Introduction to Psychology

1. Introduction to Psychology Lectures are videotaped http://video.tau.ac.il http://freud.tau.ac.il/~mintz

2. The circadian rhythm or Life around the clock(Lecture 2) We change with time ! What is changing ? Linear changes ? Cyclic changes ? Source of changes?

3. Environmental clocks as a source of cyclic changes Environment is cyclic… we are sensitive to environment, therefore…. we live in cycles. “The Calendar” describes life timed by nature. 365 + 1/4 days around the sun: cycles of depression, suicide, susceptibility to schizophrenia… 28-31 days: Gregorian timing in honor of Caesar? No environmental cycle. 1 day spin: light/dark cycle of biological & mental functions.

4. Biological-Endogenous clocks as a source of cyclic changes Annual clock: not known. Monthly clock: female menstrual cycle. Circadian clock: > 24 hrs, why not 24 hrs? 8 hrs clock: when the pilots are most fit? 90 min clock: when do you dream? seconds range: localized biological processes like sand clocks, HR, biochemistry.

5. A model of short time-constant clock

6. Allergists Animal and plant physiologists Cardiologists Cell and molecular biologists Chronobiologists Endocrinologists Environmental scientists Gastroenterologists Immunologists Nephrologists Neuroscientists Obstetricians/gynecologists Pharmaceutical scientists Psychiatrists Toxicologists Epidemiologists Chronobiology research is being conducted by: Do you see the psychologists ???

7. Environment-Biology interaction as a source of complex cycles Monthly: Synchronization of monthly cycle in ladies’ dormitories. Circadian: ~26 hrs in isolation, but 24 hrs in normal conditions. 90 min: easy to detect in boring but not in exciting conditions.

8. Complex cycles: 24 & 8 hrs cycles in phase 24 hrs 8 hrs result

9. Complex cycles: 24 & 8 hrs cycles out of phase 24 hrs 8 hrs result

10. Cyclic changes: conclusions • Continuous change rather than stability • Change in response to environment • Change in response to endogenous clocks • Asynchronous cycles • Models of adaptation (e.g., arousal) • Models of pathology??? (e.g., arousal)

11. Changes in Arousal (1) Spectrum of arousal: • Coma • Sleep - Wakefulness • Excitation - Anxiety • Drugs • Epilepsy Circadian cycles of arousal Momentary changes of arousal

12. Arousal (2) Arousal is a major aspect of behavior and is closely related to other concepts such as anxiety, attention, agitation, stress, and motivation. The arousal level can be thought of as how much capacity you have available to work with. Yerkes-Dodson law predicts an inverted U-shaped function between arousal and performance. 

13. Arousal (3) Homeostasis: Maintaining a single level of adaptive arousal

14. Arousal (4) Allostasis rather than homeostasis: Stable level of arousal is not adaptive

15. Arousal (5) Allostasis: maintaining stability of performance through internal change, as a fundamental process through which organisms actively adjust to both predictable and unpredictable events. i.e., stay maximally adaptive by changing the arousal Allostatic overload being a state in which serious pathophysiology can occur.

16. Arousal (4) Allostasis: Catastrophic conditions are possible

17. Sleep (1) Sleep: like wakefulness, is not homogenous. 14/11/05

18. Sleep (2) External clock: Light Biological clock: Melatonin & the Pineal Gland

19. Sleep (3) Sleep & selective attention Sleep & response to environment: Overt – awakening Covert - dream

20. Is she aware of the difference?

21. Sleep (4) Sleep & Learning: • Dawkins – “The selfish gene” • The song of Don Juan "The zebra finch appears to store the neuronal firing pattern of song production during the day and reads it out at night, rehearsing the song, and, perhaps, improvising variations. The match is remarkably good."

22. SWS & REM builds memories • Researchers recorded the electric signature of individual forebrain neurons firing during the two types of sleep. • The firing pattern of recently captured memories are especially strong during slow-wave sleep and then decrease in force dramatically during REM. • The neural plasticity genes turn on during REM sleep. • It looks like a two-stage process: The memory echoes strongly during SWS, which stabilizes it. Then the gene expression machinery turns on during REM sleep to further consolidate it. • You remember more when you have a combination of REM and SWS. Ribeiro et al., "Long-lasting novelty-induced neuronal reverberation during slow-wave sleep in multiple forebrain areas," PLoS Biol, 2:0126-37, 2004.

23. Sleep (5) Sleep deprivation: • sleep pressure • no full compensation on recovery night • intrusion of sleep to wakefulness * compensation * mixture of mental processes * model of psychopathology ???

24. Consciousness (1)

25. Consciousnes (2) Visual field and pathway

26. Consciousness (3) Localization of consciousness: Consciousness not in the subcortical areas Consciousness not in the primary sensory cortex Consciousness in high cognitive cortex ???

27. Consciousness (4) Reconstruction of natural scenes in thalamus

28. END