Oh Joh, if there were only two chemicals involved, life would be so much
easier. There are many many neurotransmitters, and they interact in different
and complicated ways. One very interesting direction in AI is the production
of a software modeled schizophrenic brain, which is then tested to react to
certain kinds of "chemical" stimulation to produce hallucinations. This
research may soon inspire filmakers.
Jude
Jon Henshaw wrote:
> One of the aspects that I like most about dreams is that our reality within
> our own dreams essentially makes us insane. There are two main chemicals
> that are active when we are awake and when we are in full REM (I can't
> remember their names exactly, so I won't put what I think they might be
> called --- as to not sound like a bigger idiot). When you are conscious,
> one of those chemicals takes over to give you, in all practical purposes,
> sane consciousness. When you are in full REM sleep, the other chemical
> takes over. This is why when you are awakened abruptly from a REM state,
> you may act and sound like an idiot, because you're in the process of
> switching over to the chemical used in conscious states. Furthermore, many
> schizophrenics have been found to have the chemical that is usually active
> during their REM sleep, active while they are conscious. This would of
> course explain (to some degree) their delusions --- which in REM sleep
> would be perfectly normal.
>
> It would be interesting to see a writer and/or director take on this
> phenomenon. At the very least, it could be used as a plausible cause for
> the dementia of a lead character. It could also be used to explore the
> degrees of reality we all experience --- such as, are the things we all
> find common in society simply delusions and there are only a few people
> (the insane) who truly see reality for what it really is.
>
> Just some thoughts and babbling...
>
> -Jon
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