Understanding Sleep, Dreams, and Hypnosis

Waking Consciousness

fully alert, with the potential to be aware of what going on inside and outside of you

Voluntary Control

you have voluntary control of both your actions and your thoughts when you are in waking consciousness

Time lag

when we wake up in the morning, there is sometimes a time lag when entering waking consciousness

Subconscious

those things just below awareness. Subliminal stimuli.

Unconscious

those things at the portions of your mind you are unaware of.

Biological rhythms

forces that determine when things in your body need to happen (Hypothalamus).

Long-term

A lot of these forces are long-term occurring over multiple years

Circadian

daily 24-hour cycle

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus

this governs the 24-hour cycle. Knows what time it is, knows when you are going to be hungry, knows when you are gonna poop. It knows based on experience when things are going to happen.

Melatonin

helps get you to sleep, when you take it you become dependent

Adenosine

is produced and builds up when you are awake and metabolized when asleep, Gives you a tired feeling that makes you want to close your eyes

Sleep Cycle

90 mins repeats during the night

Alpha waves

short and fast brain waves we have when awake

Stage 1

brain waves slowing down, but not completely slowed down yet (theta waves) - similar to what you experience when you drift off during class

Hypnagogic Sensation

when what your body is sensing shows up in images; your brain can act out these images; caused by the pons not fully shutting off the brain

Stage 2

pons has not shut off the brain yet

Sleep spindles

packets of rapid brain activity; you can act out what happening in your dreams through things like sleep talking/walking

Sleep talking

periods of rapid brain activity and sometimes start acting it out

Stage 3

The transition from light sleepy to heavy sleep; pons starting to activate

Stage 4

good quality sleep, Very deep sleep

Delta waves

Slow, big, restful brain waves

REM sleep

*********** dreaming and the pons is blocking messages

How much sleep?

babies 20 hours a day, little kids 12 hours a day, Teens 8 hours a sleep is ideal

Why Sleep? (Recuperation)

your body heals during sleep, fighting off infections, athletes need to sleep a lot because muscles build during sleep.

Why Sleep? (Remembering)

during sleep, your brain programs information into long-term information.

Why Sleep? (Growth)

teenagers who don't get adequate sleep can have stunted growth

Why Sleep (Protection?)

going to sleep gives u a sense of protection from things. Stay in the bed to protect yourself.

Disorders (Insomnia)

inability to sleep every single night and can have delirium tremens (dreaming while awake)

Disorders (Hypersomnia)

can't stop sleeping

Disorders (Narcolepsy)

can't control when you go to sleep. All of a sudden these people have to prepare for going to sleep. Could last minutes or an hour. Is like a forced nap that you can't fight.

Hypocretin

an imbalance of this causes narcolepsy

Disorders (Apnea)

inability to breath for a short period while asleep (tends to happen during stage 4). You have to wear a mask called a CPAP mask

Disorders (Night Terrors)

(sub-type of lucid dream) - an incredibly vivid, realistic, nightmare.

Lucid Dreaming

very vivid, realistic dream; sometimes people claim to be aware during lucid dreaming and sometimes people do not.

Manifest Content

a dream that has an obvious surface story to it: what the surface story is about

Latent Content

the deeper symbolic meaning of dreams. The brain is acting out what it wants or fears; Sigmund Freud believed this

Filing Memories

when we sleep we file away things into long-term memory

Neural Pathway Work

Strengthening old and creating new neural pathways while asleep

Activation Synthesis Theory

during sleep, your brain takes random neural static and creates a dream around it.

Cognitive Development

Proper dreaming helps you to develop new skills

Trance

you are in a type of trance where you are incredibly focused on something in particular to the exclusion of everything else.

Focused Attention

The hypnotist focuses your attention on something else

Open to suggestions

you are willing to do what you are told.

Susceptibility

not everybody is as susceptible to hypnosis as others

Social Influence Theory

you are influenced by society and likely to do what society wants of you (peer pressure)

Authority Figure

the hypnotist becomes an authority figure which people are more likely to listen to

Fulfilling a role

every social role has expectations and you want to fulfill them

Gullibility

some people believe in it more than others

Divided Consciousness Theory

when you are hypnotized you create a temporary separate consciousness that everything happens to. Not much evidence to prove this theory correct

Therapy (Behavior Modification)

using hypnosis to make people do or not do certain things

Therapy (Posthypnotic Suggestion)

when you give someone who is hypnotized a command for them to do something later when not hypnotized

70%

Upwards of 70% hypnosis therapy works

Alleviating Pain

with hypnosis there is an over 40% reduction in pain

Dissociation

the idea of separating the pain by focusing on something else

Hypnosis Myths (Recalling lost "memories")

you won't recall lost memories you will fabricate false ones

Hypnosis Myths (Acting against one's will)

hypnosis cannot force you to act against your will