States of Consciousness chapter 9

Nightmares

Frightening dreams that occurs in REM SLEEP. Dreams in other stages are less remembered and emotional. Lucid dreaming training is used to lessen nightmares.

Stage 4

- Heart rate, respiration, temperature and blood flow to brain reduced. - growth hormone -mostly delta waves. - Deepest stage least responsiveness to outside stimulus.

REM SLEEP : Paradox

- Rapid eye movement. Occupies 20 % of an adult's sleeping time, characterized by; a) Increased heart rate, blood pressure. b) experience of dreaming c) Eye movements- eyes jerk rapidly in various directions d) breathing rapid, irregular, and shallow. new born sleep more in REM sleep than adults.

Stage 2 Sleep

- Slower and more regular wave pattern compared to stage 1 - high frequency bursts of brain activity (sleep spindles) and K complexes. - 50% of sleep in stage 2.

Stage 1 Sleep

- Transition from alpha to theta waves, higher in amplitude and lower in frequency than alpha waves. - state of transition between wakefulness and sleep - rapid, low amplitude brain waves - sleep hallucinations ( hypnagogic sensations).

Stage 3

- some low frequency delta waves delta waves. High amplitude.

Components of nonconscious:

---The first is preconscious which is information that is not currently being thought about but can be retrieved easily. --- The second is unconscious. These are the processes that we are unaware of like cognition or multitasking. The unconscious is important when driving. You are looking at the road, traffic signs and signals, and speedometer. Your foot is controlling the gas pedal and brakes and your hands are controlling the wheel. All of this done without your conscious awareness.

Why is REM sleep also called paradoxical sleep?

-Because EEG shows beta activity typically in wakefulness and theta activity of stage 1 sleep, but you're truly asleep. -REM sleep is "paradoxical" because of its similarities to wakefulness. Although the body is paralyzed, the brain acts somewhat awake, with cerebral neurons firing with the same overall intensity as in wakefulness.

Hypnagogic sensations

-sensations of falling or floating that are sometimes later incorporated into memories -As we fall asleep, we pass into a semi-wakeful state of dream like awareness called hypnagogic state.

Electroencephalogram(EEG)

Amplified recording of brain's electrical activity ("brain waves") via electrodes placed on scalp. Revealed the way the brain changes throughout sleep.

Consciousness

Awareness of the outside world and yourself, including your own mental processes, thoughts, feelings and perceptions.

Why do we sleep?

Evolutionary psychologists say due to natural selection it occured because it increased our rates of survival. Two reasons: protein synthesis throughout our body & maintaining plasticity.

Reticular formation

It plays a central role in states of consciousness like alertness and sleep.

Preconscious

Level of consciousness that is outside of awareness but contains feelings and memories that you can easily bring into conscious awareness. Example, you can easily remember what you ate yesterday night, eventhough you're not thinking about it.

For cognitive psychologists, what is unconscious?

Level of consciousness that processes information that you're unaware.

Dual Processing

Processing information on the conscious and unconscious level at the same time. Unconscious processing- very fast, automatic, involuntary. It is an unconscious process that we are not in control of. Example, driving a car. Conscious processing- slow, deliberate, and voluntary. It is a conscious process in that we are aware that the processing is occurring. Working memory used. Example, taking with a friend in a car.

Attention

State of focused awareness.

Circardian Rhythm

The cycle that tells our bodies when to sleep, rise, eat—regulating many physiological processes. This internal body clock is affected by environmental cues, like sunlight and temperature. 24 hours cycle.

What does nonconscious mean for psychoanalysts or psychodynamic psychologists like Freud?

Unconscious, aka subconscious, is the level of consciousness that often includes unacceptable feelings, wishes, thoughts not directly available in conscious awareness.

Unconsciousness

characterized by loss of responsiveness to the environment resulting from disease, trauma, or anesthesia.

nonconscious

level of consciousness devoted to processes completely inaccessible to conscious awareness, such as blood flow, filtering of blood by kidney etc. The nonconscious describes any mental process that goes on in which the individual is unaware. Nonconscious processes are not thought about consciously.

Plasticity

refers to the brain's ability to CHANGE throughout life. Helps us to put together new material from the day before with the new one.

Hypothalamus

regulates changes in the body temperature, blood pressure, sugar etc.