Scott examines two types of happiness - one affected by predictability and one that persists - through various examples and neuroscientific concepts. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the concept of happiness and reward in relation to neuroscience and prediction error. He discusses how there seem to be two types of happiness: one that is cancelled out by predictability (like the hedonic treadmill) and another that persists even when expected. The post delves into various examples including grief, romantic relationships, and drug tolerance to illustrate this pattern. Scott also touches on AI concepts and how they might relate to human reward systems. He concludes by suggesting that while unpredicted rewards can't be consistently obtained, predicted rewards can still be enjoyable. Shorter summary

Scott explores the theory that clozapine's unique effectiveness in treating schizophrenia may be due to its combined action on dopamine and glutamate systems, potentially opening avenues for safer treatments. Longer summary

This post explores why clozapine is considered uniquely effective among antipsychotic drugs for treating schizophrenia. Scott discusses recent research suggesting clozapine's superiority may be due to its action on the glutamate system, specifically as an NMDA receptor agonist, in addition to its dopamine-blocking effects. He explains that adding NMDA modulators to other antipsychotics improves their efficacy, but not when added to clozapine, possibly because clozapine already has this effect. The post speculates that if this theory is correct, it could lead to safer treatments combining standard antipsychotics with NMDA agonists, avoiding clozapine's serious side effects. However, Scott notes that more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis and overcome regulatory hurdles. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander defends psychiatry's use of 'chemical imbalance' theory, arguing it was meant to emphasize depression's biological basis rather than claiming a simple serotonin deficiency. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to criticisms of psychiatry's use of the 'chemical imbalance' theory of depression. He argues that psychiatrists never claimed depression was simply a serotonin deficiency, but rather a complex interaction of brain chemicals. He explains that the term 'chemical imbalance' was used to emphasize depression's biological basis and help people take it seriously, rather than viewing it as a personal failure. Scott provides evidence that serotonin and other neurotransmitters are indeed involved in depression, while acknowledging the full picture is more complicated. He concludes that framing depression in terms of brain chemistry remains useful, even if 'chemical imbalance' is no longer the best terminology. Shorter summary