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 ...
Nothing like starting my day with a LOL!
I usually save that for FB, but maybe you’d rather start it here? What a concept!
“I’ll never be ruled by cats like my parents were ...”
Happy Tiwsday!
Weight Watchers this morning, and then I’m taking Kathleen to see “Frozen 2.” She read 30 books in ten days to earn it. Easy books, but nonetheless, it’s a substantial accomplishment.
I think we’ll get to the library Wednesday morning after dropping Pat at school. We usually go Thursday.
Yes it is a happy Tiwsday!
Rocky sent me a text last night thanking me for being a friend and then asking me to watch for any package deliveries and to “put them on the chair.” OK. I can do that. In the first part of the text, it sounds like she is coming home soon but then the rest of it sounds like she’ll be gone for the duration. Silly.
Thirty books in 10 days??? What an accomplishment! Good job Kathleen! I see all the “Frozen” stuff for kids at Walmart and I wonder why they don’t make a movie like that for adults. Oh. Wait. They did. “Toy Story” in all its incarnations and “Finding Nemo.”
It’s just 28°, with a wind chill of 23°. I don’t want to go outside, please! It’s colder here that it is in Salt Lake City!
We had a fast moving storm come through yesterday afternoon, but the only thing it left was the cold. I had to lock my door to keep it from blowing open.
EYEBLEACH on isle 3.
Thanks for that eyebleach. It couldn’t come fast enough.
Some memes should just never be made.
Happy Tuesday, everyone.
If we keep moving, we can get Pat to school and then make it to the movie at noon and be home in time to, perhaps, go with Tom the Son to pick up the car he is buying. Woo-hoo!
It has a lot of miles on it, but he only needs to get about two years out of it.
I once read some useful advice: “Google ‘tiny kitten picture,’ and put down the gun.”
My yesterday was too long. However, I am now the proud owner of 2 more NY license plates (2 per car in this state). So I can tell the mechanic he can start fixing up the car. YIPPEE.
Good for you! Within the next couple of days, I will celebrate removing Tom the Son from our insurance policy.
*aisle.
Sheesh!
I thought you’d gone on a cruise.
It will be good for Tom to have his own vehicle, and even better for you, not having to carry him on your insurance. I hope he shops around for insurance to get the lowest rates. Perhaps he’ll be a more defensive driver, when he realizes the repairs are coming directly out of his own pocket, rather than split up after you’ve borne the brunt of it.
I expected the BB SUV to be worth only about two years, but this March will mark the 7th year. I just keep trying to baby it along! It needs an oil change, but I don’t know if I can afford it this payday. It also needs new air and fuel filters. I think I’ve figured out a way to stop the leaking from the rain onto the seat... But I’ll have to check with my Head Mechanic (my Favorite Son!) to make sure it will work.
And I will celebrate Tom’s removal with you!!
It’s only a little over a month away!
No, there were trouble with the rocket engines so we had to postpone the cruise.
If you keep typing, “I can’t wait for the BB SUV to die” into FR it will live forever. On the other hand, if you type, “I hope it never dies” ...
Little angel....
Hey, y’all.
H.
Eyall
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