States of Consciousness

I THINK this is what will be on the quiz!

consciousness

our awareness of ourselves and our environment. allows us to reflect and plan.

states

occur spontaneously - daydreaming, drowsiness, dreaming

physiologically induced states

hallucinations, food or oxygen starvation

psychologically induced states

sensory deprivation, hypnosis, meditation

levels of consciousness

preconsciousness, subconscious, unconscious and non conscious

preconsciousness

something that is not in our conscious, but can be easily pulled into consciousness, such as memories.

unconscious

he part of the mind which is inaccessible to the conscious mind but which affects behavior and emotions.  According to Sigmund Freud, it’s a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.

non conscious

things happening in your body of which you are not aware, such as hormone secretion.

subconscious

things you know how to without thinking about it - driving home and not remembering (you know the route)

biological clock

different biological rhythms - annual cycles, 28 day cycles, 24 hour cycles, 90-min cycles

annual cycles

cycles that occur in our bodies on a yearly basis, such as SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder – becoming depressed during the winter [can use SAD light therapy to help]), or birds flying south for the winter and bears hibernating.

28-day cycles

cycles that occur every month.  ex. a woman’s menstrual cycle

circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle, such as body temperature or wakefulness.

melatonin

a sleep-inducing hormone.  The SCN causes the brain’s pineal gland to decrease its production of melatonin in the morning or to increase it in the evening.

adenosine

a neurotransmitter that causes drowsiness and the slowing of nerve cells.  Caffeine is an antagonist that blocks the transmission of adenosine keeping us awake.

sleep

a periodic, natural loss of consciousness. Throughout the night, the body experiences many sleep cycles, each one lasting around 90 minutes.  Each cycle has 4 stages (NREM-1, NREM-2, NREM-3, REM)

dreams

a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind during REM sleep.

information-processing (problem solving) theory

dreams help us sort out the day’s events and consolidate our memories.

physiological theory

regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develop and preserve neural pathways.

activation-synthesis theory

REM sleep triggers impulses that evoke random visual memories, which our sleeping brain weaves into stories.

cognitive development theory

dream content reflects dreamers’ cognitive development – their knowledge and understanding.

memory consolidation

dreaming integrates newly encoded information into long-term memory.

delta waves

the larger slow brain waves associated with deep sleep

beta waves

the waves of someone who is wide awake.

alpha waves

the relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.

NREM-1

the first stage that lasts about 5 minutes, emit theta waves, may experience hallucinations and hynagogic sensation

hypnagogic

feelings of floating or falling associated with NREM-1.

hallucinations

false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.

NREM-2

the second stage that lasts for about 20 minutes, clearly asleep and experience sleep spindles.

sleep spindles

random bursts of activity associated with NREM-2.

NREM-3

Known as slow wave sleep, the deepest stage of sleep in which it is hard to wake, emission of delta waves, sleep walking, bed wetting, etc. occur during this stage.

REM sleep

rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur.  Also known as paradoxical sleep because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active.

NREM sleep

non-rapid eye movement sleep; encompasses all sleep stages except for REM sleep.

REM rebound

the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation (created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep).

insomnia

a sleep disorder in which a person has recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

narcolepsy

sa sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks.  These attacks are usually caused by excitement.  The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.

sleep apnea

a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.  Sleep apnea is associated with obesity.  It is suggested people lose weight to help curb sleep apnea.  Wearing an air pump while sleeping helps also.

sleep deprivation

emotional irritability leading to possible depression and symptoms including:

• fatigue and possible death

• weight gain

• impaired concentration

• depressed immune system

sensory deprivation & solitary confinement

I THINK they are both rely on hallucinations to create an experience

• sensory deprivation = reduction of stimuli across one’s senses

• solitary confinement = imprisonment where someone is locked & isolated

maybe know the basics of this image

biological clock

REM sleep behavior disorder

a parasomnia where a person psychically acts out vivid unpleasant dreams with vocal sounds and violent limb movements because the brain fails to create normal muscle paralysis during REM sleep.

somnambulism (NREM-3)

sleepwalking - behavioral sleep discording belonging to parasomnia family; involves performing complex psychical activity ~ during 1st 1-2 hours of sleep.

theta waves

waves with a frequency of 4-8 Hz.