Sleep & Dreams

SLEEP & DREAMS: MY Q’S What happens during an altered state of consciousness? What is the difference between explicit and implicit reasoning? What is the difference between restorative theory and adaptive theory of sleep? What happens when a person with REM Behavior Disorder suffers from nightmares? What is the difference between Freud’s Dream Theory & the Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis?

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS? Consciousness is a person’s awareness of everything that is going on around him or her at any given moment, which is used to organize behavior. Waking Consciousness is a state in which your thoughts and feelings are clear and organized, and you feel alert.

ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Altered state of consciousness occurs when your mind drifts, your thoughts become disorganized, and you begin to daydream. An altered state of consciousness can also occur under the influence of drugs and alcohol, being hypnotized, or when you suffer a concussion. Food For Thought: Have you ever wondered, if you are old enough to drive, not remembering how you got somewhere in your car?

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EXPLICIT & IMPLICIT PROCESSING Explicit Processing occurs when people mentally process what they are doing and is placing all their attention on the task at hand. Example: If you were giving a class presentation. Implicit Processing occurs when people perform actions that are automatic that require little thought. Example: Walking in the park.

WHAT IS THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM & HOW DOES IT RELATE TO SLEEP? The Circadian Rhythm is your 24 hour sleep-wake cycle. The typical person gets several hours of sleep versus the remaining hours. The sleep-wake cycle is largely controlled by the hypothalamus in your brain. People can live without sleep for a while but cannot do it for an extended period of time.

WHAT IS SLEEP DEPRIVATION? Sleep Deprivation is a significant loss of sleep that can occur over an extended period of time. It occurs most often when people stay up too late during the week and try to catch up on their sleep on the weekends. Example: Staying up to play video games on a school night and sleeping in until noon on Saturday. Microsleeps are very brief periods of sleep that occur when someone is sleep deprived. In 1998, microsleeps were responsible for over 24,000 deaths on the road!

WHAT THEORIES EXIST ABOUT THE FUNCTION OF SLEEP? The Adaptive Theory: We sleep because humans and animals have evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators at normal hunting times. The Restorative Theory: Sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body. The average person needs about 7-9 hours of sleep, but each person’s age and sleep needs can vary.

HOW DOES THE SLEEP CYCLE WORK? There are two kinds of sleep 1) REM (Rapid Eye Movement): The eyes move rapidly, the person is experiencing a dream, & bodily movements are little. 2)Non-REM: A deeper more restful sleep & the body regularly moves around.

THE SLEEP CYCLE 1) NREM Sleep Stage One: Light sleep in which people experience hypnagogic images which are bits of what may become dreams but usually just flashes of light. 2)NREM Sleep Stage Two: Body temperatures drop as people drift into sleep and the heart rate slows. 3)NREM Sleep Stage Three: Brain waves called delta waves make up percent of the brain wave pattern. 4)NREM Sleep Stage Four: Brain waves have reached over 50% and the body is in its deepest sleep.

THE SLEEP CYCLE CONTINUED After completing Stage Four of NREM, a person will cycle backwards through Stages Three, Two, and One and then into REM. During REM, body temperatures rise, eyes move rapidly under eyelids, and the heart beats faster. Voluntary muscles are paralyzed, a phenomena called REM paralysis. 90% of dreams occur during REM sleep.

THE NEED FOR NREM & REM NREM helps the body recover from physical activity. REM sleep helps recovery from emotional stress. When a person fails to get REM sleep the previous night they will likely undergo REM rebound, which are increased amounts of REM sleep after being deprived of REM sleep on previous nights.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SLEEP DISORDERS? Sleepwalking or somnambulism is partially due to heredity and occurs in 20 percent of the population, is most common in boys in their childhood. Sleepwalking occurs usually in NREM stages Three & Four. Nightmares occur more frequently in children due to their extended time in REM. Nightmares can become dangerous when the person suffers from REM behavior disorder, which allows the muscles to work in REM and results in the person acting out his or her nightmare.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SLEEP DISORDERS? Night Terrors are a state of panic during Stage Four sleep in which they can move, unlike nightmares. They are most common in children. Insomnia is the inability to get sleep, stay asleep, or get quality sleep. The causes of insomnia are often related to anxiety or too much pain or caffeine.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SLEEP DISORDERS? Sleep Apnea occurs during snoring and the person stops breathing for about 30 seconds at time. It causes excessive sleepiness during the day and heart problems. Narcolepsy occurs when a person falls immediately into REM during the day without warning, especially when the person experiences strong emotions.

DO DREAMS SERVE A FUNCTION? The first full-fledged investigation of dreams began with Freud. Freud believed that the content of dreams was from conflicts within the unconscious mind. Freud came up with two terms to study dreams, manifest content & latent content. Manifest content is the actual appearance of the dream. Latent content is the symbolic meaning of the dream. Freud’s Dream Analysis is rarely used today by psychologists.

DO DREAMS SERVE A FUNCTION? Activation-synthesis hypothesis-A dream is a different way of thinking, due to random brain movements that trigger memories & past experiences. Girls & women tend to dream about people they know, their personal appearance, their family, and home. Boys & men dreams often involve other men, they occur in outdoor or unfamiliar settings, and more often involve weapons, tools, cars, and roads.