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.
There is no more intoxicating fantasy than to feel extraordinary
I make a mentor out of every man that I meet
A lover out of every person I pass in the street
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.
“Hillbilly Elegy looks like a lifetime movie that's trying to win an Oscar.” - Indira Aziz
A new approach for evaluating the behavioral effects of antipsychotic drugs (Heyman, Beer) 1987
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.
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!
Awesome Quotes and Impactful Writing, Lyrics, etc.
Technology can be art; an application can evoke and represent emotion; I can sound like a wanker waxing poetic about the JavaScript I’m writing right now
The design on the tins of these weed gummies is just fantastic. Whoever’s on their design team needs a raise.
Apparently mixed All Hope Is Gone.