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’m not worried about it. I have a good relationship with the Bobs.
They did vanish the tape dispenser.
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.
I hope Rocky and Harley do okay wherever they go.
It’s cold here. I’m putting off going upstairs to get dressed.
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.
“You woke me up for THAT?!?”
I get that look a lot.
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]
Today, the crystals in the Storm Glass look like ferns!
You need to be careful!
:-D
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.
Fire futon torpedoes!
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]
I was careful! I just didn’t give myself enough clearance.
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.
They also kinda unfold and flop when fired, but it makes a good diversion.
We have a lot of potato soup right now. They can learn to love it!
I can’t just leave it sit there.
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