Introduction to Psychology Brain States and Consciousness (p49-56)

Consciousness Where is the mind? Let’s examine this to consider the “placement” of the mind. If the brain and mind were not unified, there should be no reason why changes in brain chemistry would affect mental states In cognitive neuroscience, researchers study connections between brain activity and mental processes Consciousness: Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.(p49) It arises not from any one brain area, but from the coordinated activity of the whole brain Consciousness allows us to reflect on the past, plan for the future, and focus on the present

Selective Attention Focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus Through this, our awareness focuses on a very limited aspect of all that we experience We don’t pay attention to the feel of the chair against our bottom We don’t pay attention to the people sitting next to us, unless we choose to focus in on them Example in the book – you focus on the words in front of you and block other parts of your environment from your awareness

Selective Attention What determines whether we will attend to a certain stimulus? The stimulus has to be important, changing, shifting, or novel (new) Why not use a cell phone while driving? What happens to our attention when we are on the phone? It delays our ability to cope In driving experiments, students talking on cell phones (both hand-held and hands-free) have been slower to detect and respond to traffic signals, billboards, and other cars Multi-tasking comes at a cost We pay a price for switching attentional gears We can only pay cognitive attention to one task at a time

Inattentional Blindness Failure to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere An example would be walking into a room, looking around for a place to sit and not seeing your mother or girlfriend standing right in front of you.

Sleep and Dreams Circadian Rhythm Our bodies are kept in tune with the 24-hour cycle of day and night Our internal biological clock is called the circadian rhythm Age and experience can alter our circadian rhythm Most college students experience performance improvement across the day (don’t do so well at the beginning of the day, but get better as the day moves into evening) Most older adults experience performance declining as the day wears on (do well during the day and fade out into the evening)

Sleep Stages Every 90 minutes we cycle through five distinct sleep stages In stage 1 we experience images that resemble hallucinations. you may feel like you’re falling or floating, and we suddenly jerk awake. Stage 2 (20 mins) sleep spindles – bursts of rapid rhythmic brain-wave activity Stage 3 transitional sleep – going from short waves, to longer waves Stage 4 (total of approx. 30 mins) deep sleep – large, slow waves; hard to awaken REM sleep: Deepest level of sleep, enter about an hour after falling asleep

Sleep Stages Even when you are in deep sleep your perceptual window is not completely shut. For example, you move around on the bed, but manage not to fall out. The roar of a passing truck may not wake you up, but a crying baby can, and so will the sound of your name. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep – about an hour after you fall asleep, you enter the REM sleep stage. This is where we are ‘dead to the world;” it is extremely difficult to wake us when we are in this stage; eyes dart around in brief bursts of activity signaling the beginning of a dream.   Does everyone dream? 37% of people report never having dreams they can remember the next morning However, over 80% of the time, people who are awakened during REM sleep will recall a dream

Patterns of Sleep (p52)

Why Do We sleep? Psychologists believe sleep evolved for 4 reasons: 1. Sleep protects – a species’ sleep patterns suit its place in nature. In our early existence, (prior to light bulbs), it was safer to hunt and gather during the day and rest at night 2. Sleep helps us recover – helps restore and repair brain tissue and neurons 3. Sleep helps us remember and think creatively – we restore and rebuild our memories of the day’s experiences. After working on a task then sleeping on it, people solve problems more insightfully than those who stay awake. 4. Sleep plays a role in growth – during sleep the pituitary gland releases a growth hormone.

Sleep Deprivation Sleep deprivation is associated with a decline in the ability to perform physical and cognitive tasks The longer we stay awake, the more we crave sleep Peter Tripp – DJ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MT8ekBGyM4 Randy Gardner – 17 yr-old high school student who stayed awake for 11 days as part of a sleep-deprivation experiment for a science fair

Major Sleep Disorders Insomnia – 1 in 10 adults complain of insomnia They have ongoing problems in falling or staying asleep Sleeping pills can make things worse because it reduces REM sleep, and using medication leads to tolerance and higher doses are needed to be effective.   Narcolepsy – affects 1 in 2000 people attacks of overwhelming sleepiness, lasting less than 5 mins The individual falls asleep suddenly, and in severe cases, they drop directly into REM sleep – with loss of muscle control Sleep apnea 1 in 20 affected Apnea means “with no breath” (common in preemies) Stop breathing during sleep, after getting no air for approx. a min, blood oxygen drops enough to jolt the individual awake Occurs hundreds of times throughout the night

Major Sleep Disorders Sleepwalking and Sleeptalking Usually childhood disorders Runs in families Sleepwalking is usually harmless After returning to bed on their own or with help, few can recall their trip the next morning Sleepwalking usually happens during stage 4 sleep Night Terrors Happens during stage 4 sleep They are not nightmares The child may sit up or walk around, talk nonsense, and appear terrified Hear and breathing rates may double Deep sleep decreases with age, these become more rare