Sleep and Sensations Quiz

What is consciousness

• Varying levels of awareness of thoughts , feelings, behavior, and events in individuals internal and external worlds

• take in and organize information from many sources, including senses, at once

Things that can shift our normal waking state of consciousness includes

• meditation

• hypnosis

• under influence of drugs

What is circadian rhythm

• Our biological cycle

• 24 hour cycle

• hypothalamus and hormones ( melatonin ) regulates this

• can be disrupted by jet lag 

What hormone is connected to sleep 

melatonin

How do we track sleep

EEG ( electroencephalogram ) tracks our sleep waves/neuron activity

more frequency in waves means waves are ___ to each other, means brain is more ____

closer, active

Beta Brain waves

• Emitted when awake and alert

• shortest frequency

Alpha brain waves

• emitted when awake and relaxed

Theta brain waves

• emitted during NREM 1

• high amplitude ( lower height ) 

• low frequency ( farther apart ) 

Delta brain waves

• Emitted during NREM 3

• deep sleep 

• lowest frequency ( farthest apart ) 

Typical duration of each sleep cycle, characterized by what,

• 90 minutes = typical duration 

• characterized by = slow breathing

Cycle stages order

NREM 1 → NREM 2 → NREM 3 → NREM 2 → REM

sleep spindles

• random bursts of activity 

What does REM stand for

Rapid eye movement

Rem stage is ___ as night progresses

longer

REM stage started at ___ minutes and increases to almost a _____

5 minute sand increases to almost an hour

EEG shows brain waves that are similar to ___ and ___ waves during REM sleep 

theta and beta 

during REM stage, what are the characteristics of body functions

• increased breathing, heart rate, higher blood pressure, muscle inactive ( signals blocked by brainstem )

In REM stage most ____ occur here and are more ___ and ____ then they are in other stages

dreams occur here and are more vivid and story-like than the occasional dream in other stages 

REM sleep is also known as ____ sleep,

• the brain is ____ during this sleep 

active 

As we sleep ____(deep sleep ) decreases and ___ increases

NREM 3( Deep sleep ) decreases and REM increases

50% of sleep is ___ _

NREM 2

REM totals about __%

25

Why is REM sleep important

• hormones are released that influence thinking process and counteract fatigue, irritability, and inattention

REM Rebound = 

• increased REM sleep following a period of REM deprivation

NREM is for the ____, and ___ is for the brain

body, REM is for the brain

Reasons why we need sleep

• Restoration and recuperation

  • allows us to restore depleted resources used throughout day and clear out built up toxins

• Memory consolidation

  • associated with changed in brain structure and organizations ( especially in infants, young children )

• Growth

  • pituitary gland releases growth hormone in deep sleep ( less deep sleep as we get older )

• Boosts creative thinking and problem solving

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, and genetics

Narcolepsy

• Daytime disorder

• sudden lapse into REM and loss of muscle tension

Sleep Apnea

• Periodically stop breathing during sleep

  • Keeps a person from getting deep restful sleep

  • people often don’t know they have it

  • don’t recall periods of not breathing during night

  • causes: heavier weight, alcoholism, and genetics

REM sleep behavior disorder

• Type of parasomnia ( state between sleep and wakefulness )

• sleeper’s physically acting out dreams, sometimes violently

somnambulism

• sleep walking 

• slow sleep parasomnia 

• most common in young children 

What are dreams

story-like sensations and perceptions in a sleeping persons mind

if woken during REM sleep you can more easily ___ your dream ___

recall your dream vividly 

Lucid dreaming is a state of dreaming where the sleeper can ….

direct the dream or is aware that they are dreaming

Why do we dream? Theory : Physiological Function

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

• particularly applicable for development of brain 

  • expand and maintain neural pathways 

  • exhibited in infants - most of their sleep is REM 

Why do we dream? Theory: Consolidation 

• Memory consolidation : process of transforming short term memories into long term memories by strengthening neural connections 

  • during sleep, brain can reactivity memory networks without new sensory input, helping to stabilize and reorganize recent memories into long term storage 

• brain scans show a connection between REM sleep and memory 

  • supports the need for sleep to learn and recall information

Why do we Dream? Theory: Activation Synthesis

• Neural activity is random; dreams are our way of making sense of this

• the pons generates bursts of action potentials to the cerebral cortex

  • activation

• brain then tries to make sense of stimulation by making a dream

  • synthesis

Sensation =

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

• involves coordination of receptors, neural pathways, and sensory processes

  • these sensory systems are tied to perception

Thresholds =

the relationship between stimulus intensity and sensation intensity

• stimulus : incoming external information ( light wave, sound wave, etc.)

• ex: brightness of light in room and awareness of how bright lights are

Absolute Threshold

• not noticing → noticing

• minimal intensity barely needed to just barely detect a stimulus

• anything below : subliminal stimulus

ex: I just heard a noise ( not noticing → noticing ) 

Signal Detection Theory 

• predicts when we detect weak signals

• based on our experiences- there is no one absolute threshold ( different for each thing )

• Helps explain why people respond differently to the same stimuli 

Difference Threshold ( and weber’s law ) 

• noticing that it changed

• Just noticeable differences ( JND ) 

• Minimal change in a stimulus that can still be detected 

• ex: How much sugar to add for you to tell that it got sweeter

• Weber’s law = JND is a constant proportion despite variations in intensity 

  • two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage ( rather than a constant amount ) to be perceived as differed

  • ex: Weight JND is around 2 % 

  • one envelope vs a 2 ounce envelope 

  • ex: Fainter stimuli don’t need to change as much as stronger stimuli to tell that it changed

Receptors

receptors receive sensory information from environment, receptor sensitivity is sensitive to change

Sensory adaptation

• Weakened sensitivity due to prolonged/constant stimulation 

• example: You notice a bad smell as you first enter a room , but the more time you spend in the room the less you notice the smell 

Sensory Interaction [ synesthesia ] 

• Sensory systems constantly work together

• helps us to taste our food, understand a conversation, etc. 

• smell and taste commonly interact with each other

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

• ex: tasting words 

Transduction

Process of converting external stimulus / energy into neural impulses

Receptors

Cells that complete process of transduction

Wavelength (Vision and hearing only )

distance from one peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next

amplitude ( vision and hearing only )

height of light or sound wave

__ amplitudes produce loud sounds.

High 

__ wavelengths produce higher pitches. 

short

A __ wavelength and a __ frequency produce a high pitch.

short wavelength and high frequency