AP PSYCH SLEEP DISORDERS, DREAMS, SENSATION

insomnia

persistent problems in falling and or staying asleep

• at least 3 nights a week for more than 3 months

  • causes: depression and anxiety disorders, stress, diet, genetics

Narcolepsy

daytime disorder; sudden lapse into REM sleep and loss of muscle tension

sleep apnea

stops breathing during sleep

causes: heavier weight, alcoholism, genetics

REM sleep behavior disorder

• parasomnia

• sleeper’s physically acting out dreams, sometimes violently

somnambulism

sleep walking, slow-sleep parasomnia

most common in young children

physiological function

• dreams and the brain activity associated with REM sleep provide periodic stimulation

  • development of the brain —> exhibited in infants

consolidation theory

memory consolidation: process of transforming short-term memories into long-term memories by strengthening neural connections

• rem sleep supports the need for sleep to learn and recall information

Activation synthesis

brain’s way of making sense of random neural activity

sensation

the process by which we recieve information from the environment and encode it as neural signals

Absolute threshold

minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus

• bound between awareness and unawareness

signal detection theory

• predicts when we detect weak signales

  • helps explain why people respond differently to the same stimuli

difference threshold

• just noticeable difference

• minimal change in a stimulus that can still be detected

• weber’s law: JND is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity

• * one ounce envelope vs. two-ounce envelope

synesthesia

your brain routes sensory information through multiple unrelated senses, causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously

transduction

the process of converting external stimulus or energy into neural impulses

receptors

cells that complete process of transduction

wavelength

• vision and hearing only

  • the distance from the peak of one wave to the otheram

amplitude

the height of the light or sound wave

transduction of lightwaves

cornea and pupil → retina → cones/ rods (transmission)→ optic nerve → thalamus → visual cortex

trichromatic theory

cones in the retina are specfic based on red, green, or blue

• red = long green = medium blue = short

color blindness

when one type of color receptor is not functioning

opponent-process theory

two color opponent process in ganglion cells

• red v. green, yellow v. blue, white v. black

transduction of sound

auditory canal → eardrum → hammer, anvil and stirrup → cochlea → hair cells (transduction) → auditory nerve → thalamus → auditory cortex (temporal lobes)

place theory

different types of wavelengths trigger hair cells in the cochlea at different places

frequency theory

brain tells pitch by the frequency at which a neural message moves up to the auditory nerve

• individual neurons cant fire faster than 1000 times per second

• best explains how we decipher low frequencies

volley principle

neural cells alternate when they are firing; combined frequency

conduction deafness

caused by damage to the mechanical system that transmits sound waves to the cochlea

sensorineural deafness

damage to cochlea’s hair cell receptors or auditory nerve

• more common type and irreversible

• cochlear implant only way to currently help this type

smell

chemical sense

• olfactory bulb

• often associated with memories and feelings since it is near the limbic system

• pheromones: a chemical signal that is released to signal an alarm or attract a mate

pain threshold

the level of stimulation at which pain is first received

gate-control theory

• the spinal cord has neurological gates that allows or stops pain signals going to the brain

• only one pain stimulus at a time

kinesthetic sense

knowing where your body is in relation to the world

• sensory receptors in muscles, tendons and joints signal position of the body

vestibular sense

• keeps us balanced - 3 fluid filled semicircular canals next to the cochlea

• eyes interact

taste

receptors: salt sour bitter sweet umami olegustus

→ sensitivity to tastes is determined by density of taste buds

influenced by smell touch temperature and expectation