Unit 5

1. Unit 5 States of Consciousness

2. Consciousness • The tiredness battle • Waking consciousness • Disrupting body rhythms can alter your mood and your ability to function • Consciousness – being aware of yourself and your environment

3. Body rhythms • Biological rhythms • Periodic physical changes in your body that can have different types of impacts on you • 3 major types • Circadian – “about a day” • Occur usually once a day – SLEEPING • Bright light in the morning activates light sensitive proteins in the retina • Trigger signals to superchiasmic nucleus in hypothalamus • Tells the brain to stop producing melotonin • Time zone changes

4. Benefits of sleep • Strengthens memory • Increases concentration • Boosts mood • Moderates hunger and obesity • Boosts immune system • Sleep bank/sleep debt • Body needs a certain amount of sleep

5. Sleep • Lack of sleep can cause • Your immune system to stop working correctly • Lead to impaired memory or learning • More stress • More car accidents – increase after daylight savings time • high blood pressure • inability to concentrate • irritability • premature aging

6. Sleep and Teens • Teenagers average 2 hours less sleep today than they did 70 years ago • More distractions • Less hard work? • 4 out of 5 teens are dangerously sleep deprived • Dement 1999 • What time do you wake up on the weekend/snow day?

7. Are you sleep deprived? • Answer the following questions in your notebook – keep track of your answers, T or F • 1. I need an alarm clock to wake up at the appropriate time. • 2. It’s a struggle for me to get out of the bed in the morning • 3. Weekday mornings I hit the snooze bar more than once to get more sleep

8. 4. I feel tired, irritable, and stressed during the week • 5. I have trouble concentrating and remembering • 6. I feel slow with critical thinking, problem solving, and being creative • 7. I often fall asleep watching TV • 8. I often fall asleep in boring meetings or lectures or in warm rooms

9. 9. I often fall asleep after heavy meals • 10. I often fall asleep while relaxing after dinner • 11. I often fall asleep within 5 minutes of getting into bed • 12. I often feel drowsy while driving • 13. I often sleep extra hours on weekend mornings • 14. I often need a nap to get through the day • 15. I have dark circles around my eyes

10. According to James Maas if you answered True to 3 or more of those questions, you could be considered sleep deprived Try going to bed 15 minutes earlier every night until you can wake up without an alarm clock and feel alert all day

11. Why do we sleep? • No complete answer to this question exists • The hypothalamus seems to control the Circadian rhythm of sleep • Picks up changes in light and dark • Initiates changes in which will put you to sleep by increasing or decreasing hormone levels • Melatonin

12. Theories of sleep’s necessity • Preservation Theory • Traveling at night can be very dangerous • Maybe our ancestors who slept at night survived because of sleep • Provides protection from night time dangers for daytime mammals • Bats sleep 20 hours a day • Cats 15 • Elephants only 3 or 4 • Maximizes our safety and survival

13. Theories of sleep’s necessity • Restoration Theory • allows us to recuperate from wear and tear of everyday life • Brain and body remain active while we are sleeping • Memories can be filed away • body can rebuild itself • What we learned can be compartmentalized • Free radicals are produced to destroy toxins • Feeds creative thinking – sleep on it • Growth process

14. The Stages of Sleep • Sleep-Wake Cycle is Circadian • We all go through 90 minute ultradian cycles during sleep when 2 different types of sleep occur • Can be measured by scientists if • 1. You are asleep • 2. You have at least 5 electrodes attached to your head • EEG

15. What happens when you sleep? • EEG shows a number of things happen in your body • Cycle through 4 different levels of sleep before you start dreaming • Stage 1. Small brain waves, irregular – • only lasts about 5 minutes • if awoken, you’d probably say you weren’t asleep • Sensations like falling or floating • Stage 2. Even smaller brain waves • little bursts of activity – SPINDLES • First time lasts about 20 minutes, but you will spend more and more time in this stage over the night • Talking in your sleep happens here or lower

16. What happens when you sleep? • Stage 3/4 Even slower – after about 30 minutes of sleep • 2 stages • Delta Sleep • Large brain waves that continue to grow in number until you reset to Stage 1 • Hard to wake up • Continue cycling down to Stage 4 and back up to Stage 1

18. NonREM and REM Sleep • Non REM sleep • Non Rapid Eye Movement Sleep • Initially spend more time here • Stages 1-4 • After you move back up (4-1) you enter REM Sleep • REM sleep is when you are dreaming very vividly • Eyes are moving rapidly under your eye lids • The longer you sleep, the more time you spend here

19. REM Sleep • Only discovered in 1952 • Pulse quickens • Temporarily Paralyzed • Body outside is completely relaxed • Inside – high state of arousal • Paradoxical Sleep • Harder to be awoken • We all dream, every single night, all the time • For about 100 minutes • Not everyone can remember, not even a second of it

20. Why do we dream? • Several theories • Wish fulfillment • Freud believed dreams were key to solving internal conflicts • Interpretation of Dreams – Freud 1900 • Ability to do things that you cant do in real life • Manifest Content – what you can remember • Latent Content – underlying theme of a dream

21. Why we dream • Information Processing Theory • A way of tying up loose ends from the day • Info gets sorted out and sifted • REM sleep helps with memory storage • Develop and Preserve neural pathways • REM stimulates the brain • Babies sleep a lot – need more time to develop

22. Why we dream • Activation Synthesis/Neural Static • The brain is trying to make sense out of random neural firing that happens while you are sleeping • Cognitive Development • Reflects dreamer’s cognitive development • Kids dreams aren’t as vivid

23. Sleep Disorders • Insomnia • Recurring problems in falling asleep or staying asleep • Sleeping pills can make it worse • Restrict or inhibit REM sleep • So does alcohol • Perception of time? • Those with insomnia feel like it takes 2x as long to fall asleep

24. Sleep Disorders • How to help insomnia • Stay away from caffeine after 3 pm • Soda, Coffee, chocolate • Get up the same time every morning • Waking up late on the weekend can create problems • Avoid night time activities that get you riled up • Don’t stress about not being able to fall asleep • Give it time, it will happen

25. Sleep Disorders • Sleep Apnea • Temporary cessation of breathing • Constantly waking yourself up • Lots of snoring • Can happen as many as 400x one night • Usually happens to overweight men over 40 • CPAP machine – Continuous Positive Airway Pressure

26. Sleep Disorders • Narcolepsy • Uncontrollable sleep attacks • “numbness seizure” • Heritable • Strong emotions will cause individuals to fall asleep • Happiness, fear • Fall immediately into REM sleep • Treatable with medication

27. Sleep Disorders • Somnambulism - Sleep walking • Cant happen during REM sleep • Night Terrors – different than nightmares • Hard to remember • Bruxism –Grinding your teeth • Enuresis – Bed wetting • Myoclonus – sudden sharp body movements

28. Hypnosis • Social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur • Evidence of two track mind or split consciousness • All about how open to suggestion you are • How often do you lose yourself in a move? • Postural Sway

29. Hypnosis • Recalling lost/suppressed memories • Memories are not always locked away • They are often lost forever • Even hypnosis cant retrieve them • Age Regression • Hypnotic Refreshing – framing questions/hints • Inception?

30. Hypnosis • Can you make people act against their will? • Put their hand in acid or throw it in someone’s face • Individuals who were asked to pretend they were hypnotized did the same thing • Power of Authority – Milgram Experiment • Can be helpful in therapy • Obesity • Not so much in smoking, drugs, and alcohol addiction

31. Hypnosis • Hilgard • Selective attention • The hypnotized brain acts differently – dissociation • Pain can be reduced by blocking attention to pain • Hypnosis works due to both social influence and dissociation

32. Psychoactive drugs • Chemicals that change perceptions about mood by interactions at the synapse • These interactions can cause dependence • Physical – causing pain and cravings • Psychological – a way of stemming negative emotions

33. Tolerance + Withdrawal • The more drugs you do the more it will take to feel the same effect • Tolerance • Blood chem changes to offset drugs in the body (neuroadaptation) • Heart, brain, liver tolerance? • Withdrawal • Body becomes used to drugs • Without drug, dependence becomes more obvious

34. Addiction • Addiction – compulsive craving for something even though it may have adverse consequences • May present with physical symptoms • Aches • Nausea • Stress / anxiety • Are addictions irresistible?

35. Myths about addiction • 1. Addictive drugs become addictive immediately and lead to other drugs • Morphine + Heroine • Morphine used to reduce pain in hospitals • More often than not, does not lead to addiction • Cocaine – can be very addictive, but only 15-16% of people get hooked

36. Myths about addiction • 2. Addictions cannot be overcome voluntarily, must use therapy • Therapy can be helpful for many, but isnt necessary for all • Addiction a disease? • Hope • Self control

37. Myths about addiction • 3. Addiction can cover more than just drug use, but other pleasure seeking behaviors • Eating, shopping, exercise, gambling, work • All purpose excuse • Compulsive behavior is different than addiction • Though a stretch, some think you can label these people addicts

38. Psychoactive drugs • Three major categories • Depressants • Stimulants • Hallucinogens • They will mimic, inhibit or stimulate the brains natural chemical messengers

39. Depressants Alcohol • Slows different parts of the brain and may cause you to act differently • Relaxation • Slurs speech • Slows reaction time • Disinhibition - increases helpful and hurtful tendencies • Urges you feel sober are more likely to be acted out when drunk

40. Alcohol – cont’d • Memory disruption – doesn’t allow memories to become long term • Reduces self awareness and control • Might be driven to drink to forget about shortcomings/failures • Can alter expectations “social drinkers”

41. Depressants • Barbiturates • Tranquilizers • Induce sleep or quell anxiety • Too much can cause death • Especially when combined with alcohol

42. Depressants • Opiates • Opium • Heroine • Codeine and morphine • Creates a sense of bliss • Can become very addictive in some • The brain can stop producing endorphins

43. Stimulants • Temporarily excite neural activity • Caffeine and nicotine, amphetamines (cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine) Stay awake, lose weight, boost mood and athletic performance

44. Stimulants • Meth – speed • Can give 8+ hours of euphoria and increased energy • More dopamine released in men • May be why more men become addicted • Body may stop producing dopamine completely • Rely on this to feel good

46. Stimulants • Caffeine • Worlds most used drug • Small doses can last 3-4 hours • Constant use will dull effects • Tolerance • Withdrawal

47. Stimulants • Nicotine • 250 Million packs consumed daily • 5.4 Million deaths/year • By 2030 – 8M • Teens – more likely to start • Image/Rebellion • If you make it to college w/o smoking, you probably never start

48. Nicotine • If both parents and best friends don’t smoke, you probably wont either • Quitting can cause withdrawal • Irritability, anxiety, insomnia

49. Nicotine • Compulsive and Mood altering • Hits of nicotine enter the body every 7 seconds • Effect epin. And norepi. • Suppress appetite and boost mental efficiency • Also calms anxiety and reduces pain sensitivity • “Slow Motion Suicide”

50. Stimulants • Cocaine • Enters the blood stream quickly • Crack – crystallized cocaine • Even faster, more potent • Monkeys addicted have pressed levers more than 12,000x to get one more hit