sleep and sensations vocabulary

Circadian Rhythm

biological 24 hour clock on which our regular bodily rhythms occur like temperature and wakefulness.

REM Sleep

4th stage of sleep where rapid eye movement and dreams occur, also known as paradoxical sleep because our bodies are paralyzed, breathing and heart rate quicken, this stage gets longer the longer you are asleep, goes to stage 2 after.

NREM Sleep

non rapid eye movement, sleep stages 1-3

NREM Stage 1

transition between wake and sleep, hypnagogic sensations happen where theta (sleep) waves are interrupted by alpha (wake) waves, not included in the 90 minute cycle.

NREM Stage 2

“baseline” of sleep, bursts of rhythmic brain wave activity, could be awakened without trouble, part of the 90 minute cycle.

NREM Stage 3

“delta” or “slow wave” sleep, brain activity slows down and it is hard to wake anyone in this stage.

Hypnagogic Sensations

bizarre experiences while falling asleep, such as jerking awake.

Insomnia

problems with staying or falling asleep.

Narcolepsy

sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks maybe directly into REM sleep, usually during a time of high stress and joy.

Sleep Apnea

temporary cessations (stopping) of breathing during sleep, leading to repeated momentary awakenings, meaning that a full 90 minute cycle does not occur.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

when normal REM paralysis doesn’t occur and instead twitching, talking, punching, or kicking may happen as a way to act out dreams.

Dreams

sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping persons mind, freud thinks it’s our unconscious coming to the surface, there is manifest content (storyline) and later content (meaning).

REM Rebound

tendency of REM sleep to increase after deprivation.

Night Terrors

sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified/ looking awake, happens usually to children during stage 3 and they typically grow out of it.

Night Terrors V.S Nightmares

terrors happen during stage 3 but nightmares happen during REM sleep.

Consolidation Dream Theory (Information Processing Theory)

dreams are an attempt to sort out and understand the memories you experienced that day and REM sleep increases after stressful events.

Activation Synthesis Dream Theory

the brain stem releases random neural activity during sleep, and dreams might be a way to make sense of that activity.

Somnambulism (Sleep Walking)

sleep disorder that affects 10 percent of humans at least once in their lives, happens during stage 3 sleep.

Sleep Disorders

insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, somnambulism, and night terrors.

Sleep Disruption Effects

feeling exhausted because you are in “sleep debt,” your body keeps count of how much sleep debt you have for at least two weeks.

Disruptions to Circadian Rhythm

jet lag - when your bodies natural time and the worlds natural time don’t match (sleepy at 4pm).

Sleep Function

protects, restores, aids memory consolidation, feeds creative thinking, supports growth, and conserves energy.

Sleep Stages (with EEG Patterns)

1 - irregular brain waves, 2 - sleep spindles (bursts of rapid rhythmic brain waves), 3- slow delta waves, 4 - resembles the near waking stage 1 sleep waves.

Consciousness

the state of being awake and aware of your surroundings.

Types of Consciousness

sleep (unconscious) and wake (conscious).

Sensation

The physical feeling of perception in response to certain stimulants.

Absolute Threshold

Minimum amount of stimulation required to be sensed or perceived about 50% of the time.

Just-noticeable difference

The minimum amount of change needed to detect this change in the stimulus about 50% of the time.

Sensory Adaptation

decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation.

Weber’s Law

Change needed to notice a difference in the stimuli is proportional to the original intensity of the stimulus.

Sensory interaction

The integration of sensory processes when performing a task (i.e. using vision to balance)

Synesthesia

A condition in which stimulation of one sense simultaneously produces a sensory stimulation in another.

Trasduction

Transformation of signals into neural impulses distributed to various parts of the brain through the thalamus.

Retina

Part of the eye that converts the light enrgy from images into neural impulses sent to the brain.

Blind Spot

When the visual field is obstructed due to the lack of visual processing when the optic nerve is busy sending signals to the brain.

Accommodation

When the lens of your eye changes its curvature in order to focus light rays.

Nearsightedness

When vision is limited to whats near and far images are unclear to your eyes (aka. myopia).

Farsightedness

objects close by are more blurred and eyes are able to focus better on images further away (aka. hyperopia)

Rods

Photoreceptors in the retina that perceive the light and shadow or black and white

Cones

Photoreceptors in the retina that perceive colors as a combination of the primary colors.

Trichromatic color theory

Any color can be created by combining the colors red, green, and blue.

Opponent-process color theory

We cannot see some colors in combination as they are not able to be sensed at the same time. (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black)

Afterimage

Prolonged viewing of a color patch induces an aftermath of the opposite color.

Ganglion cells

type of neuron located in the retina that sends signals to the brain resulting from visual stimulation.

Dichromatism

Type of partial color blindness resulting from only having two types of cones rather than three resulting in confusion between various colors as you aren’t able to recognize them.

Monochromatism

Type of color blindness that results from only having one kind of cone photoreceptor, resulting in you only being able to see in various shades of one color.

Prosopagnosia

Face-Blindness; the inability to remember or recognize faces

Place Theory

Theory that various hairs within the cochlea vibrate at different frequencies in order for us to perceive pitch.

Volley Theory

Frequency up to around 500 hz only require a single neuron to be processed whereas higher frequencies take more neurons to process.

Frequency Theory

All the hairs within your cochlea vibrate but at different speeds allowing us to perceive pitch.

Conduction Deafness

Deafness caused by something going wrong on the way to the cochlea; can be treated with hearing aids.

Sensorineural Deafness

Hair cells in the cochlea itself are damaged; can be caused by loud noise; can be treated through cochlear implants.

Pheremones

Chemical signal released outside the body of a certain in order to attract other members of that species.

Olfactory System

Structures responsible in organism’s detection and response to odorants. Found in the nasal cavity in order to smell.

Gustation

The sense of taste; serves organisms nutritional needs and the protects from poisons.

Gate Control Theory

Theory that that pain is modulated by large nerve fibers in the spine acting as gates.

Phantom Limb

The feeling that an amputated limb is still present; tingling or itching sensation

Vestibular Sense

The way that we are able to sense ourselves within space and can balance; located within the ear canal.

Kinesthesis

Our ability sense where our body parts are; controlled by the receptors located in muscles and joints.