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There's a good chance you hallucinated this week without ever knowing it
Inverse ^ | October 11, 2019 | By Jack Barton on

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 ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: dontreadthetag; dopamine; hallucinations; hearingvoices; jayaubreyjones; koalaoil; laurel; molassesmaiasma; monkeyfacerules; pangolin; penguinhumor; psychosis; schizophrenia; undeadthread; undeadthreadhere; unghandmoose; yanni; yannilaurel; yourbrainondrugs
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To: NicknamedBob

We have kudzu and morning glories.


4,041 posted on 03/19/2020 9:34:52 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Tax-chick

Gorgeous—thank you.


4,042 posted on 03/19/2020 9:36:22 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Silentgypsy

You’re welcome.

I’d really like to vacuum in my bedroom, but the Sunbeam has arrived on Jake’s bed, and I just can’t.


4,043 posted on 03/19/2020 9:37:44 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("The mark of a decent society is that it resists the temptation to spurn the defenseless.")
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To: Tax-chick
Yeah, it's going as well as you could expect.

We still have enough toilet paper-for the time being-and food. Haven't been out since going to Pastosa on Monday-when I thought the quarantine was imminent-and the stores on Staten Island don't seem to be that crowded.

Have at least gotten a lot of laundry done.

4,044 posted on 03/19/2020 9:43:48 AM PDT by OddLane
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To: ArGee; Tax-chick; Monkey Face; NoCmpromiz; Darksheare; NicknamedBob; no-to-illegals; Covenantor; ...

Hey, y’all.


4,045 posted on 03/19/2020 9:44:23 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: ArGee

I got a Sicilian slice 3 days ago at a pizzeria near a local gas station. Might be the last one for a while.


4,046 posted on 03/19/2020 9:44:37 AM PDT by OddLane
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To: Covenantor

Beautiful—thank you.


4,047 posted on 03/19/2020 9:45:41 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Silentgypsy
Bona Dies.

:-)

4,048 posted on 03/19/2020 9:48:19 AM PDT by OddLane
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To: Silentgypsy; OddLane; Monkey Face

We got a piece of mail from Virginia addressed to Elen, USMC. I took a photo and texted it to her, “Should I open this? Trash it?”

“I don’t know what it is,” she said. “Oh, wait, it must be from a lawyer: I got a ticket in Virginia last week.”

“Of course you did. You’re Anoreth’s sister.”

I told her to pay the ticket, and I will throw away any further legal advertisements.


4,049 posted on 03/19/2020 9:49:51 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("The mark of a decent society is that it resists the temptation to spurn the defenseless.")
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To: Tax-chick
Honestly, it's better than the piece of mail I got earlier today, which was a letter from the Jehovah's Witnesses.
4,050 posted on 03/19/2020 9:50:49 AM PDT by OddLane
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To: OddLane

We have JW’s in the neighborhood. They’ve been stopping by every month for about 15 years. I take their stuff and chat with them, because why not: they’re neighbors.


4,051 posted on 03/19/2020 9:51:48 AM PDT by Tax-chick ("The mark of a decent society is that it resists the temptation to spurn the defenseless.")
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To: OddLane

Buongiorno, OL.


4,052 posted on 03/19/2020 9:53:28 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Tax-chick

Isn’t seeing relaxed, elderly animals peaceful? It’s especially wonderful if they were spastic when you adopted them.


4,053 posted on 03/19/2020 9:55:43 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Covenantor

Nice!
Requires some loud classical music to go with it.
:)


4,054 posted on 03/19/2020 9:57:03 AM PDT by moose07 (DMCS (Dit Me Cong San ) Life really does begin at forty. Until then, you are just doing research.)
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To: Tax-chick
I think the letter is in lieu of actually going door to door.

I was supposed to attend training for elections inspectors yesterday, but it was cancelled. It'll be interesting to see whether they cancel the primary here.

4,055 posted on 03/19/2020 9:59:03 AM PDT by OddLane
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To: Tax-chick

Fairly restful, except I’m still working. Mrs. ArGee has decided I was in Wuhan, China, not NYC. I’m in a mini-quarantine while I’m in the apartment.


4,056 posted on 03/19/2020 10:32:11 AM PDT by ArGee (Excellence or diversity? Ask for diversity, you get diversity. Ask for excellence, you get both.)
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To: Tax-chick; Monkey Face

So, I’m curious. How did the thumb get the pins in it in the first place without you knowing? And how did you put it in the dryer?


4,057 posted on 03/19/2020 10:34:57 AM PDT by ArGee (Excellence or diversity? Ask for diversity, you get diversity. Ask for excellence, you get both.)
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To: OddLane

I get the New Yawk Style foldable kind.

I haven’t been in Staten Island sine I helped with some Sandy clean-up. But I assume the pizza is at least as good there as in lower Manhattan.


4,058 posted on 03/19/2020 10:37:44 AM PDT by ArGee (Excellence or diversity? Ask for diversity, you get diversity. Ask for excellence, you get both.)
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To: Silentgypsy; Tax-chick
"We have kudzu and morning glories."

Tax-chick recommends a liberal application of goats.

4,059 posted on 03/19/2020 10:52:17 AM PDT by NicknamedBob (If you can't do something well, you won't do anything good.)
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To: NicknamedBob; Tax-chick

We have cattle, sheep and horses at hand. Goats are difficult to manage and they keep getting their little heads stuck in the fences.


4,060 posted on 03/19/2020 11:32:57 AM PDT by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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