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 youre 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 ...
You’re welcome. Placido Domingo!
At this location north of you the sun is obscured by a layer of airborne water vapor, the cats are all inside and the electronical remote sensing thermochecking device is reporting that the outdoor temperature is -22° F on its receiver located by Mrs. NoC's computer..
I am of the opinion that it is lying but all cats being indoors may indicate some other truth... ;-)
That’s mighty cold for the daytime.
Cats are an indicator of something, though.
Retrieving the transmitter from its hidie-hole under the eave is a project for 'when I get a round tuit'..
Historically batteries last almost a year and a half so it's not really 'due' yet but if it doesn't 'recover' and I'm forced to retrieve it, it'll get new batteries whether it's 'time' or not.
Or I might just break down and invest in a more sophisticated device that will tell me temp, wind speed and direction, amount of precip, and the price of rice in Singapore. There's a fence pole by the west leg of the drive that I could mount the transmitter on. How it will retrieve info from Singapore is unknown at this time..
And on cats being an indicator, our black & white in/outdoor cat was on the back porch on the mat huddled up against the door less than ten minutes after he went out. I have no idea what that indicates... ;-)
I would post a variety of skull/dark themed animated gifs on the 666 posts...
Hard to believe I ever had that much time on my hands.
Here's a photo of me at work...
What a great job! I gotta send a strongly-worded letter to my career advisors.
Hey, DC!!! Welcome, for the two or three seconds it took you to post. ;o] Some of us have missed you more than you could ever know. And you even disappeared from FB, though yer mum is there, at times. Even she’s not there very often these days.
Anyway, stop in and visit once in a while. You know how to find us...”monkeyfacerules” :o])
I like it!
Happy Monday Test: Can you see the kitteh in the tacky decor?
There’s tacky day-cor? All I see is a marvelous little floof with a beautiful coat of shiny fur!
Good morning.
The laundry is done except for hanging the shirts and making the bed, and the bed can be done later. Is it too late to cancel today?
See? That would be me, too!
‘Morning, Covenantor!
That would be funny if it weren’t so infuriatingly true, only it should say “30 years.”
Lovely fuzz-ball! Could use some petting to smooth out that fur, though.
Thanks, Tax-chick!
You have a red sofa with faux-Jacobean pillow covers? I figured someone must ...
There is a perfectly understandable correlation between cat owners - especially rescuers - and shabby furniture.
Happy Monday! I have to go do the WSJ crossword puzzle - it keeps my brain alive ;-).
Gfmfgd Mfgdsmng. Hfmpmpy Mfgmgdy!
Nfglfed cmflfmgee!
Replace traffic with trains and you get my typical morning.
Well, based on my daughter's experience, I would say it has something to do with not wanting to have every inch of good furniture covered with cat hair.
All her furniture is what she's accumulated with no money.
Knowing what cats do to “good furniture,” even solid-wood furniture, one might as well take remnants. (Just make sure they’re treated for bedbugs, if there’s upholstery.)
All the solid-wood furniture we had was gnawed by Tom the Son when he was teething.
Finished the puzzle. Vlad said it was too difficult for a Monday, and I agree. How many people (especially 13-year-olds) were going to know “London destination for Turner fans” is “Tate”?
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