Sleep & Dreaming

Circadian Rhythm — biological clock

Sleep Stages Before sleep Experience hallucinations (falling or hearing your name) Stage I—transition between wakefulness and sleep; 5-10 mins Stage II—rhythmic brain waves; lowered body temp.; heart rate slows; 20 mins

Sleep Stages Stage III—transition between light and deep sleep Stage IV—deep sleep; 30 mins; sleepwalking/talking occur during this stage REM sleep—increased eye movement, breathing, and brain activity; muscles relax; 15-45 mins; dreaming

More about the Stages Enter REM approx. 90 mins into sleep Return to Stage II Cycles through stages 4 or 5 times a night First REM may be short, but they get longer Stage 4 becomes shorter

Sleep Disorders Sleep Apnea – person has one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while sleeping Insomnia – persistent problems falling and staying asleep Narcolepsy – chronic, overwhelming daytime drowsiness; caused by brain’s inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally

Dreaming Average of 4-7 dreams per night Negative emotions are very common while dreaming Only dream about what we know—based on what we’ve seen before

Daydreaming Study: 45 undergrads given test of creativity - “unusual use” task 4 groups, 12 min break Resting in a quiet room, difficult short-term memory task, doing something boring, no break 3 groups did the same, BUT the boring task group came up with 41% more creative uses Able to “incubate” the problem Allows for creativity and problem-solving

Lucid Dreaming Dreaming while knowing you are dreaming Potential Uses: fantasy/adventure, overcoming fears, practice skills, creativity and problem-solving, mental healing Beginning to notice details  higher level of awareness in awake state as well

Sleep and Teenagers Do you agree with the points discovered by the researchers about effects on teen ability with little sleep? Explain. Why do you think school does start so early?

Prompt #5 In 4-5 sentences, do you think that the high school start time should stay the same or begin later? Explain your reasoning and be specific.

Dream Theories