I don't know what I'm doing with my hand in this picture, and yes, I know that the letters are backwards in the mirror, but I was reminded of this wonderful blog as soon as I saw the shirt. I knew I had to take a picture and post it on here to advocate for this blog.
In the spirit of "why don't you blog about it" shirts everywhere, let's begin and talk about how my results could actually mean something in life! All right, this might come as a shock, but I didn't take videos of people to sit there and watch them blink just for fun.
I did it because...
Understanding how blink rate indicates certain behavior and mental states is important because it offers a sort of gateway into the brain. The reason behind all of this, and what this paper is really all about is the neurotransmitter dopamine, as I've mentioned before.
Professionals could be able to tell if one is more impulsive based off of blink rates, and this could be useful for a myriad of mental disorders. An example would be Impulse Control Disorders, or ICDs. Some ICDs include pathological gambling, kleptomania (impulsive stealing), pyromania (impulsively setting fires), and intermittent explosive disorder, which is pretty self explanatory (aggressive and explosive outbursts).
Certain treatments could work better if researchers are able to tell the root causes of these behaviors, and could focus on treating the dopamine abnormality that is present in affected brains.
Also, I've mentioned before that understanding how dopamine affects the brain is important because it could help overcome disorders such as anxiety and schizophrenia.
A study done by German researchers shows that anxiety is linked to dopamine in relation to the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that deals with fear and anger. The findings of this study suggest a new way of approaching anxiety disorders, which currently affect almost 20% of adults in the United States, according to the DANA Foundation. The German scientist Thomas Kienast led a group of researchers in Berlin in a study that examined how dopamine affects the amygdala. Through using PET and fMRI, the scientists found that those with more dopamine stored in their left amygdalas, which tend to invoke fear more than the right amygdala, were more anxious.
According to the Schizophrenia Research Forum, the most established hypothesis for the cause of schizophrenia is the dopamine hypothesis. Schizophrenia is an immensely complex disorder, and dopamine does not seem to be the only answer, but research shows that there is a direct relationship between excess dopamine levels and schizophrenic behavior and symptoms. This hypothesis provides a large implication for the treatment of schizophrenia. Currently, treatments are focused around abnormal neurotransmitter levels. Further research with dopamine suggests that future treatments should revolve around specific factors that focus on where a dopaminergic funnel point, where dopamine is concentrated.
There is so much more to be discovered! It's truly exciting, and if you're interested in this then there are plenty of articles on research that's been conducted recently and now about all of this. Just google dopamine and how it impacts the brain and certain disorders and you'll be busy reading for a long time.
Thanks for reading this, and I hope you come back for my sixth blog post.
Word Count: 580
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