Sleep Disorders and Dreams

Are these people dreaming? Sleep Disorders Are these people dreaming? Night terrors refer to sudden scared-looking behavior, with rapid heartbeat and breathing. Sleepwalking and sleeptalking run in families, so there is a possible genetic basis. Insomnia: persistent inability to fall asleep or stay asleep Narcolepsy (“numb seizure”): sleep attacks, even a collapse into REM/paralyzed sleep, at inopportune times Sleep apnea (“with no breath”): repeated awakening after breathing stops; time in bed is not restorative sleep Click to reveal bullets. Narcolepsy: note that sleeping pills can cause dependency, with rebound insomnia. Narcolepsy is NOT simply falling asleep a lot; with true narcolepsy, the attacks happen no matter how well a person sleeps, although stress makes the attacks more likely. Sleep apnea is NOT just snoring, although snoring is associated with obstructive sleep apnea. Breathing might stop for up to a minute, leading to lower oxygen levels. Kids experiencing night terrors may have eyes wide open but they are not awake. Night terrors and sleepwalking are NOT taking place in REM sleep; in fact they take place in the deepest NREM-3 sleep. This means sleepwalkers are generally NOT acting out dreams, and kids having nightmares are NOT the kids having night terrors. (If a student says, ‘I remember having night terrors,’ they are not understanding the concept.) These behaviors, mostly affect children, and occur in NONREM-3 sleep. They are not considered dreaming.

Insomnia- it is worsened by worrying about insomnia Insomnia- it is worsened by worrying about insomnia. We often underestimate how much sleep we got because we only remember being awake. We also overestimate how long it takes for us to fall asleep. Sleeping pills and alcohol interrupt REM sleep and make us feel worse.

Narcolepsy- people have an overwhelming attack of sleepiness Narcolepsy- people have an overwhelming attack of sleepiness. It lasts about 5 minutes. Most severe cases result in immediate REM sleep and they lose all muscle tension. It is a brain disease. Sleep apnea- often associated with obesity. Loud snoring, high blood pressure, risk of heart attack or stroke Sleep walking- usually harmless. Most sleepwalkers don’t remember the trip the night before. Sleep deprivation causes longer NREM-3 sleep so that in turn may cause more sleep walking.

dreams We spend 6 years of our lives in dreams REM dreams tend to be vivid, emotional and bizarre. 8 in 10 are marked by some negative emotion. After suffering a trauma, people often report having nightmares. After playing Tetris for 7 hours, people dream about falling blocks. People in hunter-gatherer societies often dream about animals. What does this tell us? Our dreams often incorporate parts of our previous days experiences and preoccupations.

Our two-track mind is monitoring sensory stimuli from the outside world. A smell or a phone ringing might make its way into our dream. We cannot learn a second language by listening to a tape while we sleep We cannot memorize information while we sleep. Most information we take in within 5 minutes of falling asleep will likely be forgotten. When we are deprived of REM sleep over time, we will spend more time in REM when we sleep. This is called REM Rebound. Shows us that REM is important.

Dreams What We Dream About the stream of images, actions, and feelings, experienced while in REM sleep What We Dream About Dreams often include some negative event or emotion, especially failure dreams (being pursued, attacked, rejected, or having bad luck). Dreams do NOT often include sexuality. We may incorporate real- world sounds and other stimuli into dreams. Dreams also include images from recent, traumatic, or frequent experiences. Click to reveal bullets. A more elaborate definition of dreams: “an unfolding sequence of thoughts, perceptions, images, and emotions that typically occurs during REM sleep; notable for fantastic imagery, discontinuities, incongruities that the dreamer delusionally accepts, but has later difficulty remembering.” What We Dream About: (Psychoanalytic Theory) Sigmund Freud believed there was often a hidden “latent content” (conflicts, worries, and urges) underneath the symbolic “manifest content” (the plot, actions, and images recalled) of dreams.

Freud Theories He believed that dreams were a release of our unacceptable feelings. Dreams have two types of content Manifest- The dreams apparent story line Latent- unconscious drives and wishes that would be threatening in the real world We know that most dreams have no underlying sexual content, however, Freud often traced dreams back to some erotic wish.

Information Processing Theory Dreams help sift, sort and fix the day’s experiences in our memory. Our dreams often have people we know and are in settings that we recognize. In experiments, subjects who were deprived of both slow-wave and REM sleep did not perform well on new learning tasks. Brain scans confirm the link between REM sleep and memory. High school students with higher grades averaged 25 minutes a night more sleep

Physiological function Provides the sleeping brain with stimulation which allows for expanding the neural pathways Babies spend more time in REM sleep as their neural networks expand.

Neural Activation REM sleep triggers neural activity the creates random images in your mind Our sleeping brain creates a story by weaving these images together. These images do not originate in the visual cortex. This area receives stimuli from the eyes. The limbic system is active in REM sleep. Frontal lobe regions responsible for logic and inhibition are inactive.

Cognitive Development Prior to age 9, dreams are more like slideshows and less like an active story Dreams overlap with waking cognition. They engage brain networks that also are active during daydreaming. As our knowledge and ability to think in more complex ways increases, so does the complexity of our dreams.

Theories about Functions of Dreams Theory Explanation Wish fulfillment (psycho- analytic theory) Information-processing Physiological function Activation-synthesis Cognitive-developmental theory Lacks any scientific support; dreams may be interpreted in many different ways. Dreams provide a “psychic safety valve”; they often express otherwise unacceptable feelings, and contain both manifest (remembered) content and a latent content (hidden meaning). But why do we sometimes dream about things we have not experienced? Dreams help us sort out the day’s events and consolidate our memories. This may be true, but it does not explain why we experience meaningful dreams. Regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develop and preserve neural pathways. The individual’s brain is weaving the stories, which still tells us something about the dreamer. Click to show the explanation of each theory and a critical consideration. REM sleep triggers impulses that evoke random visual memories, which our sleeping brain weaves into stories. Does not address the neuroscience of dreams. Dream content reflects the dreamers’ cognitive development—his or her knowledge and understanding.