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’ve checked it is just BS Bingo.
Those are the local health districts of the NHS.
Ah well...
None the less, I’ll begin the new Sister City Project with Gallows-Along-Potomac at this end.
UK on three week lockdown as of now. See BBC for details.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-52000039
I thought the UK was just going to let it bblow through, chips falling where they wist.
Boris saw the stupidity this weekend and realised he had to act.
It was beyond belief, worse than a bank holiday.
It isn’t total, it has loopholes.
Best wishes to all. We’ll think of you as we admire the verdant but fatal fields of Midsomer.
At times like this there is only one thing to do....Have a Cup of Tea.
I’ve been having lots of tea. It turned cold again yesterday, and today has been bleah. Supposed to be warm again by Thursday.
I actually suggested to one of my co-workers who is a SW fan that we should market Darth Vader masks and gloves to ward of COVID-19.
I’ll just take my chances, the same way I did before I came up here to work from home. No face mask, but plenty of soap and water.
W00t!
Good catch!
Kitteh is looking for sleepy heads.
Good morning.
I was here earlier but had to sort my pills. I thought I would do it yesterday, but I was just too tired. So I slept from 1630 to 0230. I needed it. I feel better, but not ¡estupendo!
This morning I’ll take advantage of the Senior Hour at Walmart (actually, 90 minutes, which is better because the store is so big) but I’ll leave here about 0620. I hope the line isn’t too long.
I don’t know if the Unwashed Masses get their news the way I do, but rumor has it the quarantine will soon be lifted so people can get back to work. And I can start shopping at a decent hour. 0400.
I slept until 5:05. I was dreaming a complicated plot involving, among other things, a runaway train and a ballet. I was glad to wake up!
I hope it’s true that you soon see a resumption of normalcy.
The local LSM says the quarantine is continued until April 22 for Utah. The day before I’m supposed to leave. We’ll see. So, I’m off to Wally’s to scavenge.
There are some COVID cases in northeastern Utah/Wasatch Mountains, but of the five cases, four are visitors. So we shall see.
Mom says I could get on a free flight just about anywhere right now, but there’s no guarantee I’d ever be able to come back. It would have been tempting a couple of weeks ago, but I’m feeling super mellowed out now, after all this vacation!
Anoreth says she’s bored. I offered to put some puzzles on our doorstep for her, if she wants to drive over but doesn’t want to come in. We have some of 1,000 pieces or more, and we don’t get those out because they take too long.
Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
Another busy one here.
Good morning. I hope Tiw is on your side today!
The room-painting has not yet begun, because of Delay A, Delay B, Delay aB, and, “I need to go get one more thing.”
Maybe I need to change my goal from getting it done today, sufficiently for James’s and Pat’s beds to be moved, to, “Keeping the male family members usefully occupied indefinitely.”
I’m back from my excursion. Walmart is actually open at 0600 for seniors, so I was able to get there at about 0630.
A lot of the workers were holding either paper towels or TP as the patrons came through the door and I declined both. I was able to get white and whole wheat flour, and I got a couple of other things that may not be there when I do my big shopping on payday. How I’ll manage with all those seniors in competition, I don’t know. But there are things they buy that I don’t so having a specialized body has its perks!
It wore me out and by the time I got home, my back was killing me. So here I am!
More rain for Thursday, so I’m thinking because it rained yesterday The Epically Failed Company that produces minuscule results in landscaping will show up today with all the noise and dust it can produce and I’ll have to shut my door again.
Good Morning to you All.
A lovely warm sunny day here.
Hardly a sound outside, even the Birds have vanished.
Kat is up ta sumptin.
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