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 ...
Well, my hours in Vet Tech class weren’t a complete waste!
I walked over to get the mail, and as I was coming back, I looked up to see if I could see any of the meteor shower, but I was able to see the Big Dipper for the first time in years!! I couldn’t see the Pole Star and I was too late for the meteor shower, but the sky is beautiful, up here away from sky glow.
The mail was nothing but bills.
Beautiful markings imho on the kittah
Avoid the mail and sox. Imho those spellings may not be correct
LOL!
OK. How are you doing these days? FYI, you and yours are still in my prayers. <3
Good morning. All cats are beautiful in their own way.
The sun is shining here. It might be warm enough later to do something outside. Some of the plants have died from the cold, so we need to remove them.
Thanks for the prayers. We pray for your well being also. We are super busy but life is good but we do wish for attaining some goals in 2020 and time to gather a time of R&R. Hugs and warm wishes sent your way. May 2020 be your best year ever!!!
Prayers that all is well for you and yours!!!
He was playing the harmonica?
Doing fine, thanks, and hope you are the same! We were out your way last weekend: the Cub Scouts went to Kings Mountain.
I think it’s going to be an awesome year, NtI! Thanks for the wishes! :o]
Grand adventures for the young ones Cowpens is another great Revolutionary battlefield. Longer distance west but worth the time for a history lesson The battle plan executed at Cowpens was re-enacted in The Patriot but I bet you knew that history morsel and the Hollyweird version of the battle
Thanks for the prayers !!!
We have often talked about visiting Cowpens but never made it there. Maybe in the spring!
No thanks necessary! It’s the least I could do. :o]
Quoting myself:
“It was the least I could do, and that’s why I did it!”
Si. And the piano.
By the way, if you’ve never seen that shown I recommend it.
I don’t think I have.
Great minds...
Thank you.
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