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 ...
Treatings and solicitations!
"But Bread and Butter, I should note that unlike previous witnesses, you and I have actually met."
Oh - BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I hope Tiw has been good to you today.
I saw “Frozen II” with Kathleen. It was surprisingly amusing. It has baby reindeer in it.
I guess I’ll have to go to Walmart after dark: I’m out of bananas.
Might be needed on Isle 3 also. You never know what’s hanging out there..
Note to self: Never try to top off completely your liquid oxygen tank when the liquid oxygen tank has been sitting exposed to the hot Florida sun all morning.
Aisle 3?
Lemme see.
*Consults notes*
One lost truck driver, three vacationing yeti that insist they’re from Michigan (+citation needed), a mime, and one “Bjurk”.
No, I don’t know what that is, only annotated as “Bjurk”.
People in Ohio have to contend with yetis from Michigan crossing the border and displaying their driving skills on Ohio roads all the time. Perpetually in the left lane. With their brights on.
If you had grown up there you would know the truth of this..
That little floof looks like it got the worst of something, poor baby. I heart dat fing!
Good morning.
I was checking the thread, skipped over to Dark’s link and back and Presto! there’s a Floof! Imagine that!
Yesterday’s mail provided me with a card from Alexis, thanking me for making a special trip to St George to give her a little book and a big hug. It boosted my spirits enormously!
Now, I’m going to go take a hot shower before I freeze.
Rescue kitten. Started out in pretty bad shape, but made a full recovery, says the poster.
It’s cold here, too.
Rescue kitten looks like an absolute love. I would take it, for sure.
My windshield keeps frosting over at night so I’ll have to get some more Prestone de-icer.
Shower. Now.
“If you think I look ruff, you should see dat mousie.”
“Oh, you can’t! I eated it!”
It would appear that I was at Wally’s at just the right time to avoid to Thanksgiving rush. And! I was told by one of the regular checkers that Walmart is trying to avoid the Black Friday crush by offering better deals online. And of course, they’re already doing the shop-by-phone thing, big time, here.
I told Alex if I did that, I’d never get any exercise!
Monday is James’ birthday, and I need to try and get a package mailed to him, since I don’t think I want to go to St George with holiday traffic and “long delays” even on the “Alt Rte.” I’ll mail it Saturday, I think.
Starlings and libations
Thank you.
Dumplings and carnations
For lunch?
Libations I can handle. Starlings on the other hand are an invasive species..
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