PSYC 100 - Lec 8

What is conciousness

Everything we think about right now

Your awareness of your surroundings and yourself

Some believe it to be a stream of conciousness - a continuing flow of changing thoughts

Some scenarious where conciousness is not straightforward

Sleeping

Awake but having a seizure

Asleep but having vivid lucid dreams

What are the 3 levels of conciousness

When we are awale

• usually what we think of when think of conciousness

• we are awake and aware of whats going on around us

• but our degree of our awareness varies a lot

When we are asleep

• we are “unconcious” in a menaingful way but still very much alive and sensitive to external stimuli

When we do other things that influence our level of awareness

• eg. taking drugs, hypnosis

What is an altered state of conciousness

A change in a persons ability to be fully aware of thier external surroundings and internal states

eg. being sleep, meditation, etc.

Levels of conciousness while we are awake

Concious awareness

Preconsciousness

Unconscious state (not the same as being unconscious in the way someone is when they’re passed out)

Conciousness while awake two components

States of conciousness - level of awareness for our external surroundings and internal states

• differentiated by the amount and type of attention we’re able to pay to stimuli

Contents of conciousness - specific thoughts we are aware of about our interal states or external surroundings

Conciousness and attention

We must pay attention and be aware we are paying attention

But attention alone is not conciousness

Inattention blindness

If you aren’t paying attention to something visual, you are unable to report on the details of what the visual stimuli contain

Eg. the gorilla video

Main parts of the brain involved in concious awareness

Reticular formation

Thalamus

Hypothalamus

Cerebral cortex

How is the reticular formation involved in concious awareness

Role in being awake and, therefore, conciousness

Damage results in inability to stay awake; associated with comas

How is the thalamus and hypothalamus involved in concious awareness

An awake brain needs information processed

Signals from reticualr formation go to and through thalamus and hypothalamus

Damage or dysfunction in these pathwyas can result in things like narcolepsy or comas

How is the cerebral cortex involved in concious awareness

Important for the “awareness” aspect of conciousness

**relisten

Blindsight

It illustrates the separate roles of different parts of the brain in “sensing” stimuli and being “aware” of stimuli

Primary visual cortex is destroyed, leading to blindness

But individuals could still point to a spot of light and dodge obstacles

This suggests that parts of the brain are still registering external visual stimuli but the individual is not aware of it

Are babies concious

Your answer to this question depends a bit on how you define conciousness

If conciousness means bening humans, then yes

If conciousness means being awake, then yes

But when we get into metacognitive aspects of conciousness and self-awareness, we notice developmental changes

Development of conciousness

Babies obviously can’t describe their feelings of conciousness but we can tell that they pay atttention to things, hold concepts in mind, and engage in planned behaviours

We can also do tests of self-awareness to see at which point in development they become concious of themselves as distinct from other beings/things

eg. red dot test and them being able to recognize themselves in the mirror

When does concious awareness of self seem to develop? What about full conciousness?

Around 18 months

Around 22 months, as this age is associated with more advanced language use, the ability to reson inductively, and categorize concepts

What is concious awareness of self

Noticing that you are a unique being separate from others

Awake states other than conciousness

Sometimes it is understood in terms of hwo aware we are of things

Preconciousness and unconsciousness, they represent conceptually different levels of awareness

Preconciousness

Level of awareness in which information can become readily available to conciousness if necessary

Its not currently in our awareness but it is accessible

Automatic behaviours

A type of preconcious behaviour

Eg. do you remember every step each time you brushed your teeth last week? no you dont, as it is automatic

Unconcious state

state in which information is not easily accessible to concious awareness

Not the same as being “unconcious”

Analogous to info in long-term memory that we can’t retrieve

Things that guide our behaviour without ever having to rise to a level of conciousness

Implicit memory

knowledge that we have stored in emmory that we are not typically aware of or able to recall at will

the contents of our implicit memory allow is to perform a variety of tasks/skills without thinking deeply about all the individual parts of the task/skill

Evidence for unconcious “awareness”

Eg. riding a bike, “gut reaction” decisions in high-stakes scenarioous.

Freuds views of the unconcious

Freud is a major reason we started thinking about the “unconcious” in the first place

Freud imagine a very large role for the unconcious mind

Not only does the unconcious contain a lot of stuff but ti alos gouides our behaviour in a while bunch of ways according to freud

We sleep a lot

Approx. 25 years of sleep over the course of our lives

We can’t avoid it and experience serious negative effects if we try

Humans aren’t even the sleepiest animal

3 theories of sleep

Adaptive theory of sleep

Biological theories

Restoration theory

Adaptive theory of sleep

theory that organisms with bad night vision hide and sleep at night for the purpose of self-preservation, to keep away from predators

Doesn’t fully explain sleep patters in humans

Rooted in evolutionary theory

Biological theories

Sleep plays a role in growth and development

eg. babies sleep a lot of more than adults, something is happening in development

Restoration theory

Holds that sleep restores our brains and bodies; restores depleted resources, claens up “waste” that has accumulated throughout the day

Still does not explain why we sleep

Circadian rhythm

Patter of sleep-wake cycles that in human beings roughly corresponds to periods of daylight and night

We experience changes in alertness and body temperature in predictable ways during sleep/waking

Consistive repetitive pattern of sleep-and-wake

Sleep-wake rhthyms characteristics

Most people don’t have a strong prefrence of time of day for alertness

• Although it’s likely that some of you consider yourselves “morning people
  or “night owls”

Circadian rhythyms likely primarily determined by genetic factors

Environmental factors are also important

We can adjust our cycles by a few hours without a big consequence

What happens in the brain when we sleep

Sensory signals about daytime/nighttime tell parts of our brain to prep for sleep/waking

• eg light of the sun dictates sleep/waking

• shows how influential our vision is

Suprachiasmtic nucleus (SCN)

What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus

A small group of neurons in the hypothalamus responsible for coordinating the many rhythms of the body

Directss pineal gland to produce melatonin which triggers sleepiness

**shows how built in it is for our bodies to sleep

How is the circadian rhythm controlled

During the day, photoreceptors in the retina of the eye, send signals to the SCN about daylight, which helps regulate dopamine and melatonin production

This is why artificial lighting has an umpact on our sleep quality

In the total absence of natural light, our SCN may extend our bodys “day” and disrupt our circadian rhythm

We return to. aantural rhythm quickly upon being exposed to nautral light

How can we emasure sleep cycles

Use EEG to measure patterns of brain activity

Different patterns of brain waves denote different stages of sleep

We go through these stages in order and on repeatq

What are the different stages of sleep

Awake and alert

Awake and drowsy, relaxed waves

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3, delta waves appear

Stage 4, mostly delta waves

REM, dreaming

Characteristics of sleep cycles

90 to 100 minutes per sleep cycle

One cycle consists of five stages

Over the altter part of the night, we spend most time in stages 1 and 2 and REM sleep

Pre-sleep period (hypnagogic state)

Alpha waves

Hypnagogic hallucinations

• vivid sensory hallucinations

• eg. exploding head syndrome

Myoclonic jerk

• muscle spasm that accompanies hypnagogic hallucination of falling

Stage 1 of sleep

A few minutes

Bridge between wakefulness and sleep

Alpha waves change to slower theta waves

Stage 2 of sleep

15 to 20 minutes

More relaxed

Rhythmic breathing

sleep spindles (burst of rapid rbainw aves)

Stage 3 of sleep

Deep sleep

20-50% delta waves

Stage of 4 of sleep

Heart rate, bnlood pressure, breathing rates at lowest levels

Muscles relax

Sleepwalking more likely

Stage 5 of sleep

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

Most associated w/ dreams

REM sleep

associated with rapid and jagged brain wave patterns, increased HR, rapid and irregular breathing, rapid eye movements, and dreaming

Can look at brain images to see brain activitiy while sleeping

What are dreams

Extra brain activitiy while asleep

Why do we have them and what do they represent though?

Informaiton processing theory of dreaming

Dreams involve processing info from the day (i.e encoding memory and problem solving ), could be related to restoration theory

Dreams could be a mental realm where we can solve problems and think creatively

Activation - synthesis model of dreaming

During sleep, that brain has a lot fo random activitiy via brainstem activitiy that activates the sensory systems of the cortex

Dreams could reflex the brains efforts to make sense out of or find meaning in the neural activitiy that takes palce during sleep

Freudian dream theory

Dreams represent the expression of unconcious wishes or desires

Not much evidence for this

4 notable types of dreams

Nightmares - dreams filled with intense anxiety

Nightmare or dream disorder anxiety - frequent or distressing nightmares, could warrant intervention

Lucid dreams - the sleeper fully recognizes that she is dreaming and occassionally actively guides the otucome fo the dream

Day dreams - fantasies that occur while one is awake and aware of external reality, but is not fully concious

Sleep and age

Babies spend more time in REM sleep

Seen as evidence that this is part of how young brains develop (important role of sleep)

Sleep requirements change as we age, as youo age things are not working in our body that can interfere w/ our sleep

Sleep deprivation

If we could sleep as long as we wanted most people would sleep 9-10 hours, but we do not always get this

Chronic sleep loss results in:

• general depressed state

• lower immune system

• lower ability to concentrate

• higher incidence of accidents

• lower productivity and higher likelihood of making mistakes

Sleep hygiene

Practices and routnines to help sleep better:

• Make your bedroom a place yoou associate most strongly with sleep

  • keep it dark, quiet, and cool

  • don’t have devices or screens in your room

  • uses process of classical conditioning, prepares the brain for sleep when in the room

• Limit eating/drinking within 3 hours of bedtime

  • especially alcohol and caffeines, i.e giving your body/brain less to day

• Limit naps and physical activitiy late in the day if you’re having trouble sleeping

Insomnia

Most common sleep disorder

Difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep

Caused by stress, therefore common treatment is CBT

More common in older people due to medical conditions, pain, medications, and depression

and anxiety

Sleep apnea

Second most common sleep disorder

Repeatedly stops breahting during the night leading to frequent awakenings, no recall of waking though

Possible to have hundreds of attacks per night

Can lead to cardiac arrest

People who snore are more prone

Airway blocked temporarily

Use CPAP machine

Excessive daytime sleepiness

Chronically tired, even if slept well

Narcolepsy

Uncontrollable urge to fall asleep

Suddently fall into REM sleep during the day

Can last up to 15 minutes

Genetic factors involved

No cure

Can lead to serious injury or death

Delayed sleep phase syndrome

Long delay in ability to fall asleep

Advanced sleep phase syndrome

Fall asleep between 6 ppm and 9 pm and wake ebtween 2 am and 5 am

Has to do with how body responds to wake signals

Restless leg syndrome

Strong urge to mvoe elgs before sleep, prevents sleep

Periodic limb movements of sleep

Strong urge to move legs during sleep, disrupt sleep

Sleepwalking

Mostly occurs during first 3 hours of sleep

Eventtually returns to bed

Inherited

Doesn’t ahppent aht frequently

Some people need to get help for it

Night terrors

Occurs ins tage 3 and 4 of sleep

Child screams in panic; goes back to sleep immediately and does not rememebr the event in the morning

Resolves by adolescnece

may be genetic

Very serious

REM sleep behaviour disorder

Acting out the dream while in bed and sleeping

Altered conciousness AKA

how we try to change what we’re aware of
Things we do delibertely

Hypnosis

Altered state of conciousness, with heightenied suggestibility, deep relaxation, and intense focus

Post hypnotic responses

Posthypnotic amnesia

Hypontic hallucinations

Decreased activitiy in aterior cingulate cortex when used to reduce pain

Two possible mechanisms for how hypnosis helps with pain relief

Divided conciousness theory: hypnosis splits awareness into two parts; one part responds to hypnotists suggestion, the other part continues to process pain information but at a less concious level

Social/cognitive process theory: the participant is hgihly motivated to believe in hypnosis, and, without awareness, works hard ot ignore the pain. less about hypnosis working, and more believing that it will work

What does neuroimaging techniques suggest for how hypnosis works

Suggests that the brains anterior cingulate cortex may be particularly involved when hypnosis is used to anaesthetize or reduce pain

Psychoactive drugs

Chemicals that affect awareness, beahviour, sensation, perception, or mood

Additction

Large concern

a psychological cimpulsion to take a drug, resulting from regular ingestion and leading to maladaptive patterns of behaviours and changes in physical response

Tolerance to drugs

mark of physical dependence on a drug, in which the person is required to take incrementally largfer doses of the drug to achieve the same effect

Withdrawal symptoms

Unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects of reducing intake of a drug after a person has become addicted

Negative reinforcement: taking the drug again to stop withdrawal

Depressants

Slow the activity of the central nervous system, reducing tension and inhibitions

Include alcohol and sedative-hypnotic drugs, and opiods

Can interfere with judgement, motor activtiy, and concentration

Sedative-hypnotics

Benzodiazepines

Produces relaxation and drowsiness; releives anciety

Eg. Xana, Ativan, Valium

Opiods

Derived frpm the sap of the opium poppy

Include opiod heroin, morphine, codeine, and OcyContin

Activate the opiod receptrors in the rbain, providing their analgesic effect and their related high
Reduce pain and emotional tension and produces pelasurable and calming feelings

Very affective

Some of the most addictive, through psoitive reinforcements (i.e producing pleasurable feelings)

Stimulants

Increases the activitiy of the central nervous system

Include, caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines

Cocaine

Increases energy and alertness

Produces euphoric feelings of well-being (positive reinforcement)

Negatively imapcts memory, attention,a nd decision-making ability

Amphetamines

Small doses increase energy and alertness and reduce appetitie, very reinforcing

Large doses produces intozication and psychosis

Increases metahmphetamines (crystal emth) and MDMA (ecstacy), Adderal, etc.

Hallucinogens

Produce sneosry or perceptual distortions called hallucinations

LSD

Magic mushrooms

Mescaline (Buttons, mesc)

DMT

Ketamine

PCP
Cannabis

LSD

Dramatically strengthens visual perceptions (including illusions and hallucniations) along with profound psychological and physical changes

Depends on the dose

Some people have positive and some people have negative experiences

Cannabis

Marijauna, THC

Produes a mixture of hallucinogenic, depressant, and stimulant effects

Depends on formulation and dosage

Psychoactive drugs activate which pathway

The reward learning pathway or “pleasure pathway” in the brain

As brain is designed to respond to rewards => keep using the drugs

Reward-deficiency syndrome

People might abuse drugs because their reward centre is not readily activated by usual life events