5.1 PSYC - The Biology of Sleep

sleep apnea

disorder caused by a blockage of the airway during sleep, resulting in daytime fatigue (Ex; Ken often reports feeling exhausted during the day even though he reports getting 7 hours of sleep a night.)

lucid dreaming

experience of becoming aware that one is dreaming (suggested that lucid dreams are a hybrid or mixed state of consciousness with features of both waking and REM sleep.)

Disorders of sleep

insomnia, sleepwalking, narcolepsy, hypersomnia, night terrors

night terrors

sudden waking episodes characterized by screaming, perspiring, and confusion followed by a return to a deep sleep (Ex; Jenny's daughter will often begin screaming in the middle of the night for a few minutes, but then falls back asleep as if nothing occurred. )

sleep spindles and K complexes

- more deeply asleep - found in stage 2

Stages of sleep

1. Lightest Sleep (NREM) 2. Slightly Deeper Sleep (NREM) 3. Deeper Sleep (NREM) 4. Delta Waves are omitted but there is not much difference between this stage and stage 3 (NREM) 5. REM

new born babies sleep...

16 hours at night

circadian rthym

A 24 hour body clock that impacts physiological and behavioural processes over that period.

Cindy Lou's parents were awakened by screams and crying coming from the 4-year-old's bedroom. Rushing in, they found Cindy Lou sweating, glassy-eyed, disoriented, and agitated. Just as her parents reached for the telephone to dial either a hospital or an exorcist, Cindy Lou fell back into a deep sleep. Confused, her parents did a little research and discovered Cindy Lou had experienced __________. an episode of sleep apnea the first signs of Kleine-Levin Syndrome a night terror a narcoleptic attack

A night terror

sleep debt

A sleep deficiency caused by not getting the amount of sleep that one requires for optimal functioning.

Stage 5 ; REM

After 15 to 30 minutes, we return to stage 2 before our brains shift dramatically into high gear, with high frequency, low-amplitude waves resembling those of wakefulness. We've entered stage 5, known commonly as REM sleep. In contrast, stages 1-4 are known as non-REM (NREM) sleep. (We go in and out of REM Sleep 5 or 6 times a night)

Stage 3 and 4 NREM

After about 10 to 30 minutes, light sleep gives way to much deeper slow-wave sleep, in which we can observe delta waves, which are as slow as one to two cycles a second, in the EEG. (Is the sleep barrier you need to give over to feel fully rested)

Stage 2- What happens to us?

As our brain activity decelerates, our heart rate slows, our body temperature decreases, our muscles relax even more, and our eye movements cease. We spend as much as 65 percent of our sleep in stage 2.

DEC2

At the other extreme are the lucky few—less than 1 percent of the population—who carry a mutation in a gene called DEC2 that allows them to get away with sleeping six hours a night without "crashing" the next day

A region of about 20,000 neurons in the hypothalamus makes a person feel sleepy or alert during particular times of day. This area of the brain is more commonly known as the __________. biological clock circadian center delta wave center frontal lobe

Biological Clock

Stage 3 and 4 - What happens to us?

Children are famously good sleepers because they spend as much as 40 percent of their sleep time in "deep sleep" and are difficult to awaken. In contrast, adults spend only about one-quarter of their sleep "sleeping like a baby," in deep sleep.

insomnia

Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep (Ex; Julia finds that she often wakes at 3:oo in the morning and is not able to fall asleep again.)

Most people need between 7 and 10 hours of sleep each night. The exception to this rule of thumb are __________, who need around 16 hours out of every 24. the elderly the middle-aged newborns adolescents

Newborns

Stage 5 sleep is more commonly known as __________. K-active sleep REM sleep NREM sleep cataplexic sleep

REM Sleep

REM sleep

Rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active.

Researchers using brain imaging have found that during a lucid dream, the parts of the dreamer's cerebral cortex associated with __________ become active. paradoxical thinking K-complexes self-perceptions circadian rhythms

Self-perceptions

sleepwalking and sexsomnia

Sleeping walking- walking while you are fully asleep. Sexsomnia- people engage in sexual acts while asleep and don't remember what occurred after they awaken. (Ex; John will sometimes find in the morning that sandwich materials are out in the kitchen. He lives by himself. )

theta waves

Stage 1 - light sleep

Stage 5- What happens to us?

Where we dream hyped brain waves during REM sleep are accompanied by increased heart rate and blood pressure, as well as rapid and irregular breathing, a state that occupies about 20 to 25 percent of our night's sleep. After 10 to 20 minutes of REM sleep, the cycle starts up again, as we glide back to the early stages of sleep and then back into deeper sleep yet again

sleeping pill

a pill which you take to help you to sleep better but can also cause insomnia.

Narcolepsy

is a dramatic disorder in which people experience bouts of sudden sleep lasting anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes and, less frequently, as long as an hour. (Ex; Whenever he becomes anxious Derick suddenly collapses and falls asleep for a few moments.)

Stage 1 sleep

light stage of sleep, which lasts for 5 to 10 minutes, our brain activity powers down by 50 percent or more, producing theta waves, which occur four to seven times per second.

RBD (REM sleep behavior disorder)

marked by potentially troublesome dream enactments during REM periods

Do old people need as much sleep as young people?

no, they actually can have less

Stage 2: Sleep Spindles

our brain waves slow down even more. Sudden intense bursts of electrical activity called sleep spindles of about 12-14 cycles a second, and occasional sharply rising and falling waves known as K-complexes, first appear in the EEG

beta waves

smaller and faster brain waves, typically indicating mental activity Awake

biological clock

term for the area of the hypothalamus that's responsible for controlling our levels of alertness

delta waves

the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

the period of sleep that is found in older children and adults and is associated with dreaming

alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state

Stage 1- What happens to us?

we become more relaxed, and we may experience hypnagogic imagery—scrambled, bizarre, and dreamlike images that flit in and out of consciousness. We may also experience sudden jerks (sometimes called myoclonic jerks) of our limbs as if being startled or falling. In this state of sleep, we're typically quite confused.