Unit 3: Sleep and Dreaming Flashcards
(139 cards)
What is Normal waking consciousness?
our awareness of internal states and external surroundings when we are awake and unaffected by sleep, drugs or other states
unconscious vs conscious
conscious= deliberately or knowingly doing something
unconscious= automatically doing something, without having to think abt it e.g breathing
Characteristics of consciousness
-conscious experience is associated with the activity of the neurons in the brain.
-described as: personal/individual, selective (choose what you think abt), continuous, changing
States of consciousness
total awareness (of internal and external stuff) -> focused, selective attention, controlled processes= NWC -> Daydreaming=NWC -> Meditative state=ASC -> Hypnotised= ASC -> asleep=ASC -> anaesthetised (drug induces, same level as alcohol)=ASC -> unconscious (coma)=ASC-> Complete lack of awareness=death
Characteristics of NWC
-attention
-controlled vs automatic processes
-content limitation
Characteristic of NWC
-attention
- involves focusing on specific stimuli and ignoring other stimuli
-can be focused internally or externally
-can be focused/ selective attention or divided
selective/ focused attention
-choosing to (either intentionally or through circumstance) attend to certain stimuli while overlooking other stimuli
Factors that influence what we focus on
-if stimuli is important to us= more likely to direct our attention to it
-changes in stimulation e.g teacher goes quite/ shouts= draws attention
-novel stimuli= if its unique/new/ haven’t experienced it before more likely to draw our attention
Divided attention
-the ability to distribute one’s attention and undertake more than one activity (has to be simple) at same time e.g singing while cleaning
Characteristic of NWC
-Controlled processes
-when info processing requires conscious, alert awareness and mental effort
-focused on achieving a particular goal
-associated with a difficult or unfamiliar task
-linked to selective attention
-involves serial processing= doing one thing than another e.g driving
Characteristic of NWC
-Automatic processes
-when info processing involves little conscious awareness and mental effort
-easy or familiar tasks
-involves parallel processing=doing two things at once
-linked to divided attention
e.g speaking and walking
Characteristic of NWC
-Content Limitation
-content refers to the type of info held in consciousness
ROLLOC= thoughts are more, Restricted, Organised, Limited, Logical, Ordered and Controlled compared to ASC
Other Characteristic of NWC
-clear perception
-ability to process internal and external info
-memory ( ability to store and retrieve info)
-time orientation (ability to focus on past, present and future)
-emotional awareness (normal range of emotions and awareness of feelings
The lower the level of processing?
the lower the level of consciousness
Where is the Superchiasmatic nucleus located?
-is a tiny region of the brain in the hypothalamus
-it is situated directly above the optic chiasm
function of SCN?
-it is responsible for controlling the circadian rhythms= sleep wake cycles that occur approx.. every 24 hrs.
-it’s main role is for regulating the onset of sleep
How does the SCN control the circadian rhythms?
-detects the amount of light being sent to the brain for processing and send this info to the pineal glad to influence the amount of melatonin being released into the bloodstream
Role of melatonin?
-it gradually builds up during the day
-high levels of melatonin lead to sleepiness which creates sleep pressure w/a lower levels, increase awareness
-once levels of melatonin reach a critical level a person will fall asleep
-levels of melatonin is influenced by SCN
-the more light= less melatonin
What is the reticular activating system? (RAS)
it is a network of neurons that extends out from the reticular formation (RF) to different parts of the brain and spinal cord
function of RAS
-to regulate cortical arousal, alertness to increase or decrease sleep
-when we’re sleep, we’re in a state of low cortical arousal, so the role of RAS in sleep is to maintain the sleep state by restricting the amount of stimulation the cerebral cortex receives, limits sensory input during sleep to enable perceptual disengagement from environment
-main parts are the reticular formation and thalamus
Function of Hypothalamus in sleep?
contains SCN which controls the onset of sleep.
Function of Hippocampus in sleep?
a memory region active during dreaming
Function of Amygdala during sleep?
an emotion center active during dreaming
Function of Thalamus during sleep?
in the RAS, filter, prevents sensory signal from reaching cortex by closing sensory pathways during sleep, maintains sleep