State of Consciousness

1. State of Consciousness Ms. Forbes

2. States of Consciousness • Consciousness: mental awareness of sensations, perceptions, memories, and feelings. • Waking consciousness: a state of clear, organized alertness. During this time we can perceive times, places, and events as real, meaningful, and familiar. • Alerted State of Consciousness (ASC): a condition of awareness distinctly different in quality or pattern from waking consciousness. • Unconsciousness: being unaware of one’s thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, or environment.

3. Causes of ASC • Sleep, dreaming, daydreaming, fatigue, delirium, hypnosis, drugs, ecstasy, sensory overload, monotonous stimulation, unusual physical conditions (like if it’s too hot or too cold and we can’t concentrate on anything else), and restricted sensory input. • Must know any 3 of the above items for the test.

4. Consciousness • Freud focused on the theory that consciousness and unconsciousness are a hierarchy of memory and thought storage. • Conscious mind is at the top of the hierarchy (onion peel) • Memories easily recalled are stored at the preconscious (outer layer of the onion) • Unconscious (heart of the onion) houses what we do not want to remember.

5. Consciousness Terry Schiavo • Persistent vegetative state is an unconscious state in which an individual is in a deep coma. • It is believed they may not be able to respond with spoken word, but they may be able to communicate with those around them.

6. Consciousness • synesthesia: stimulation in one sensory mechanism causes an experience in another sensory mechanism.

7. Biological and Environmental “Clocks” • Circadian Rhythm: a cycle or rhythm that is roughly 24 hours long. • The circadian rhythm is controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is a cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus. • It is the bodies natural internal clock. • Keeping the circadian rhythms synchronized with one another and on a 24-hour schedule involves sun light. • The presence or absence of light stimulates circadian rhythms and turns the body’s clock on and off.

8. Circadian Rhythms Circadian rhythms control the sleep-wake cycle, hormone release, and body temperature.

9. Biological Rhythms • During the day, large changes take place in regarding your body temperature, blood pressure, amnio acid, hormones, and other bodily processes. • These changes peak sometime each day. Most people are more energetic, alert, and in a better mood at the high point of their circadian rhythms. • There are 3 types of people: morning, afternoon, and night.

10. How does sunlight help regulate the sleep-wake cycle? • As the sun sets each day, the decrease in available light is detected by the SCN through its connections with the visual system. In turn, the SCN triggers an increase in melatonin: a hormone manufactured by the pineal gland that produced sleepiness. • Melatonin makes us sleepy • Heightened secretions of melatonin during the winter causes some people to slow down and feel sluggish and depressed. • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

11. Melatonin • Increased levels of melatonin make you sleepy and reduce your activity level. • Your body starts making melatonin when it gets dark outside. It peaks around 1-3 a.m. • Before sunrise the pineal gland stops producing melatonin so you can wake up.

12. Free-Running Condition • People who experience a free-running circadian rhythm experience a 25-hour day not a 24-hour day This means people sleep about an hour later each day. They suffer from recurring bouts of insomnia and other problems. Miners (who go underground) can have this problem. People locked in padded rooms likewise. Blind people too. • In the absence of environmental cues, the sleep-wake cycle, body temperature, and melatonin-circadian rhythms become desynchronized.

13. The Need for Sleep • Sleep is an innate biological rhythm. • Biological rhythm: any repeating cycle of biological activity, such as sleep and waking cycles or changes in body temperature. • In times of great danger your body will not sleep, however, there are limits to how long humans can go without sleep. Adrenaline keeps you up but will eventually wear off. • A rare disease that prevents sleep always ends with stupor, coma, and death.

14. Microsleep • Microsleep: a brief shift in brain-wave patterns to those of sleep.

15. Sleep Deprivation • Sleep Deprivation: being prevented from getting desired or needed amounts of sleep. • What are the symptoms of sleep deprivation? (Will need to identify on test) • Age and personality make a big difference • Trembling hands • Drooping eyelids • Inattention • Irritability • Increased staring • Increased pain sensitivity • General discomfort • Extraverts handle sleep deprivation better than introverts b/c they’ll call the right person and the energy level will skyrocket. • Young adults handle sleep deprivation better than older adults b/c their bodies are more resilient and can be pushed farther.

16. Sleep Deprivation • People who have not slept for 2 or 3 days will still be able to do interesting or complex tasks, but they will have trouble paying attention, staying alert, and following simple or boring routines. • If you lose just one hour of sleep, it can affect your mood, memory, ability to pay attention, and your health.

17. Sleep Deprivation • Sleep-deprivation psychoses: A major disruption of mental and emotional functioning brought about by sleep loss. • Signs of sleep-deprivation psychosis: • Hallucinations • Delusions • Disorientation • Confusion • Example: Setting alarm for 6pm instead of 6am, waking up and running around to get ready for the day, failing to recognize the signs that it’s nighttime.

18. How can I tell how much sleep I really need? Pick a day you feel well rested. Sleep that night until you wake w/o an alarm. If you feel well-rested when you wake up, that’s your natural sleep need. If you are sleeping fewer hours than you need, you’re building up your sleep debt every day.

19. Teenage Sleep Zombies • Hypersomnia: excessive daytime sleepiness. It’s because they’re growing. It’s also because they’re shortchanging themselves on sleep, going to bed late and having to get up early. • This is a common problem during adolescents because of the rapid physical changes during puberty increase the need for sleep. • Sleep tends to decrease during the teen years. At a time when they need more sleep, many adolescents get less.

20. Sleep Patterns • A few individuals can get by on only one or two hours a sleep each night and feel perfectly fine. • Only 8 percent of us are short sleeper (8% of population): averaging 5 hours of sleep or less per night. Some people only need 1-2 hours every night. • Long sleeper: sleepers who need 9 hours or more of sleep per night. (They tend to be daytime worriers and use their dreams to work through problems.) • Average sleepers: need 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

21. Do elderly people need more sleep? • Sleep needs actually remain fairly constant as people age. • Older people however, rarely get the quality sleep they need because the total sleep time declines throughout life. • Those over the age of 50 average only 6 hours of sleep a night. In contrast, infants spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping, usually in 2 to 4 hour cycles.

22. Naps • Midafternoon sleepiness is a natural part of the sleep cycle. That’s why brief, well-timed naps can help people who often fight to stay alert. • The goal of napping is to move from beta waves to alpha waves. (Alpha waves are associated with a kind of trance or meditative state.) Potatoes and turkey have hormones that make us sleepy. Potatoes trigger our seratonin release to make us sleepy. • If you are napping and you let yourself get beyond alpha state, you are officially asleep and when you wake up you will feel groggy and like a truck had just hit you. Napping is used wrong in our society, because it’s supposed to be where you stay aware of your surroundings and you stay awake.

23. Consequences of Napping • People who nap consistently live longer. Some companies let you nap on the job because they notice productivity goes down after lunch. You lay on a lounge chair egg thing that surrounds you for 30 mins. • They show a 30 percent lower incidence of heart disease. • The ideal time for nap is 12 hours after the midpoint of one’s previous nights sleep. • The ideal length of a nap is no longer than 30 minutes.

24. Shift Work and Jet Lag • Circadian rhythms can cause problems when faced with major shifts in time schedules. • Jet Lag: disrupted body rhythms caused by rapid travel to a different time zone. Basically, this means the peaks and valleys of a traveler's circadian rhythms are out of phase with the sun and clocks. In Spring when clocks get set ahead, it takes people 2-3 weeks to get back on track.

25. Shift Work and Jet Lag • Shift work has the same effect as jet lag. (Police officers, nurses, air traffic controllers, etc.) Exposure to bright morning light is a potent stimulus that can reset the bodies clock to a day schedule. • Symptoms of Jet Lag and shift work: • Fatigue, irritability, nausea, nervousness, depression, loss of mental agility, thinking, concentration and memory get fuzzy, physical and mental fatigue

26. Sleep and Diet • Milk products stimulate melatonin production, which improves sleep. • When you are having trouble sleeping try drinking a glass of warm milk because it will help you get to bed sooner. • Simple sugars and fats decrease the oxygen supply to the brain and decreases alertness and makes a person sleepy. • Food additives and artificial sweeteners increase alertness and interferes with our sleep. • Eating a large meal in the evening also interferes with sleep. Some cultures say that makes you more likely to have nightmares.

27. Sleep Differences Between Sexes • Women are 50 percent more likely to have disrupted sleep than men. • 4 reasons: pregnancy, menstrual cycle, menopause, taking care of children • Why do you think this is so?

28. Weight and Sleep Controversial research has found the heavier you are the more sleep you need. The thinner you are the less sleep you need.

29. How we measure sleep? • EEG, Electroencephalograph: A device designed to detect, amplify, and record electrical activity in the brain.

30. Types of Sleep • NREM (Non-rapid Eye Movement): quiet, typically dreamless sleep in which rapid eye movements are absent. • We see images but we’re not dreaming. • Helps recover from fatigue. • REM (Active Sleep) Type of sleep during which rapid eye movement and dreaming usually occur and voluntary muscle activity is suppressed. • The more stress/anxiety you feel, the more time you’ll spend in REM sleep. Death of a loved one, family trouble, work problems, or marital conflict.

31. Onset of Sleep • When you are awake and alert, you are producing a pattern of small fast brain waves called beta brain waves. • Immediately before going to sleep, the pattern shifts to larger and slower waves called alpha. Alpha brain waves also occur when you are relaxed and let your thoughts drift. • As your eyes close, your breathing and pulse slow down and your body temperature drops. • Soon after, five separate sleep stages occur.

32. Stages of Sleep • Stage 1 of NREM: (light sleep): • Theta waves: slower brain waves than alpha and beta waves. This is the type of sleep when people don’t realize they fell asleep, like during a movie. • Heart rate slows even more. • Breathing becomes more irregular. • The muscles in the body relax, which may trigger a reflex muscle reflex called myoclonic jerk. • The brain waves are made up of small, irregular waves with some alpha waves. • This stage only lasts for 10 mins. • Often do not realize you are sleeping • Quickly regain consciousness.

33. Stages of Sleep • Stage 2 of NREM (aka NREM2): (True sleep): • Body temperature drops further as you sink deeper into sleep. • Sleep spindles occur: bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain waves and K-complexes that indicates a person is asleep. • Within 4 minutes after sleep spindles appear, most people will say they were asleep. NREM2 lasts about 20 minutes.

34. Stages of Sleep • Stage 3 of NREM (aka NREM3): (Slow-wave sleep) • Transition between light sleep and deep sleep. • A new brain wave called delta brain waves appear: very large and slow brain waves. • When delta brain waves represent more than 20% of total brain activity and they move short term memory to long term. • The sleeper is falling further into a loss of consciousness.

35. Stages of Sleep • Stage 4 of NREM: (Slow-wave sleep) • The brain only produces delta waves • Deep sleep: the deepest form of normal sleep. • Only lasts for 30 minutes • Can take 15 minutes or longer to gain full waking consciousness. • Heart beat, blood pressure, and breathing rate drop to their lowest point • SADS: Sudden adult death syndrome. That’s when an apparently healthy adult will die in their sleep for no apparent reason, and it will be during NREM4.

36. REM Sleep • REM Sleep: the brain becomes active, generating smaller and faster brain waves. • Pardoxical Sleep • Most people enter this stage _____ minutes after they start to fall asleep. • Sleeper’s eyes occasionally move under the eyelids. • Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration can fluctuate up and down. • Muscle twitches occur • Body experiences __________: loss of feeling in body except for tips of fingers and toes. • This is typically where most dreaming occurs. • The brain is very active during REM sleep. • First episode of REM is very brief, only ___________ minutes.

37. Cycle of Sleep After a period of REM sleep, a person returns to Stage 2 sleep, then Stage 3, Stage 4, then back to Stage 3 and Stage 2.

38. The Brain During REM Sleep • __________are essentially shut down during REM sleep. • During REM sleep the sleeper is cut off from information about the external world and from the brain centers most involved in rational thought. • During REM sleep the __________are highly active during sleep.

39. Functions of REM Sleep • Stimulates the development of the brain. • Newborns spend 8 to 9 hours in REM sleep (this makes up 50% of their total sleep.) • Helps us process emotional events. • Helps us sort and integrate memories that help us cope with the world. • ___________: the gradual process of converting new memories into a long-term, relatively permanent form. • Procedural Memory: memories for how to perform sequences of behaviors.

40. Cycle of Sleep • We are suppose to experience 4-90 minute cycles of sleep a night. • During cycle one and two we spend the majority of our time in stage_____________ • During cycle three and four we spend the majority of our time in ____________

41. How Important is Sleep? • ___________: when people are deprived of NREM stages 3 and 4 greatly increases the amount of time spent in NREM sleep and at the first opportunity to sleep uninterrupted. • _______: A phenomenon in which a person who is deprived of REM sleep greatly increases the amount of time spend in REM sleep at the first opportunity to sleep uninterrupted. .

42. Dreams Freud believed that dreams are interpretation on what people _______during sleep. Carl Jung theorized that dreams are reflections of a person’s _____________. Dreams can serve as a way to __________.

43. Sleep Disorders • Sleep Disorders: serious disturbances in the normal pattern that interferes with daytime functioning and cause subjective distress.

44. Insomnia: • Insomnia: includes difficulty in falling asleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, or waking too early. • About ____________% have a serious or chronic problem with insomnia. • It can harm people’s work, health, and relationships.

45. Types of Insomnia • ____________: a brief episode of insomnia. • Worry, stress, and excitement • __________: Insomnia that persists for more than 3 weeks. • ___________(Sleeping pill junkies)-insomnia that follows withdrawal from sleeping pills.

46. Remedies for Insomnia • _________: avoid stimulants like coffee, cigarettes and alcohol because they impair sleep quality. • ______: schedule a time in the early evening to write down worries or concerns. Plan what you will do about them then next day. • _______: learning a physical or mental strategy for relaxing. This is best done 6 hours before bedtime. • ________: Try to restrict sleep to your normal bedtime hours that way you avoid fragmenting your sleep rhythms.

47. Remedies for Insomnia • _____: link only sleep with your bedroom. Go to bed only when you are feeling sleepy. Awake at the same time each morning, avoid non-sleep activities in bed. Always leave the bedroom if sleeping has not occurred within 10 minutes. Do something else when you are upset about not being able to sleep.

48. Remedies for Insomnia • __________: to remove the pressures of trying to get to sleep, try to keep your eyes open (in the dark) and stay awake as long as possible. • Eating starchy foods increases the amount of tryptophan reaching the brain. More tryptophan increases the amount of serotonin in the brain. • Serotonin is associated with relaxation, positive mood, and sleep.

49. Sleepwalking • Sleepwalking (Somnambulism): a sleep disturbance characterized by an episode of walking or performing other actions during stage ____________.

50. Sleepwalking http://natgeotv.com/uk/is-it-real/videos/sleepwalking-murders http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/36053/Extreme_sleepwalking/