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 ...
So you just winged it back in the day?
Any 13yo Undeades do, now.
w00t!
Is it winged or wung?
I just did a jigsaw. Well, I got the frame and some of the inside done. Not much can keep my brain alive, but this helps a little. Lots of things going on today.
Daughter is having another mammo today. She won’t listen to me, so I get to play “Worried Mom.”
Vlad knows it now. The Tate Gallery is a place, so it could be a Geology Bee question.
Thank you.
Hi, y’all.
I thought it had to do with “Helter Skelter.”
Nope, wrong Tate.
D’afternoon. I’m back from the dentist in one piece.
High, their!
I need a stiff drink. Like, maybe some Chocolate Raspberry Cocoa....Thick...
Oh noes! Your day must have been *terrible* to need something that strong.
LOL .... Took me a whole day to be able to reply
The resurrected remote temperature-sensing transmitting device that resides under the eave by the back door has been supplied with fresh batteries and is again reporting for duty. It was reinstalled in its place by Son#2 thus saving me from the need to climb a ladder - something that while still do-able is not as easy as it was even five years ago.
Someday I’ll get a new body...
Darkness has descended on what was a rather drismal day - and they are projecting that the drismal will solidify later this evening. A layer of solidified dihydrogen oxide on the back porch is always a funthing..
I hope you found it! I had one meeting, and soon I’ll be leaving for another.
It has it’s good points. Parking is easy... I’d be nice if I could stomp about on some coastal town in the sunshine though...
Even Elder Gods need a bit of sun now and then...
I’ve been back on FB for a while now. I was off for a while due to personal reasons.
Getting fitted for tentacles, grown hormone to add 125’ of height, and learning what... and what not to do... with the wings.
Winging it now... As always...
Just now I have minions, size 412W shoes, and I get to hang with Nyarlathotep in the bowling league...
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