DG

Biological Bases of Consciousness and Sleep (Lecture Notes)

Brain Structures Mentioned

  • Cerebellum: Helps process and store info outside of awareness.
  • Limbic System:
    • Amygdala: described as a 2-bean-sized structure (from transcript: "two bean sized amygdala").
    • Hippocampus: described as a 2-bean-sized structure (from transcript: "two bean sized Hippocampus").
  • Hypothalamus: Helps guide the endocrine system.
  • Cerebral Cortex: Two hemispheres; each hemisphere has four lobes: Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal.
    • Frontal lobe
    • Parietal lobe
    • Occipital lobe
    • Temporal lobe

Consciousness and Attention

  • The place of consciousness in psychology's history (section title in transcript) – reflects on how consciousness has been defined and studied in psychology.
  • Consciousness: Awareness of self and environment.
  • Selective Attention: Focusing on a particular stimulus. Example mentioned: the cocktail party effect.
  • Cocktail Party Effect: The ability to focus attention on a single conversation or stimulus in a noisy environment while others are present.
  • Dual Processing: Information processing occurs on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.
  • Parallel Processing: Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem at the same time.
  • Serial Processing: Processing information in a step-by-step sequence (one at a time).
  • Blindsight: Responding to a visual stimulus without conscious experience of seeing it.
  • Sleep and unconsciousness reference: sleep involves unconscious states; coma is another form of profound unconsciousness (as mentioned in transcript).

Sleep and Biological Rhythms

  • Biological Rhythms: The 24-hour biological clock; circadian rhythm.
  • Circadian Rhythm: A roughly 24-hour cycle that governs physiological and behavioral processes.
  • Circadian rhythm in younger adults: Mentioned as the relevant cycle; implies age-related considerations in the rhythm.
  • NREM and related sleep features (as described in transcript):
    • NREM 1 (N1): Often described as the onset of sleep; "Slow breathing and irregular brain waves".
    • NREM 2 (N2): More relaxed state; "Relaxed, more deeply" (deeper stage than N1).
    • NREM 3 (N3): Deep sleep; "slow delta" activity; described as about 30 minutes in transcript.
  • Note on terms: Transcript uses "ANREM" and abbreviations like N1, N2, N3; these correspond to non-REM sleep stages N1, N2, and N3.
  • 30-minute reference: N3 is described as about 30\,\text{min} in the transcript.
  • Other potential sleep terms not explicitly covered in the transcript (e.g., REM sleep) are not detailed here but are commonly part of sleep architecture in standard references.

Summary of Key Terms and Concepts

  • Consciousness: awareness of self and environment; central topic in the historical context of psychology.
  • Attention: selective focus on a stimulus; real-world examples include the cocktail party effect.
  • Information processing: dual vs parallel vs serial processing; conscious vs unconscious pathways.
  • Blindsight: visual processing without conscious awareness.
  • Brain regions and functions: cerebellum (processed outside conscious awareness), limbic system (amygdala and hippocampus), hypothalamus (endocrine control), cerebral cortex (four lobes per hemisphere).
  • Sleep stages and rhythms: NREM stages (N1, N2, N3) with characteristic brain activity and breathing patterns; circadian rhythms regulate 24-hour cycles.
  • Practical implications: understanding attention and consciousness informs daily cognition, safety, learning, and discussions about the nature of conscious experience.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

  • Brain regions support specific cognitive functions: cerebellum for coordinating and possibly learning motor-tied and automatic processes; limbic system for emotion and memory; hypothalamus for hormonal regulation affecting arousal and homeostasis; cortex for higher-order processing across sensory and cognitive domains.
  • Consciousness and attention are intertwined: selective attention shapes perception and experience; multitasking and dual processing illustrate how some information is processed without conscious awareness.
  • Sleep and circadian biology influence cognitive performance, mood, and health: understanding sleep stages helps explain why rest is vital for memory consolidation, learning, and general functioning.

Notable Formulas and Numerical References (LaTeX)

  • Biological clock: 24-hour cycle (circadian rhythm)
  • Brain structure sizes described in transcript: amygdala and hippocampus as 2-bean-sized entities
  • Lobe count per hemisphere: 4 lobes (Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal)
  • Number of hemispheres: 2
  • NREM stage durations: NREM 3 described as about 30\,\text{min}