Consciousness

1. Consciousness Chapter 4 PSY 110

2. What is consciousness? • A person’s awareness of everything that is going on around him or her at any given moment • Generated by set of action potentials in communication among neurons

3. Levels of Consciousness The Preconscious Level • Preconscious thought is stored knowledge that is retrievable into conscious awareness.

4. Levels of Consciousness The Unconscious Level • Information stored in the unconscious level is unavailable to awareness under most circumstances.

5. Levels of Consciousness The Nonconscious Level • The nonconscious level refers to bodily processes, such as the growing of hair, of which we are not aware.

6. Levels of Consciousness • Waking consciousness • State in which thoughts, feelings, and sensations are clear and organized, and the person feels alert • Altered state of consciousness • State in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness • Examples? • daydreaming, hypnotism, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, “runner’s high”

7. Freud • Below our level of active awareness • Includes our hidden wishes and repressed memories • These will influence our behavior without us knowing it.

8. Biology of Sleep • Circadian rhythm: a cycle of bodily rhythm that occurs over a twenty-four-hour period • Circa = around • Diem = day

9. Biology of Sleep • Hypothalamus: tiny section of the brain that influences the glandular system • Suprachiasmatic nucleus • Deep within the hypothalamus • Internal clock that tells people when to wake up and when to fall asleep • Hypothalamus tells pineal gland to secrete melatonin • Melatonin makes a person feel sleepy

11. Why We Sleep 1 • Amount of needed sleep varies (4-9 hours) • Microsleeps: brief sidesteps into sleep lasting only a few seconds (“nodding off” can be dangerous)

12. Sleep Deprivation • Any significant loss of sleep • Average young adult needs 7 ½ to 9 hours sleep a night • Most get 2 or fewer hours than needed

13. Sleep Patterns of Infants and Adults • Infants need far more sleep than older children and adults. Both REM sleep and NREM sleep decrease dramatically in the first 10 years of life. Nearly 50 percent of an infant’s sleep is REM; only about 20 percent for adults (Roffwarg, 1966).

14. Why We Sleep 2 • Adaptive theory: animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active • Restorative theory: sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage

15. Sleep Stages • Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep: eyes move rapidly under the eyelids; typically dreaming • NREM (non-REM) sleep: any stage of sleep that does not include REM

16. Brain Activity During Sleep The EEG reflects brain activity during both waking and sleep. Stage N3 of sleep is characterized by the presence of delta activity, the deepest sleep. REM sleep has activity that resembles alert wakefulness but has relatively no muscle activity except rapid eye movement. The graph shows the typical progression through the night of Stages N1–N3 and R. The R sleep periods occur about every 90 minutes throughout the night (based on Dement, 1974).

17. Groggy and drowsy Lowered immune system Lower performance Slower reaction time Lack of motivation Increased irritability More susceptible to accidents Poorer test scores Sleeping in class Microsleeps Weight gain Problems with Sleep Deprivation

18. Are You Sleep Deprived? • You struggle to get out of bed in the morning • Weekday morning you hit the snooze bar several times • You have trouble concentrating and remembering • You feel slow with critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity • You often fall asleep watching TV • You often fall asleep in meetings, lectures, or in warm rooms • You often fall asleep while relaxing after dinner • You often feel drowsy while driving • You often fall asleep within 5 minutes of getting in bed • You often sleep extra hours on weekend mornings • You often need a nap to get through the day • You have dark circles under your eyes

19. Sleep Disorders • Nightmares • Bad dreams occurring during REM sleep • 10-50% of children have serious nightmares • About 50% of adults have occasional nightmares • Frequent nightmares may be indication of some other issue • Occasional nightmares are common and not a serious concern

20. Sleep Disorders • REM behavior disorder • Mechanism that blocks movement of the voluntary muscles fails (atonia) • Allows person to thrash around, or even get up and act out nightmares

21. Sleep Disorders • Night terrors • Person experiences extreme fear and screams or runs around during deep sleep • Doesn’t wake fully • Occurs in up to 56 percent of young children, decreases with age

22. Sleep Disorders • Sleepwalking (somnambulism) • Episode of moving around or walking around in one’s sleep • Occurs during deep sleep • More common among children than adults • Sleepwalking can be a defense against criminal charges

23. Sleep Disorders • Narcolepsy: sleep disorder in which a person falls immediately into REM sleep during the day without warning • Cataplexy: sudden loss of muscle tone • Restless leg syndrome: Uncomfortable sensations in legs causing movement and loss of sleep • Nocturnal leg cramps: painful cramps in calf or foot muscles

24. Sleep Disorders • Hypersomnia: excessive daytime sleepiness • Circadian rhythm disorders: disturbances of the sleep-wake cycle such as jet lag and shift work • Enuresis: urinating while asleep in bed

25. Sleep Disorders • Sleep apnea: disorder in which the person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more • Results in a sudden awakening and gasping for breathe, then returning to sleep • Can occur 800 times in a single night • Approximately 1 in 20 people • Most common in overweight males • Can cause severe sleep deprivation • Continuous positive airway pressure device (CPAP) treatment

26. Sleep Disorders • Insomnia • The inability to fall asleep or to remain asleep for a prolonged time • One of the most common • Usually mild; sufferer has difficulty falling asleep but can remain asleep • Life choices account for approximately 40-50% of all insomnia • Anxiety and depression account for approximately 35% of all insomnia

27. Why Do We Dream? 1 of 2 • Freud: dreams as wish fulfillment • Manifest content: the dream itself • Latent content: the true, hidden meaning of a dream • Activation-synthesis hypothesis: dreams are created by higher centers of cortex to explain the brain stem’s activation of cortical cells during REM sleep periods

28. The Brain and Activation-Synthesis Theory The pons sends random signals to the upper part of the brain during REM sleep. These random signals pass through the thalamus, which sends the signals to sensory areas of the cortex. The cortex responds by making up a story, or dream, using bits and pieces of life experiences and memories.

29. Types of Dreams • REM • Occur during REM sleep • Story-like • Visual, vivid, and emotional • Utilizes the full spectrum of sensation • NREM • Occur during stages 2-4 • Usually less frequent and less memorable

30. What do people dream about? • Events that occur in everyday life • Most dream in color • Gender differences: • Girls and women dream about people they know, personal appearance concerns, issues related to family and home • Boys and men dream about outdoor or unfamiliar settings; may involve weapons, tools, cars, or sexual dreams with unknown partners

31. Dream Interpretation • Rarely have significant meaning except what the dreamer places on it • The importance of a dream is usually in direct proportion to the impression it makes on the dreamer • Dreams are often caused by • Concern a person or event recently thought or spoken of • External stimuli such as an experience, book, film, or TV show recently viewed • Illness, especially if medication is taken or the person has a high fever

32. Psychoactive Drugs • Drugs that alter thinking, perception, and memory • Physical dependence: • Tolerance: more and more of the drug is needed to achieve the same effect • Withdrawal: physical symptoms resulting from a lack of an addictive drug in the body systems • Nausea, pain, tremors, crankiness, and high blood pressure • Psychological dependence: • Feeling that a drug is needed to continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well-being • Any drug can cause psychological dependence

33. Stimulants • Drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system • Amphetamines: drugs that are synthesized (made in labs) rather than found in nature • Methamphetamines: increases the amount of the natural chemical dopamine in the brain • Cocaine: natural drug; produces euphoria, energy, power, and pleasure • Nicotine: active ingredient in tobacco • Caffeine: stimulant found in coffee, tea, most sodas, chocolate, and even many over-the-counter drugs

34. Depressants • Drugs that decrease the functioning of the nervous system • Barbiturates: depressant drugs with sedative effect • Benzodiazepines: drugs that lower anxiety and reduce stress (Xanax, Valium, Ativan) • Rohypnol: the “date rape” drug • Alcohol: the chemical resulting from fermentation or distillation of various kinds of vegetable matter • Most commonly used and abused depressant

35. Blood Alcohol Level and Behavior Associated With Amounts of Alcohol 1 of 2 • A drink is a drink. Each contains half an ounce of alcohol. • So a drink is… • 1 can of beer (12 oz.; 4-5% alcohol) • 1 glass of wine (4 oz.; 12% alcohol) • 1 shot of most liquors (1 oz.; 40-50% alcohol) • At times “a drink” is really the equivalent of more than just one drink, like when you order a drink with more than one shot of alcohol in it, or you do a shot followed by a beer.

36. Blood Alcohol Level and Behavior Associated With Amounts of Alcohol 2 of 2 • Source: Adapted from the Moderate Drinking Skills Study Guide. (2004). Eau-Claire, WI: University of Wisconsin.

37. Hallucinogens • Manufactured Highs: developed in lab • Drugs that cause false sensory messages, altering the perception of reality • LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide): powerful synthetic hallucinogen • PCP: synthesized drug now used as an animal tranquilizer that can cause stimulant, depressant, narcotic, or hallucinogenic effects • MDMA (Ecstasy or X): designer drug that can have both stimulant and hallucinatory effects • Stimulatory hallucinogenics: drugs producing mixture of psychomotor stimulant and hallucinogenic effects

38. Hallucinogens • Nonmanufactured High: naturally occurring • Marijuana: mild hallucinogen derived from the leaves and flowers of type of hemp plant (THC) • Produces a feeling of well-being, mild intoxication, mild sensory distortions or hallucinations • Affects reaction time and perception of surroundings • Psychologically addicting