States of Consciousness

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms related to states of consciousness, biological rhythms, sleep, brainwaves, and dreams, derived from lecture notes.

Awareness of internal and external stimuli such as feelings of hunger and pain or detection of light.

Consciousness

High levels of sensory awareness, thought, and behavior.

Wakefulness

An internal cycle of biological activity, including fluctuations of body temperature, menstrual cycles, and levels of alertness.

Biological rhythm

A biological rhythm that occurs over approximately 24 hours, such as the sleep-wake cycle or heart rate.

Circadian rhythm

Located in the hypothalamus, this serves as the brain’s clock mechanism, generating circadian rhythms and synchronizing with the outside world using light information from the retina.

Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

A brain region that maintains homeostasis (optimal balance) within a biological system and controls biological rhythms.

Hypothalamus

A hormone whose release is stimulated by darkness, making us sleepy, and inhibited by daylight; it is released by the pineal gland to regulate the sleep-wake cycle.

Melatonin

The gland that releases melatonin.

Pineal gland

The brain’s control of switching between sleep and wakefulness, as well as coordinating this cycle with the outside world.

Sleep regulation

An individual's personal circadian pattern of activity.

Chronotype

Symptoms resulting from the mismatch between our internal circadian cycles and our environment, often including fatigue, sluggishness, irritability, and insomnia.

Jet lag

A work schedule that changes from early to late on a daily or weekly basis, making it difficult for a normal circadian rhythm to be maintained.

Rotating shift work

The result of insufficient sleep on a chronic basis.

Sleep debt

The phenomenon where a sleep-deprived individual will tend to take a shorter time to fall asleep during subsequent opportunities for sleep.

Sleep rebound

A state marked by relatively low physical activity and a reduced sense of awareness.

Sleep

Stages 3 and 4 of sleep, characterized by delta waves, appearing to be essential for effective memory formation.

Slow-wave sleep

Not paying attention to surroundings and being blind to things that happen.

Inattentional blindness

Relatively low frequency, relatively high amplitude, synchronized brainwaves characteristic of a relaxed, awake state and the transition into sleep.

Alpha waves

Low frequency, low amplitude brainwaves characteristic of Stage 1 and Stage 2 sleep.

Theta waves

Low frequency, high amplitude, desynchronized brainwaves that characterize slow-wave sleep (Stages 3 and 4).

Delta waves

Relatively low frequency brainwaves observed when a person is awake and alert.

Beta waves

A transitional phase occurring between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by slowing respiration and heartbeat, decreased muscle tension, and the presence of alpha waves.

Stage 1 sleep

A stage where the body goes into deep relaxation, characterized by theta waves, sleep spindles, and K-complexes.

Stage 2 sleep

Rapid bursts of high frequency brainwaves that appear during Stage 2 sleep.

Sleep spindles

Very high amplitude patterns of brain activity that appear during Stage 2 sleep.

K-complexes

Rapid Eye Movement sleep, characterized by rapid eye movements, paralysis of voluntary muscles, vivid dreams, and brain waves similar to those seen during wakefulness.

REM sleep

A diagram illustrating how an individual moves through the various stages of sleep during a period of sleep.

Hypnogram

(Freud) The actual content or storyline of a dream.

Manifest content

(Freud) The hidden meaning of a dream.

Latent content

(Jung) A theoretical repository of information shared by all people across cultures, accessible through dreams.

Collective unconscious

(Jung) Universal symbols in dreams that reflect common human experiences.

Archetypes

A state of virtual reality in the mind during dreaming that may help a person during consciousness.

Protoconsciousness

Dreams in which certain aspects of wakefulness are maintained, and the person becomes aware that they are dreaming.

Lucid dreams