Matthew Sparks
@sparksm
BS Behavioral Neuroscience: addiction and addiction treatment armchair-expert with a past toxic relationship with opioids. Aspiring terminal degree holder. Lifelong musician, metalhead, tech nerd and PC gamer, and open-mic night standup comic. Accidentally blew up on YouTube for screaming in my car.
Knowing is not enough. Knowing too much can encourage us to procrastinate. There's a certain point when continuing to know at the expense of doing allows the mess to grow further
This is a mess I have both birthed and been consumed by, and now I am watching it consume others from the other side of the fence. They’re too defensive to be heard, but I keep the Faith that they will figure it out. Unfortunately, it’s just a matter of waiting.
Music and
New Fleshgod, baby!
Neuroscience and
Unsurprisingly, a study found that (N=5.806) found that both D’s and R’s overestimate the opposing party’s approval of morally abhorrent acts.
“Learning that opponents condemn basic moral wrongs reduces dehumanization and fosters interest in cross-partisan cooperation. Correcting this bias could combat political dehumanization.”
Key Facts:
Moral Misjudgment: Both parties overestimate opponents’ approval of immoral acts.
Survey Findings: Correcting this bias reduces dehumanization and promotes cooperation.
Social Media Impact: Use of words referencing immoral acts has increased, especially post-2016.
Apparently mixed All Hope Is Gone.
Academic Papers and
This goes along with the suggestion from that Glutamate & MDD lecture I love on YouTube given to psychiatry med students where the lecturer/professor claims that glial cells are the real stars in much of the processes that are major areas of study right now in mental illness.
Astrocytes regulate synaptic plasticity, which is essential for learning and memory. Their dysfunction can lead to significant cognitive decline.
Also, the researchers referring to themselves as Computational Neuroscientists—just a heads up!
Dr. Marc Lewis promotes a model for addiction based around deep learning—the process by which our brain deeply integrates thoughts, beliefs, and actions when doing or experiencing something impactful, over and over again, or both. This model stands in contrast to the idea that addiction is brain disease, unable to be cured—only treated—and that demands indefinite abstinence from all mind altering substances.
Note to self for maintaining direction and a chronology
Academic Papers and
This is a fascinating paper about people who experience no inner dialogue and the kind of effects traversing through life without one can or might have on someone, as well as how people adapt to this unusual difference between them and the rest of the population