2. Waking Consciousness  Consciousness  our awareness of ourselves and our environment

3. Sleep and Dreams  Circadian Rhythm  regular bodily rhythms, such as of wakefulness and body temperature, that occur on a 24-hour cycle  controlled by a cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)  Uses environmental cues such as sunlight to help turn on and off

4. Sleep Deprivation  Effects of Sleep Loss  fatigue  impaired concentration  depressed immune system  greater vulnerability to accidents  lessened ability to deal with stress  weight gain  heart disease

6. Sleep and Dreams  Sleep  periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness

7. Sleep and Dreams  Two theories about why we sleep: Restorative Theory of Sleep Adaptive Theory of Sleep

8. Sleep and Dreams  Stages of Sleep: Stage 1 (NREM) transitional stage only lasting a few minutes can quickly gain consciousness will sometimes experience hypnagogic sensations

9. Sleep and Dreams  Stages of Sleep: Stage 2 (NREM) when true sleep begins brain activity slows except for brief bursts that last a second or two called sleep spindles breathing becomes rhythmic slight muscle twitching lasts about 15 to 20 minutes

10. Sleep and Dreams  Stages of Sleep:  Stages 3 & 4 (NREM) both stages similar except for the amount of delta wave activity in the brain when reaches 100% delta wave activitty, heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate reach their lowest if briefly awakened, usually not remembered night terrors and sleep walking will sometimes occur in stage 4 by end of this stage, person has been sleeping approx. 70 minutes

11. Sleep and Dreams  Stages of Sleep  REM sleep visual and motor neurons become more active voluntary muscle activity is suppressed considerable physiological arousal occurs such as rapid eye movements, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing fluctuate, muscle twitches, and sexual arousal often change position before and after completes cycle (approx. 90 minutes)

13. Dreams  Usually occur during REM sleep  Do not recall about 95 % of dreams we have. Possibly due to: changes in brain chemistry and functioning fail to support the information processing and storage needed to remember (frontal lobes, neurotransmitters) tend to remember the more vivid dreams distractions upon awakening can cause us to forget difficult to remember any experience while asleep

14. Common Dreams  Falling / Flying  Public exposure / nudity  Being chased  Bad or missing teeth  Ill or dying  School / work  Missing appt. / transportation  Being late  Running / getting no where  Paralysis  Snakes / spiders  Can’t breath / suffocating  Water  Trapped  Lost  Faulty machinery

15. Typical Characteristics of Dreams  Have several characters  Involve motion (running, walking, falling, etc.)  Usually indoors  Visual sensations but rarely taste, smell, or pain Sighted individuals often dream in color Blind do not see things but experience other sensations

16. Typical Characteristics of Dreams  Disregard physical laws (flying, falling w/o injury)  May be recurrent (threatened, pursued, etc.)  Involve anxiety or fear more than joy and happiness  Rarely involve sexual encounters

17. Dream Theories  Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Freud believed that dreams were “disguised fulfillments of repressed wishes” and their interpretation provided the “royal road to the knowledge of the unconscious mind”

18. Dream Theories  Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic safety valve for the release of unconscious and unacceptable urges comprised of two components: manifest content: the actual dream image latent content: the disguised, psychological meaning of the dream

19. Dream Theories  As Information Processing  helps facilitate memories  As a Physiological Function  periodic brain stimulation  Activation-Synthesis Model Limbic System structures such as the amygdala and hippocampus are activated, The brain synthesizes and integrates memory fragments, emotions, and sensations that have been triggered internally Dreaming is our subjective awareness of these random bursts.

20. Sleep Disorders  Insomnia  persistent problems in falling or staying asleep  Narcolepsy  uncontrollable sleep attacks  possibly due to the absence of a hypothalamic neural center that produces hypocretin  Sleep Apnea  temporary cessation of breathing during sleep  momentary re-awakenings