consciousness
our awareness of internal and external stimuli
external Stimulus
actions and environment
internal stimulus
thoughts and feelings
levels of awareness
unconscious, stream of consciousness, sleep/dreaming
sleep/ dreaming consciousness
when we are sleeping we are not totally unaware of what is happening around us, external factors can affect dreams can also wake us up
mind wandering
peoples experience of task-unrelated thoughts, spend 15-50%, can sometimes be beneficial
conscious vs unconscious thought
benefit to allowing the back of our mind to decide, focus on something else and let our conscious decide for us
Dijksterhuis 2004
choosing a roommate:
one group: 4 min conscious thought to choosing roommates
other group: 4 min demanding task, unconscious thought no time to review
people given the demanding task, made a better choice and retained more information
EEG
brain electrical activity, uses physiological index of consciousness, brain waves; amplitude and frequency. bind electrodes to the scalp and pick up on the potentials happening in the brain. depending on what your doing different brain activity occurs
EEG patterns
beta, alpha, theta, delta
Beta
frequency; 13-24
state of consciousness: normal waking thought, alert problem solving
Alpha
Frequency: 8-12
state of conscious: deep relaxation, blank mind, meditation
Theta
Frequency: 4-7
State of conscious: light sleep
delta
Frequency: less than 4
state of conscious: deep sleep
Circadian Rhythms
24 hr biological cycle (internal clock that regulates functions), consciousness is shaped by biological rhythms
ignoring circadian rhythms
cause a “sleep dept”, not ideal to ignore the rhythms but eventually our bodies will want that sleep dept to be paid, associated with negative effects
Jet Lag
as soon as we go tot different time zones rhythms will be disrupted, ignoring circadian rhythms, each time you cross a zone, you need a day to get used to it, expose yourself to natural light to adjust yourself
Sport team jet lag experiment
when team did not travel won 46% games, when they flew west; 44%, when they flew east; 36%
physiological pathways
light levels–> retina–> suprachiasmatic nucleus of hypothalamus–> pineal gland–> secreation of melatonin
Melatonin
get released when light levels are lower, will increase drowsiness which will increase drive to sleep
negative sleep effects from phone
wavelengths of light in the blue range, will affect light levels “night shift” will not affect these light levels
melatonin and circadian rhythms
very specific dose of melatonin to adjust to time zone but its best to expose yourself to natural light and adjust naturally
sleep/waking research instruments
eeg (electrical brain activity)
electromyograph (muscle activity muscle tone changes during sleep)
Electrooculograph (Eye movements REM)
levels of sleep
stage 1-4 then REM, some stages of sleep linked to memory consolidation
stage one of sleep
small irregular brain waves
stage 2 of sleep
appearance of spindle shaped waves called sleep spindle, procedural tasks, motor based
stage 3 and 4 of sleep
appearance of large, slow delta waves
REM sleep (waves)
Similar to ordinary wakefulness brain waves, associated with dreams, Rapid Eye Movement, complex tasks
Hypnic Jerk
muscle spasm as your falling asleep
Trends in SLeep
age differences: different amount of sleep required for people of different ages, cultural differences: napping practices
Areas in the brain involving sleep
ascending Reticular activating system, hypothalamus many areas and nerve chemicals involve in sleep
why do we sleep
hypotheses:
1) sleep evolved to conserve organisms energy
2) immobilization during sleep is adaptive because it reduces danger
3) sleep helps animals to restore energy and other bodily resources
sleep deprivation
complete deprivation in 3-4 days
partial deprivation: impaired attention, reaction, coordination, and decision making
Selective Deprivation
REM and slow wave rebound effect, when we are deprived of REM sleep the brain tries to drive them into REM faster to make up for lack or REM of the past nights
Why is sleep deprivation damaging?
some stages involved in memory consolidation, microsleeps
micro-sleeps
happens when we are sleep deprived, it is a case where a person goes from being awake to REM for 1s-1min and not be aware
Right amount of Sleep
studies suggest 7-7.5 hours of sleep have the lowest mortality rate
sleep problems
insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, nightmares, night terrors, somnambulism
insomnia
common, 3 types: falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up early, more common in women, increased medical problems
pseudoinsomnia/sleep state misperception
reporting that they have insomnia
hyperarousal
model of insomnia
insomnia cures
sleep therapy and mild dose of pills tend to be useful
narcolepsy
uncontrollable falling asleep, abnormal levels of hypocretin in their brain, go from being awake to asleep
Sleep apnea
reflexive gasping for air leads to waking, stop breathing during sleep, lead to damage of the heart, wight gain. C-pack ensures the airways stay open, more common in men. Triple the rate of mortality
Nightmares
during REM sleep, anxiety dream with a narrative correlation between nightmares and wellbeing, can lead to depression
Night terrors
abrupt panicked awakening from NREM sleep, intense physiological panic. many children have them around the same time so you can wake them up right before that happens to prevent them from entering their night terror, can occur in adults but not as common
somnambulism
sleep walking, slow wave stages of sleep, should wake them up and bring them to bed, tends to run in families, no connection to mental disorder, stage 3 sleep
REM sleep behaviour disorder RBD
somniloquy- sleep talking
NREM- transitions
lessens with age
Dreams
mental experiences during sleep, usually involve familiar content, most likely to occur in REM
dream format
changes as we age: more likely to have narrative in our dreams after puberty
cultures dreams
western vs Non-western interpretation of dreams some cultures put stalk in their dreams, some trends in cultures: a culture that tends to be hungry dreams of food
lucid dream
in the middle of dream and realize its a dream
impact of daily life events
can impact your dreams, if you dont want to dream about someone more likely you will
Different theories of dreams
Dreams of Fulfillment (freud)
the problem solving view (cartwright)
Activation synthesis model (hobson)
dreams of fulfillment
freud theory: the day residue shapes dreams that satisfy unconscious needs in a disguised fashion
the problem solving view dream
Cartwright; we mull over major problems in our lives with reduced logical constraints
Activation-synthesis model
Hobson: the cortex constructs a story to make sense of internal signals from lower brain centers
hypnosis
a systematic procedure that increases suggestibility
Mesmer
animal magnetism went from town to town and treid to remove ailments from people. tapping into the power of suggestion
james Braid
neurypnology/ hypnotism coined the term, can harness the power of suggestion but must do so respectfully
effects produced through hypnosis
anesthesia, sensory distortions and hallucinations, disinhibition, posthypnotic suggestions and amnesia ** note most people would not preform tasks they are not comfortable with while under hypnosis (aka could not be convinced to commit a crime), role playing (some people believe they are acting), altered state of conscious, dissociation of conscious
meditation
practices that train attention to heighten awareness and bring mental processes under greater voluntary control
psychoactive drugs
chemical substances that modify mental, emotional, or behavioural functioning
6 categories of of psychoactive drugs
1) narcotics- pain relief, euphoria, relaxation
2) sedatives-sleep induce, relaxation, anxiety reduced
3) stimulants-increase CNS activity, excitement, energy, alert
4) hallucinogens- sensory and perceptual distortions
5) Cannabis- mild relaxed euphoria, enhanced awareness
6) alcohol- relaxed euphoria, decrease inhibitions
blood alcohol concentration
0.05 trouble, 0.08 legal limit
alcohol poisoning
depresses nerves involved in breathing and gag reflexes
sobering up
none of the “tactics” aka cold shower, eating, etc actually work, body needs to digest and let it leave the system
factors influencing drug effects
expectations, age, body size, mood, tolerance
endocannabinoid receptors
naturally occurring receptors which thc and elements relating to cannabis bind. Activity at these receptor sites relate to experience of munchies, preventing reuptake ensure DA and NE are present in synapse, most drugs have DA relation.
drug dependance
physical dependence (withdrawal symptoms), psychological dependence(anxiety, stress etc.)
drugs and health
overdose, physiological damage(direct physical damage longterm), health-impaired behaviours (more likely to be involved with this drug use, needles, drunk driving, fighting)
Mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway
inervation leads to addiction of stopping drug