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Only 12 people got the actual drug, and their performance was only degraded 10%. This is an interesting theory with a little evidence but hardly "stops you from

by cheepin 11y ago

Only 12 people got the actual drug, and their performance was only degraded 10%. This is an interesting theory with a little evidence but hardly "stops you from recognizing other people's emotions", and may be just noise from the small sample.

zamalek 11y ago
> stops you from recognizing other people's emotions Journalistic sensationalist garbage. I'm no advocate of drug usage but lying about things achieves nothing. However, from an anecdotal perspective: my flatmate's ex-girlfriend had completely annihilated her brain with chronic use of that drug and, knowing her, would I agree with those incredibly inconclusive results? Somewhat - she definitely showed no capability of responding to emotions in others, but her brain way beyond fried: so it may have been systemic (or other drugs). > little evidence I wouldn't call it that, it is a weak correlation at best. They should have included significantly more people.
- soylentcola 11y ago
  Also, there's the issue of what sorts of neurological "types" tend to abuse which sorts of drugs. I currently take medication for ADHD which works on the dopamine response and feedback system. Cocaine at least superficially works on similar mechanisms. I remember when I was talking to my doctor prior to being put on the medication and discussing any past recreational drug use. I'm sure that part of this was in order to determine any abuse potential but the doc also mentioned that a lot of times people with atypical dopamine feedback will abuse or "self-medicate" with cocaine. I wonder if more people who gravitate toward heavy cocaine use (or the ones more likely to become habitual cocaine users) do so because they don't get the same sort of feedback and reinforcement from external stimuli as more "neurotypical" people. It's all just conjecture on my part but my experience is that a lot of people who use recreational drugs have their drugs of choice because it's not always just about getting "messed up" but could be because certain tweaks to their neurochemistry are more pleasurable than others.

by cheepin 11y ago

zamalek 11y ago

> stops you from recognizing other people's emotions Journalistic sensationalist garbage. I'm no advocate of drug usage but lying about things achieves nothing. However, from an anecdotal perspective: my flatmate's ex-girlfriend had completely annihilated her brain with chronic use of that drug and, knowing her, would I agree with those incredibly inconclusive results? Somewhat - she definitely showed no capability of responding to emotions in others, but her brain way beyond fried: so it may have been systemic (or other drugs). > little evidence I wouldn't call it that, it is a weak correlation at best. They should have included significantly more people.

soylentcola 11y ago
Also, there's the issue of what sorts of neurological "types" tend to abuse which sorts of drugs. I currently take medication for ADHD which works on the dopamine response and feedback system. Cocaine at least superficially works on similar mechanisms. I remember when I was talking to my doctor prior to being put on the medication and discussing any past recreational drug use. I'm sure that part of this was in order to determine any abuse potential but the doc also mentioned that a lot of times people with atypical dopamine feedback will abuse or "self-medicate" with cocaine. I wonder if more people who gravitate toward heavy cocaine use (or the ones more likely to become habitual cocaine users) do so because they don't get the same sort of feedback and reinforcement from external stimuli as more "neurotypical" people. It's all just conjecture on my part but my experience is that a lot of people who use recreational drugs have their drugs of choice because it's not always just about getting "messed up" but could be because certain tweaks to their neurochemistry are more pleasurable than others.