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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: ArGee; Darksheare

I’m not worried about it. I have a good relationship with the Bobs.


681 posted on 11/13/2019 12:47:06 PM PST by NicknamedBob (If you can't do something well, you won't do anything good.)
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To: NicknamedBob

They did vanish the tape dispenser.


682 posted on 11/13/2019 9:53:54 PM PST by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: Tax-chick; fanfan; ColdOne; Cyber Liberty; null and void; Anoreth; Monkey Face; ...

683 posted on 11/14/2019 3:00:43 AM PST by Tax-chick (Tomado de la mano, yo voy con Cristo a donde El va!)
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To: Tax-chick

Kitteh sez, “Whatchiilookinat?”

Good morning.

I spent 30 minutes looking for something online that, after I found it, I realized I would never use it. THAT was a rude awakening...

Now I’m still trying to get things off the kitchen table and either onto the desk, in the trash, or somewhere else invisible. And because of the shape of the desk, I realized I’ll have to get a different carpet protector. This one is a hazard because it gets forced by the chair movements into curled parts which catch my toes. Scary.

The futon/sofa is out of the box, and like the desk, is of good quality, even though the price was marked to sell. To make room for a newer, better model, no doubt. All the hardware is packaged. The small pieces, like bolts, nuts and other stuff are in a vacuum pack. The middle legs and hinges are in a small wrapped packet, so hopefully, I won’t be so confused about the assembly.

In other news, I saw Rocky when she came home yesterday for a few things, and she looked so fragile. She will be gone for the better part of a week, maybe more, and will have Harley cared for by someone else, somewhere else.


684 posted on 11/14/2019 4:07:47 AM PST by Monkey Face (No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot. ~~ Mark Twain ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

I hope Rocky and Harley do okay wherever they go.

It’s cold here. I’m putting off going upstairs to get dressed.


685 posted on 11/14/2019 4:36:51 AM PST by Tax-chick (Tomado de la mano, yo voy con Cristo a donde El va!)
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To: Tax-chick

Yes, I know the “cold” feeling very well.

I’ve been trying to get to clutter of my kitchen table, and its rather interesting. Today seems to be a day of self-realization, as I have little notepad papers with notes that are/were important all over the place.

I sent a photo of the desk to my Favorite Son, and his response was, “Dang! That thing is FULL!” I reminded him that most of it had been in the little Secretary desk, and even I find that amazing! But little by little, the table is getting emptied of things it doesn’t need to have on it.

Maybe, once the futon/sofa is built, it will feel like home. I hope.


686 posted on 11/14/2019 5:49:30 AM PST by Monkey Face (No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot. ~~ Mark Twain ~~)
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To: Tax-chick

“You woke me up for THAT?!?”


687 posted on 11/14/2019 7:23:19 AM PST by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Silentgypsy

I get that look a lot.


688 posted on 11/14/2019 7:53:20 AM PST by Tax-chick (Tomado de la mano, yo voy con Cristo a donde El va!)
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To: Tax-chick; Silentgypsy; ArGee; NicknamedBob

I looked in the mirror last night before I went to bed and found a boomerang-shaped bruise about 1/2” across right at the hairline. It was on a little round bump only a little bit larger than the bruise.

So even at my age, I got a smart bump from crawling around under the desk... ;o]


689 posted on 11/14/2019 8:05:33 AM PST by Monkey Face (No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot. ~~ Mark Twain ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

Today, the crystals in the Storm Glass look like ferns!


690 posted on 11/14/2019 8:06:37 AM PST by Monkey Face (No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot. ~~ Mark Twain ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

You need to be careful!


691 posted on 11/14/2019 8:07:10 AM PST by Tax-chick (Tomado de la mano, yo voy con Cristo a donde El va!)
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To: Tax-chick

:-D


692 posted on 11/14/2019 8:19:31 AM PST by Silentgypsy (Call an addiction hotline and say you're hooked on phonics.)
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To: Silentgypsy

Frank is threatening to have a meltdown because he doesn’t care for his lunch choices. I’m thinking of putting the whole family on Austerity Rations as a Learning Experience.


693 posted on 11/14/2019 8:30:36 AM PST by Tax-chick (Tomado de la mano, yo voy con Cristo a donde El va!)
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To: Monkey Face

Fire futon torpedoes!


694 posted on 11/14/2019 9:23:14 AM PST by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: Darksheare

The futon torpedoes are too square, bumpy and lightweight to be effective on any target. Except perhaps for the ones that slouch on the container... ;o]


695 posted on 11/14/2019 11:27:17 AM PST by Monkey Face (No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot. ~~ Mark Twain ~~)
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To: Tax-chick

I was careful! I just didn’t give myself enough clearance.


696 posted on 11/14/2019 11:28:05 AM PST by Monkey Face (No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot. ~~ Mark Twain ~~)
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To: Tax-chick

Ah, yes... Austerity Rations. I believe my mother invented them when we began to moan and whine about what was put on the table. Which was actually a lot, considering the amount of income compared to the number of people who were consuming them. Yes, it was indeed, a Learning Experience.


697 posted on 11/14/2019 11:31:08 AM PST by Monkey Face (No amount of evidence will ever convince an idiot. ~~ Mark Twain ~~)
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To: Monkey Face

They also kinda unfold and flop when fired, but it makes a good diversion.


698 posted on 11/14/2019 12:48:04 PM PST by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: Monkey Face

We have a lot of potato soup right now. They can learn to love it!


699 posted on 11/14/2019 1:04:12 PM PST by Tax-chick (Tomado de la mano, yo voy con Cristo a donde El va!)
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To: Tax-chick

I can’t just leave it sit there.


700 posted on 11/14/2019 2:08:52 PM PST by Tax-chick (Tomado de la mano, yo voy con Cristo a donde El va!)
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