Sleep and Dreams

1. Sleep and Dreams

2. Sleep • Is sleep important? • Yes!!!! • Radio Disk Jockey Peter Tripp found this out • 50 hrs- hallucinations • 100 hrs- delirious • 120 hrs- needed a stimulant • 150 hrs- disoriented • 200 hrs- believed doctor was an undertaker • Sleep is a state of altered consciousness, characterized by certain patterns of brain activity and inactivity.

3. Consciousness • Consciousness is a state of awareness • Can range from alertness to non-altertness • Being fully aware means having your attention focused on something • Being in an altered state of consciousness means not being completely aware • Ex: Sleep

4. Why do we sleep? • We are not really sure…but here are some theories: • Some believe it is when the brain recovers from exhaustion/stress (recharging of batteries) • Primitive hibernation- sleep to conserve energy • Adaptive process- Long ago we slept at night to avoid predators • Clear our minds of useless info. • Dream

5. Stages of sleep • Early Stages • Stage 1 • Pulse continues to slow and your muscles relax • “just drifting”, lasts for up to 10 min • Stage 2 • Your eyes roll slowly from side to side • Lasts for about 30 min before you drift into deeper sleep • Stage 3 • Large amplitude delta waves begin to sweep your brain every second or so • Deep sleep

6. Stage 4 • Deepest sleep of all • Indicated by large, regular delta waves occurring more than 50% of the time • Person awoken would be feel disoriented • Can be characterized by sleep walking, talking, and bed wetting

7. REM Sleep • Characterized by rapid eye movement • Called active sleep because brain activity resembles a person who is awake • Almost all dreaming takes place here • Builds efficient learning/memory processes • Last from 15 min (early at night), to 45 min (late at night), after which you retrace the decent to Stage 4 • Go through cycle every 90 min. • Brain is always active

8. Sleep Disorders • Insomnia • Inability to obtain sleep • Sleep Apnea • Frequent interruptions of breathing during sleep • Snoring • Most common among elderly and obese • Narcolepsy • Permanent feeling of sleepiness • Nightmares/Night Terrors • Nightmares occur during REM sleep, people will wake and have a memory of the dream • Night terrors occur during stage 4, characterized by sweating, screaming and confusion, people wake and have no memory

9. Sleep Walking • Person is partly, but not completely awake during the night • Person will have no memory of doing it • Usually harmless but person could injure themselves • Sleep Talking • No memory but most people talk in their sleep • Harmless

10. Dreams • Mental activity that occurs during sleep • Dreams become longer and more active during the night • The last dream is likely to be the longest and the one people remember when they wake up

11. Content of Dreams • Everyday activities • Commonplace settings: living rooms, cars, and streets. • Strenuous recreational activities or passive events, like sitting and watching. • Unpleasant or negative emotions: anxiety, anger, sadness • Realistic time scale

12. Nightmares • Frightening enough that we awaken in the middle

13. Dream Interpretation • Freud believed that dreams contain clues to thoughts the dreamer is afraid to acknowledge • Nathaniel Kleitman believed dreams are a by-product of brain function and serve no purpose • Some believe dreams allow people to review some of the problems faced during the day

14. Daydreams • Fantasizing while we are awake • Occurs when we are bored • Useful purposes include: • Prepares us for future events • Improves our creativity • Controls our emotions