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 ...
Sleeping until nearly 0400 when my son and his wife were here was scary and good at the same time. I used to think I got up so early so I wouldn’t miss anything, but I’ve modified it to not missing the best part of the day!
So. Back to writing letters! now, I have one more person to write to, and she will be leaving for Winnipeg, Canada, on Dec 11. I hope the weather in Provo is helping her body to adjust, since all she has known has been St George! Spoiled!!!
Starting out in Canada at just about the toughest time of year, but the good part is that, after a few months, things will miraculously improve.
Exactly! I think I can send her Walmart cards, but from what I’ve read, they will be worth more in Canada. And unlike the Henderson store, this one will allow the purchase of cards in $5 increments, which is excellent news for me.
I have to make sure about the cards, though. I don’t want to buy one and then find out she can’t use it.
She’ll only be there 18 months, so it will be over almost before it starts. You know how things go when you’re having fun!
More than enough of them this way.
Thank you.
Sometimes lunacy and criminality spill over (what’re those circle diagrams called?).
Thanks, Bob.
Wow—Pecos Bill hasn’t posted here since 2002.
Howya. The mother of Sally’s squealy friend Cassidy has “disappeared.” Sally “called out” from work and has gone to ... I don’t know. In my car.
You can really tell when a person will continue to eat even if she doesn’t work.
Blarg.
The mother of squealy Cassidy is fine. She had a migraine, stopped her car, was in too much pain for a while to contact anyone.
I suggested to Sally that she go to work.
You mean Sally has a job?
Or are you hinting broadly that she should acquire one?
The Pecos Bill I had in mind was the one of story and legend, or perhaps more story and legend; it was said that he once lassoed a tornado.
If that's not a prime example of a Venn diagram then how else would you describe it?
Isn’t that tornado, that Pecos Bill lassoed the one that cut the Grand Canyon? Uhh… Nope. Wrong story. He also lassoed Slue Foot Sue. It’s been a long time since I saw that cartoon, and I vaguely recall it. Wiki helped. Sue bounced on her bustle... ;o]
The End.
Sally’s going to regret that “call out” from work when she sees her next paycheck.
Some days, you make me thoroughly happy that my kids are grown and gone. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need their Ma anymore. Just that it has to be of Adult Crisis-size before they call their Ma in a panic.
Wow. That made my head spin, Bob. I would have been happy with one example. I shoulda quit when I was ahead.
Is that the same squealy friend Sally had several years ago?
I guess my mother was right: There’s no accountin’ fer taste, said the ol’ lady when she kissed the cow.
OK.
So shoot...
Me.
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