Psych - Sleeping and Dreaming

Circadian Rhythms

Our 24 hour sleep cycle, product of evolution since we live on a 24 hour planet

Drive Theory 

drives are biological motivations that we need to survive, hypothalamus responsible for drives

Set-Point

our ideal body weight, different for every person

Eating disorder

body looks 15% larger than it is

Stages of Sleep

5 Stages, NREM 1, NREM 2, NREM 3, NREM 4, and REM sleep

Stages 1 & 2

Light sleep, Sleep spindles in stage 2 which are short dreams that are replays of events from the day

Stages 3 & 4

deep sleep, delta waves are omitted during these stages, delta waves are slow and have large amplitude

REM Sleep

the stage of sleep where most of our dreams occur, dreams are more vivid, and body’s muscles become paralyzed during REM sleep

Restful sleep

is a mix of deep sleep and REM sleep, sleep cycles become shorter as we become older, so older people need less sleep

Activation Synthesis Theory

Our brain is so active when it is awake, that our brains use the extra energy from the day to dream, dreams have no meaning

Dream Analysis Theory 

Our dreams do have meaning, and are a way to access the unconscious mind

Manifest Content

the actual story of the dream (what happened)

Latent Content

what does the dream really mean or what is our unconscious trying to tell us

Sleep Debt

when we don’t get the sleep we need, takes twice as much sleep to get out of sleep debt

REM Rebound 

when we don’t get enough sleep, our body spends more time in REM sleep

Insomnia

difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep

Narcolepsy

sudden onset of REM

Sleep Apnea

difficulty breathing while sleeping (CPAP is a breathing device for sleep)

Night Terrors 

Only in children, bad dream outside of REM, no sleep paralysis