AP Psychology 1.5 - Sleep

Cognitive Neuroscience

studying brain activity and cognition

Consciousness

our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

• ___ awareness helps us make sense of the world around us

• we go into different states of ___ throughout our day

• Dual processing

• Parallel processing

• Sequential processing

Dual Processing

processing at two different levels, conscious and unconscious; the principle that info is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks

Parallel Processing

processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

Sequential Processing

processing one aspect of a stimulus or problem at a time; used more often with new and/or difficult stimulus

Circadian Rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle

Light and Sleep

bright ___ in the morning starts the circadian clock by activating ___-sensitive retinal proteins

• proteins trigger the brains suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus

SCN

causes the pineal gland to decrease melatonin, connected to our retinas

Jet Lag

changes in our psychological and physiological states as a result of traveling through various time zones; disruption of our circadian rhythm

• irritability

• fatigue

• trouble concentration

• etc.

Sleep Stages

about every 90 minutes we pass through a cycle of five ___

1. Alpha waves

2. Non REM 1

3. Non REM 2

4. Non REM 3

5. REM sleep/Stage 4

Alpha Waves

awake but relaxed

Non REM 1

slowed breathing; irregular brain waves, fantastic images, sensation of falling or floating; alpha waves/theta waves

• Hallucinations

• Hypnagogic Senstations

Hallucinations

false sensory experiences

Hypnagogic Sensations

jerking, a feeling of falling, floating, etc. as you transition to sleep

Non REM 2

about 20 minutes, sleep spindles (busts of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity), clearly asleep; theta waves

Non REM 3

your brain emits delta waves, deep sleep, hard to wake up; gets shorter throughout the night

• night terrors

• sleepwalking/sleep talking

REM Sleep/Stage 4

occurs about an hour in, rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur, hard to be awakened; will get longer as we continue to sleep

• sleep paralysis

• paradoxical sleep

• nightmares

REM Rebound

the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation

Sleep Disorders

• insomnia

• sleep apnea

• narcolepsy

• REM sleep disorder

• somnambulism (sleep walking)

• night terrors

• sleep paralysis

Insomnia

the inability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or both; most common of all sleep disorders

• Causes: stress, irregular sleep schedule, pain/illness, diet/medications

• Treatments: stress management, meds, treatment of pain, changing habits

Sleep Apnea

breathing stops repeatedly throughout the night, snowing and gasping, never feel rested and restored even after a full night of sleep

• Causes: weight, smoking, gender, age, thick neck, narrow airway, nasal obstruction

• Treatments: depends on the cause; losing weight, CPAP machine

Narcolepsy

fall into uncontrollable sleep attacks, drowsiness, muscle paralysis (cataplexy), may lapse directs into REM sleep

• Causes: genetic

• Treatments: meds and support

REM Sleep Disorder

normal REM paralysis does not occur; moving, talking, acting out may occur during one’s dreams

Somnambulism

also known as sleep walking; impact children the most, usually happen in the first couple hours of sleep

• Causes: unknown but impacted by genetics, sleep deprivation, meds, and stress

• Treatments: keep safe and encourage to go back to bed

• Symptoms: walking/running, incoherent speech, routine actions

Night Terrors

impact children the most; sit up, cry, scream, move around, etc. will happen in first couple hours of sleep and during stage 4, most don’t remember

• Causes: unknown

• Treatments: comfort and put back in bed

Sleep Paralysis

a brief loss of muscle control that happens just after falling asleep or waking up and can have hallucinations

• Causes: unknown but seen more in people who: have other sleep disorders and/or anxiety disorder

• Treatments: consistent sleep routine and schedule; cognitive behavioral therapy for other disorders

Dreams

a sequence of images, emotions and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind

• notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the sleepers delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it

• difficult for psychologists to study because it is entirely self-reporting

Dream Theories

• Process info/file away memories

• physiological function/develop and preserve neural pathways

• activation synthesis/make sense of neural static

• consolidation

• restoration

Process Information Theory

file away memories; dreams are there to help ___; dreams help sift, sort and fix the days experiences in our memory

• brain scans confirm the links between REM sleep and memory

• Critics: memory consolidations may occur independent of dreaming; we dream about things that we have not experienced

Physiological Function Theory

develop and preserve neural pathways; brain activity associated with REM sleep provides the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation

• dreams help develop and preserve neural pathways

• Critics: why then do we have meaningful dreams?

Activation Synthesis Theory

make sense of neural static; dreams are neural activity heading up the brainstem; neural activation is random and dreams are the brain’s attempt to make sense of it

• internal stimuli activate the brain areas that process visual images and the amygdala

• Critics: the individual brain is still weaving these stones together; more than just neural activity

Consolidation Theory

dreams reflect the processing of what you learned and the experiences you had; this process helps strengthen memory ___, moving things from short-term to long-term memory

• Critics: why do we dream about things we have not experienced?

Restoration Theory

sleep is to recover, restore and repair; visual to development, helps us to reenergize