Psych Chapter 4: State of Consciousness

RLS and night Terrors

Restless leg syndrome is quite common and has been associated with a number of other medical diagnoses, such as chronic kidney disease and diabetes. Night terrors result in a sense of panic in the sufferer and are of ten accompanied by screams and attempts to escape from the immediate environment.

Sleep rebound

Sleep rebound refers to the fact that a sleep deprived individual will tend to take longer falling asleep during subsequent opportunities for sleep. Pineal gland secretes melatonin during sleep. The pons is important for regulating rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Hypothalamus contains the SCN—the biological clock of the body.

Evolutionary Biology

Another evolutionary hypothesis of sleep holds that our sleep patterns evolved as an adaptive response to predatory risks, which increase in darkness. Thus we sleep in safe areas to reduce the chance of harm. . Just as bears hibernate in the winter when resources are scarce, perhaps people sleep at night to reduce their energy expenditures.

Stage 3 and 4 Sleep

Delta waves of low frequency. During this time, an individual's heart rate and respiration slow dramatically. Wake up from stage 3 and 4 don't feel as refreshed.

Insomnia

Difficulty in falling asleep. Chronic insomnia is almost always associated with feeling overtired and may be associated with symptoms of depression.

Hypnosis

For individuals who are especially open to the power of suggestion, hypnosis can prove to be a very effective technique, and brain imaging studies have demonstrated that hypnotic states are associated with global changes in brain functioning. Individuals undergoing hypnosis usually have clear memories of the hypnotic experience and are in control of their own behaviors. According to the dissociation view,hypnosis is effectively a dissociated state of consciousness, much like our earlier example where you may drive to work, but you are only minimally aware of the process of driving because your attention is focused elsewhere. The social-cognitive theory of hypnosis sees people in hypnotic states as performing the social role of a hypnotized person.

Manifest content is the actual content, or storyline, of a dream. Latent content, on the other hand, refers to the hidden meaning of a dream.

Freud. Lucid dreams are dreams in which certain aspects of wakefulness are maintained during a dream state. In a lucid dream, a person becomes aware of the fact that they are dreaming, and as such, they can control the dream's content.

4.6 Other States of Consciousness

Hypnosis is a state of extreme self-focus and attention in which minimal attention is given to external stimuli

Sleepwalking

In sleepwalking, or somnambulism, the sleeper engages in relatively complex behaviors ranging from wandering about to driving an automobile.

Cognitive Function of Sleep

Indeed, we know sleep deprivation results in disruptions in cognition and memory deficits , leading to impairments in our abilities to maintain attention, make decisions, and recall long-term memories.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Infants should not have caps placed on their heads when put down to sleep in order to prevent overheating, and people in the child's household should abstain from smoking in the home.

Disruptions of Normal Sleep

Jet lag is a collection of symptoms that results from the mismatch between our internal circadian cycles and our environment. These symptoms include fatigue, sluggishness, irritability, and insomnia (i.e., a consistent difficulty in falling or staying asleep for at least three nights a week over a month's time)q

Consciousness

describes our awareness of internal and external stimuli. Awareness of internal stimuli includes feeling pain,hunger,thirst,sleepiness, and being aware of our thoughts and emotions.Awareness of external stimuli includes seeing the light from the sun, feeling the warmth of a room, and hearing the voice of a friend.

sleep debt

does not get sufficient sleep on a chronic basis.

In the brain, the hypothalamus, which lies above the pituitary gland, is a main center of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the tendency to maintain a balance, or optimal level, within a biological system.

homeostasis

circadian rhythm

is a biological rhythm that takes place over a period of about 24 hours. Our sleep-wake cycle, which is linked to our environment's natural light-dark cycle, is perhaps the most obvious example of a circadian rhythm, but we also have daily fluctuations in heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and body temperature. Some circadian rhythms play a role in changes in our state of consciousness

Sleep

is a state marked by relatively low levels of physical activity and reduced sensory awareness that is distinct from periods of rest that occur during wakefulness.

Wakefulness

is characterized by high levels of sensory awareness, thought, and behavior. In between these extremes are states of consciousness related to daydreaming, intoxication as a result of alcohol or other drug use, meditative states, hypnotic states, and altered states of consciousness following sleep deprivation

Rotating shift work

refers to a work schedule that changes from early to late on a daily or weekly basis. Because the biological clock is driven by light, exposure to bright light during working shifts and dark exposure when not working can help combat insomnia and symptoms of anxiety and depression

Sleep rebound

refers to the fact that a sleep deprived individual will tend to take longer falling asleep during subsequent opportunities for sleep. The pons is important for regulating rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

Depressant

A depressant is a drug that tends to suppress central nervous system activity. Ethanol. They are agnosits of gamma- Aminobutyric acid (GABA). Alcohol effects cerebellum. Higher physical than psychological dependence.

Hallucinogens

A hallucinogen is one of a class of drugs that results in profound alterations in sensory and perceptual experiences. In general, these drugs are not thought to possess the same sort of abuse potential as other classes of drugs discussed in this section.

PARASOMNIAS

A parasomnia is one of a group of sleep disorders in which unwanted, disruptive motor activity and/ or experiences during sleep play a role.

Insufficient Sleep

A person with a sleep debt does not get sufficient sleep on a chronic basis. The consequences of sleep debt include decreased levels of alertness and mental efficiency.

Stimulants are drugs that tend to increase overall levels of neural activity.

Many of these drugs act as agonists of the dopamine neurotransmitter system. Like many other stimulants, cocaine agonizes the dopamine neurotransmitter system by blocking the reuptake of dopamine in the neuronal synapse. Users can experience physical symptoms that include nausea, elevated blood pressure, and increased heart rate. In addition, these drugs can cause feelings of anxiety, hallucinations, and paranoia. Repeated use can lead to overall depletion among the monoamine neurotransmitters.

Meditation

Meditation is the act of focusing on a single target (such as the breath or a repeated sound) to increase awareness of the moment. Although there are a number of different techniques in use, the central feature of all meditation is clearing the mind in order to achieve a state of relaxed awareness and focus

Sleep apnea is defined by episodes during which a sleeper's breathing stops.These episodes can last 10-20 seconds or longer and often are associated with brief periods of arousal

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when an individual's airway becomes blocked during sleep, and air is prevented from entering the lungs. In central sleep apnea, disruption in signals sent from the brain that regulate breathing cause periods of interrupted breathing.

Evolutionary psychology and sleep

One hypothesis from this perspective might argue that sleep is essential to restore resources that are expended during the day. Another evolutionary hypothesis of sleep holds that our sleep patterns evolved as an adaptive response to predatory risks, which increase in darkness.

PROBLEMS WITH CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS

One important regulator of sleep-wake cycles is the hormone melatonin. The pineal gland, an endocrine structure located inside the brain that releases melatonin, is thought to be involved in the regulation of various biological rhythms and of the immune system during sleep. Melatonin release is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. There are individual differences with regards to our sleep-wake cycle. For instance, some people would say they are morning people, while others would consider themselves to be night owls. These individual differences in circadian patterns of activity are known as a person's chronotype, and research demonstrates that morning larks and night owls differ with regard to sleep regulation. Sleep regulation refers to the brain's control of switching between sleep and wakefulness as well as coordinating this cycle with the outside world.

Opioids

Opioids have analgesic properties; that is, they decrease pain. Natural opioids, called opiates, are derivatives of opium, which is a naturally occurring compound found in the poppy plant. There are now several synthetic versions of opiate drugs (correctly called opioids) that have very potent painkilling effects, and they are often abused. Methadone is a synthetic opioid that is less euphorigenic than heroin and similar drugs. Methadone clinics help people who previously struggled with opioid addiction manage withdrawal symptoms through the use of methadone. Other drugs, including the opioid buprenorphine, have also been used to alleviate symptoms of opiate withdrawal.

REM Sleep

Paralysis of muscle systems in the body with the exception of those that make circulation and respiration possible. You spend more and more time in REM as night goes on. 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1 Rem.

4.5 Substance Use and Abuse

Physical dependence involves changes in normal bodily functions—the user will experience withdrawal from the drug upon cessation of use. In contrast, a person who has psychological dependence has an emotional, rather than physical, need for the drug and may use the drug to relieve psychological distress. Tolerance is linked to physiological dependence, and it occurs when a person requires more and more drug to achieve effects previously experienced at lower doses. Tolerance can cause the user to increase the amount of drug used to a dangerous level—even to the point of overdose and death.

Stage 1 Sleep

Stage 1 sleep is a transitional phase that occurs between wakefulness and sleep, the period during which we drift off to sleep. During this time, there is a slowdown in both the rates of respiration and heartbeat. In addition, stage 1 sleep involves a marked decrease in both overall muscle tension and core body temperature. Low frequency alpha waves. As stage one continues theta waves increase they are even lower frequency.

Stage 2 Sleep

Still theta waves but increases in sleep spindles bursts of high frequency that may be important in learning and memory. Also K-complexes that are also high amplitude that may be response to environmental stimuli.

Types of Drugs

Stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, antipsychiotics.

Unlike the other sleep disorders described in this section, a person with narcolepsy cannot resist falling asleep at inopportune times. These sleep episodes are often associated with cataplexy, which is a lack of muscletoneormuscleweakness,andinsomecasesinvolvescompleteparalysisofthevoluntarymuscles. This is similar to the kind of paralysis experienced by healthy individuals during REM sleep

Surprisingly, narcoleptic episodes are often triggered by states of heightened arousal or stress.

The brain's clock mechanism is located in an area of the hypothalamus known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus(SCN).

The axons of light-sensitive neurons in the retina provide information to the SCN basedon the amount of light present, allowing this internal clock to be synchronized with the outside world.

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) occurs when the muscle paralysis associated with the REM sleep phase does not occur.

These behaviors vary widely, but they can include kicking, punching, scratching, yelling, and behaving like an animal that has been frightened or attacked.

Stages of Sleep

Two phases REM and non-REM sleep. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by darting movements of the eyes under closed eyelids. Brain waves during REM sleep appear very similar to brain waves during wakefulness. Non-REM (NREM) sleep is subdivided into four stages distinguished from each other and from wakefulness by characteristic patterns of brain waves. First four are NREM the fifth is REM.

Biological rhythms

are internal rhythms of biological activity. A woman's menstrual cycle is an example of a biological rhythm—a recurring, cyclical pattern of bodily changes.