’en cards with money. It’s a struggle for some.
I know absolutely NOTHING about Midsomer Murders, but I can say that entertainment in 2019 gives me little to no hope for our civilization.
Even “Spiderman - Far from Home” couldn’t really capture me.
Midsomer Murders seems to have taken GB by storm, shortly followed by the US of A. Like most good British dramas, MM is famous for not knowing who did it until the end.
Meanwhile, the Epic Fail Grass Destroyers and Sprinkler Head Decapitators are busy blowing leaves all over into the areas that were free of them for the last six days. I almost went through the storm door at one of the guys because I was trying to tell him to stay away from my front door. But don’t get me started!
So anyway, the movies were fun until the original DCI Barnaby decided to retire, so now we have his cousin. I’m not impressed with this first movie...
Soon the weekend of cold will arrive. Winter is about to happen. Agree ... Stay Warm
We have coats!
Wow. This morning, I was a Late Bird. I knew it would happen because of the problem I had with the time change, and I had to sort my pills before I could even get started. These days, that takes 30 minutes.
Anyway, I’m up and I still don’t know what that means.
I forgot to get toilet paper and another thing, even though I went back and got other things I forgot. They were on the list, and this wasn’t and I still don’t know how I could have forgotten something so essential!
My son sent text messages last night, reminding me of whatever is going to happen to him, and that he would call me today. It was just a few hours from “Today” when he said that, so I don’t know why he didn’t just tell me then!! Silly kid.
Trust me, T-c: Whatever they’re like as kids, they’ll be a bigger, more intense version of their little selfs. With my son, he’s still fun and funny. My daughter is learning, but slowly, that life is built on truth.
So I need to make the bed and go before the traffic catches up with me.
Keep your head!
Yessim! I most certainly will!!
I have to go out and vote in the Town Council election. I texted the correct votes to DP, Tom, and Sally.
“I texted the correct votes to DP, Tom, and Sally”
That is just full-on Yorkshire! LOL! (And I did) :)
You’re welcome. None of them pays attention to local elections. DP thought he’d already voted because we had a U.S. Congress special election last month.
Town Council elections can be decided by a dozen votes either way, so getting our household out for the correct faction (the “pave the roads” faction) is important.
We have achieved Tuesday.
Today is a city holiday (Election Day) so the office is pretty empty. Even most of our team is working remotely. I didn’t see working from that hotel room so I’m here. Our testing team also needed to be onsite so I’ll buy them lunch.
And then just get some stuff done.
Reminds me of an old Scout skit. One of the Scouts is wandering about asking "Where are those papers? I need those papers!" Another Scout runs up and says, "I have the supplies list, Sir." The first slaps those out of his hand and says, "That's not it! Where are those important papers." As you can imagine, after another couple of Scouts run up with enemy troop positions, etc. finally one comes up with a roll of toilet paper and he says, "Finally!" grabs it, and runs off.
I'm so glad mine is glued on, the way I walk off and leave stuff. My head is useless enough it would be the first thing I'd lose.
I could probably go up to the Upper East Side where I used to live and vote but that would be illegal, and a complete waste of time.
Nobody here would care that it was illegal.
I’m not registered to vote yet in the wildlands. I wasn’t sure I would be there this long.
Something to make your day a little brighter!!
Thank you.
Hi, y’all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.