Unit 2B States of Consciousness/Sleep & Dreams

Dreams

Includes any of the images, thoughts, and emotions that are experienced during sleep. We may confuse them with reality

Night Terrors

“Nightmare on Steroids” Relatively rare disorder in which the person experiences extreme fear and screams or runs around during deep sleep without waking fully (combines with sleepwalking)

Nightmares

Bad dreams occurring during REM sleep

Sleepwalking (Somnambulism)

The purposeful movement of walking that occurs in a sleep-like state. Tend to remain in deep sleep during episodes

Narcolepsy

Sleep disorder in which a person falls immediately into REM sleep during the day without warning. A genetic disorder, usually a trigger is an intense emotion

Sleep Apnea

Chronic medical condition where the affected person repeatedly stops breathing during sleep, lasts 10 seconds or more and cause oxygen levels in the blood to drop or awakenings from sleep

Insomnia

The inability to get sleep, stay asleep, or get a good quality of sleep (psychological and physiological) Spends more than 20 to 30 minutes falling asleep or getting back to sleep at night

Jetlag

Temporary condition caused by rapid travel across time zones and may leave an individual experiencing fatigue, insomnia, nausea, or other symptoms as a result of the circadian rhythm disruption

Circadian Rhythm Disruption

An out-of-sync sleep/wake cycle

Microsleep

A fleeting, uncontrollable, brief episode of sleep which can last anywhere from a single fraction of a second up to 10 full seconds, people are unaware it happened

REM Rebound

Lengthening and increasing frequency and depth of REM sleep which occurs after periods of sleep deprivation

Sleep Deprivation

Occurs any time that you get less sleep than your body needs. Can range from total acute sleep loss to chronic deprivation

Sleep Paralysis

“Waking Nightmare” The presence or persistence of features of REM sleep during the transition into or out of sleep, your body is paralyzed so you do not act out your dreams

Consciousness

A person’s awareness of everything that is going on around them at any given moment, which is used to organize behavior, not all forms of awareness are the same

Altered State of Consciousness

“Variations” State in which there is a shift in the quality of pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness

Mindfulness Meditation

Mental training practice that involves focusing your mind on your experiences (like your own emotions, thoughts, and sensations) in the present moment

Altered State-Sleep

Sleep is one of the human body’s biological rhythms, natural cycles of activity that the body must go through, a unique state of consciousness; it lacks full awareness but the brain is still active

Circadian Rhythm

“24 Hours” The cycle of physiological and biological processes that fluctuate on a roughly 24-hour timetable (16 hours awake and 8 hours sleep)

The Wake/Sleep cycle

Sleep has a biological rhythm, cycle every 90-110 minutes, five distinct stages, the pattern occurs three to five times per night

Beta Waves

Awake/Alter; Between 15 and 30 Hz; Awake, Normal Alert, Consciousness

Alpha Waves

Light Sleep; Between 7 and 12 Hz; Physically and mentally relaxed, aware but drowsy

Theta Waves

Early Sleep; Between 4 and 7 Hz; Reduced consciousness, deep medication, light sleep

Delta Waves

Deepest Sleep; Up to 4 Hz, slow waves. Deep sleep (dreamless) sleep, loss of bodily awareness

non-REM Stage 1

“Light Sleep” Transition period between wakefulness and sleep, drifting in and out of sleep

Hypnagogic Hallucinations

Sensory experiences that occur without a sensory stimulus, part of non-REM stage 1

Hypnic Jerk

Sensation of falling, part of non-REM stage 1

non-REM Stage 2

“Sleep Spindles” Body temperature will drop, heart rate slows, breathing more shallow and irregular (20 Minutes) EEG will show first signs of sleep spindles (burst of activity lasting a second or two)

Sleep Talking

Usually garbled or nonsensical- Can occur during stage 2 or any other sleep stage

non-REM Stage 3 & 4

“Deepest Sleep” Slow-wave sleep, delta waves begin to appear more often (35-45 Minutes) Hard to arouse, breathing and pulse slowed down

REM Sleep

“Paradoxical Sleep” Rapid eye movements and your muscles become almost paralyzed, brain waves as if we are awake (10 minutes), gets longer throughout the night