1. States of Consciousness: Drugs and Altered States
Yet Even More Brain Biology
States of Consciousness: Drugs and Altered States
PSY101 – Week 5 – Lecture 8
Module 17

2. Consciousness is…
alertness; being awake vs. being unconscious
self-awareness; the ability to think about self
having free will; being able to make a “conscious” decision
a person’s mental content, thoughts, and imaginings
To explore the nature of consciousness, it helps to first choose a definition
In the text, consciousness is defined as: “the awareness of the sensations, thoughts, and feelings we experience at a given moment.”
Click to reveal bullets and definition
Humans uniquely may have a narrative experience of that awareness, with identity as part of the narrative. We can react to a noise AND tell a mental story about how we reacted, even if a strict behaviorist might see that story as irrelevant. We see the foot at the end of the bed as part of ourselves; if we had a tail, we would not chase it. People can look in a mirror and see not just a set of features but a face, a self.
“seeing one’s foot (and sniffing it) may be a dog’s level of awareness.”
Instructor: Other comments for the class or for the slide, clarifying the word “awareness” in the definition:
This chapter is concerned with:
the quality our mental experience.
the role of the brain in that experience.
the way that experience is affected by the two tracks of mental experience.
the way that experience is altered by
sleep.
hypnosis.
psychoactive drugs.
Psychology was once defined as “the description and explanation of states of consciousness.” Now, consciousness is just one topic among many for psychologists. Cognitive neuroscience allows us to revisit this topic and see how the brain is involved.
Consciousness is our subjective understanding of both the environment around us and our private internal world, unobservable to outsiders

3. Forms of Consciousness
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Instructor: Students can be asked, “Where in this table would you put marijuana use? Or ‘blanking out’ during trauma?”

4. Another Possible State of Consciousness: HYPNOSIS
“Your arm may soon feel so light that it rises…”
Text definition: Hypnosis is a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.
Alternate definition: Hypnosis is a cooperative social action in which one person is in a state of being likely to respond to suggestions from another person.
This state has been called heightened suggestibility as well as a trance.
Controversy: does this social interaction really require an altered state of consciousness?
Click to reveal all text.
The following comments flesh out and modify the definition.
Implied in this definition of hypnosis, stated elsewhere in the text, but not stated in this definition:
that the subject is showing some compliant response to these suggestions. If the subject was just walking around or laughing, it would fit the above words but would it be hypnosis? Attempted hypnosis, maybe.
That the subject is in some state which at least looks different than someone participating in a conversation. For example, suggestions are made in psychotherapy, but only a tiny percentage of psychotherapy sessions involve hypnosis.
That both people are entering into the social interaction willingly; this clarifies the point that someone can not trick you or force you into hypnosis, or “make” you do strange things.)
Controversies, also covered in upcoming slides but mentioned here in case you decide to delete those slides:
What does this state of heightened suggestibility depend upon?
subject qualities (some people are more easily hypnotized)
hypnotist behavior (does the swinging watch really do it)
role expectation (I’ve agreed to hypnotism; I should comply as a subject)
Is this state of heightened suggestibility truly a different state of consciousness?

5. Types of Hypnotic Suggestions
perceptions
The subject may be led into changes in:
(“The headache is fading away.”)
behavior
(“Your arm might rise by itself.”)
emotions
(“You are feeling more relaxed and confident.”)
Automatic animation.
All of these types of suggestions can of course occur without hypnosis; for some people, being in the hypnotic state/situation makes them more likely to follow the suggestions.
attitudes
(“I get nutrition from food, and get comfort from friends.”)
memory
(“You got lost in a mall as a child.”)

6. Induction Into Hypnosis
The Highly Hypnotizable
20 Percent
How do some people get so hypnotized that they can have no reaction to ammonia under their noses?
• These people seem to be more easily absorbed in imaginative activities.
• They are able to focus and to lose themselves in fantasy.
• The hypnotic induction method may happen to work just right.
Hypnotic induction, the inducing of a hypnotic state, is the process by which a hypnotist leads someone into the state of heightened suggestibility.
A swinging watch and recitation of the words “you are getting sleepy” are not necessary.
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Induction could simply consist of a string of suggestions to slowly tune out distractions and gradually comply with more suggestions.

7. Theories Explaining Hypnosis
Divided Consciousness Theory Hypnosis is a special state of dissociated (divided) consciousness of our dual-track mind.
Social Influence Theory
Hypnotic subjects may simply be imaginative people who go along with the “subject” role they have agreed to play.
Automatic animation.

8. Benefits of Hypnosis for Some People:
What Hypnosis Cannot Do:
work when people refuse to cooperate
bestow ‘superhuman’ abilities or strength
accurately boost recall of forgotten events (it is more likely to implant false recall)
blocking awareness of pain, even enough for surgery without anesthesia
reducing obesity, anxiety, and hypertension
improving concentration and performance
Click to reveal all bullets in each column.

9. Drugs Altering Consciousness Dependence/Addiction
Many psychoactive drugs can be harmful to the body.
Psychoactive drugs are particularly dangerous when a person develops an addiction or becomes dependent on the substance.
Factors related to addiction:
tolerance
withdrawal
impact on daily life of substance use
physical and psychological dependence
Psychoactive drugs are chemicals introduced into the body which alter perceptions, mood, and other elements of conscious experience.
Click to reveal sidebar and bullets.

10. In psychological dependence, In physical dependence,
a person’s resources for coping with daily life wither as a drug becomes “needed” to relax, socialize, or sleep.
In physical dependence,
the body has been altered in ways that create cravings for the drug (e.g. to end withdrawal symptoms).
Automatic animation.

11. Dependence on a substance (or activity?)
Tolerance: the need to use more to receive the desired effect
Withdrawal: the distress experienced when the “high” subsides
Using more than intended
Persistent, failed attempts to regulate use
Much time spent preoccupied with the substance, obtaining it, and recovering
Important activities reduced because of use
Continued use despite aversive consequences
Click to reveal bullets.
Tolerance of a drug refers to the diminished psychoactive effects after repeated use.
Tolerance feeds addiction because users take increasing amounts of a drug to get the desired effect.
Regarding criteria #4 (“Persistent, failed attempts to regulate use): Why is it a sign of dependence when you want or try to cut back? Aren’t addicts in denial and not bothering to try to quit? This may be true in conversations with family, but internally, here’s one way of looking at what’s going on: it's a sign of dependence when you DO try to quit, and fail. If there is "little effort," you don't find out how hard it is to quit, or there may be little effort to quit because there is little need to quit. 

12. Depressants Examples: alcohol barbiturates opiates
Depressants are chemicals that reduce neural activity and other body functions.
Examples:
alcohol
barbiturates
opiates
Automatic animation.
Inhalants (glue, kerosene, butane) can be classified as depressants as well.
Obviously, as students may point out here, these substances have other effects besides a depressant effect. Those effects, coming up…

13. Effects of Alcohol Use Chronic Use: Brain damage Impact on functioning
Slow neural processing, reduced sympathetic nervous system activity, and slower thought and physical reaction
Reduced memory formation caused by disrupted REM sleep and reduced synapse formation
Impaired self-control, impaired judgment, self- monitoring, and inhibition; increased accidents and aggression
Click to reveal bullets and example.
Expectancy effects, related to the placebo effect: Some of these effects can happen even when people only THINK they are drinking alcohol.
See if students can see what is different between these two brains (the shrinkage of brain tissue, increased size of fluid spaces).

14. Barbiturates
Barbiturates are tranquilizers--drugs that depress central nervous system activity.
Examples: Nembutal, Seconal, Amytal
Effects: reducing anxiety and inducing sleep
Problems: reducing memory, judgment, and concentration; can lead to death if combined with alcohol
Click to reveal bullets.
Note: there are other drugs qualifying as tranquilizers.

15. Opiates: Highly Addictive Depressants
Opiates depress nervous system activity; this reduces anxiety, and especially reduces pain.
High doses of opiates produce euphoria.
Opiates work at receptor sites for the body’s natural pain reducers (endorphins).
Opiates are chemicals such as morphine and heroin that are made from the opium poppy.
Click to reveal bullets.

16. Stimulants
Stimulants are drugs which intensify neural activity and bodily functions.
Some physical effects of stimulants: dilated pupils, increased breathing and heart rate, increased blood sugar, decreased appetite
Examples of stimulants:
Caffeine
Nicotine
Amphetamines, Methamphetamine
Cocaine
Ecstasy
Click to reveal text.

17. Caffeine adds energy disrupts sleep for 3-4 hours
can lead to withdrawal symptoms if used daily:
headaches
irritability
fatigue
difficulty concentrating
depression
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18. Nicotine
The main effect of nicotine use is ADDICTION.
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19. Why do people smoke?
Starting to smoke: invited by peers, influenced by culture and media
Continuing: positively reinforced by physically stimulating effects
Not stopping: after regular use, smokers have difficulty stopping because of withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, distractibility, and irritability
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One valid reason people smoke: because they are on fire.

20. Cocaine What happens next?
Euphoria crashes into a state worse than before taking the drug, with agitation, depression, and pain.
Users develop tolerance; over time, withdrawal symptoms of cocaine use get worse, and users take more just to feel normal.
Cycles of overdose and withdrawal can sometimes bring convulsions, violence, heart attack, and death.
Cocaine blocks reuptake (and thus increases levels at the synapse of:
dopamine (feels rewarding).
serotonin (lifts mood).
norepinephrine (provides energy).
Effect on consciousness: Euphoria!!! At least for 45 minutes…
Click to reveal bullets and sidebar.
Cocaine can be inhaled, smoked (crack), or injected.
Note: there may be expectancy effects adding to the euphoria, just as the effects of alcohol sometimes appear when people think they are using.
The body habituates to cocaine, and then the user is physically and psychologically dependent on increasing amounts.

21. From 1998 to 2002: Extreme Makeover, Meth Edition
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine triggers the sustained release of dopamine, sometimes leading to eight hours of euphoria and energy.
What happens next: irritability, insomnia, seizures, hypertension, violence, depression
“Meth” addiction can become all-consuming.
From 1998 to 2002: Extreme Makeover, Meth Edition
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The brain on meth may lose ability to maintain normal levels of dopamine, perhaps permanently.

22. Ecstasy/MDMA (MethyleneDioxyMethAmphetamine)
Ecstasy is a synthetic stimulant that increases dopamine and greatly increases serotonin.
Effects on consciousness: euphoria, CNS stimulation, hallucinations, and artificial feeling of social connectedness and intimacy
What Happens Next?
In the short run, regretted behavior, dehydration, overheating, and high blood pressure.
Make it past that, and you might have:
damaged serotonin-producing neurons, causing permanently depressed mood
disrupted sleep and circadian rhythm
impaired memory and slowed thinking
suppressed immune system
Click to reveal all bullets.
The increase in serotonin is caused by the increased release AND blocked reuptake. No wonder it can feel so good…for the moment.

23. Hallucinogens LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
Marijuana/THC:
What Happens Next?
Impaired motor coordination, perceptual ability, and reaction time
THC accumulates in the body, increasing the effects of next use
Over time, the brain shrinks in areas processing memory and emotion
Smoke inhalation damage
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
LSD and similar drugs interfere with serotonin transmission.
This causes hallucinations--images and other “sensations” that didn’t come in through the senses.
Marijuana/THC (delta-9-TetraHydroCannabinol)
Marijuana binds with brain cannabinoid receptors.
Effect on consciousness:
amplifies sensations
disinhibits impulses
euphoric mood
lack of ability to sense satiety
Click to reveal bullets and sidebar.
Hallucinogens are also called psychedelics, which means “mind-manifesting.”
Hallucinations possibly are the source of the images in near-death experiences, explained by the effects of oxygen deprivation to the brain.
LSD hallucinations are most likely to be visual; the hallucinations in schizophrenia are most likely to be auditory.
Marijuana: the affected cannabinoid receptors are located in the frontal lobes, motor cortex, and limbic system
Satiety = feeling full. Not sensing this leads to the oft-reported “munchies”

24. What do you think is the sense most PSY101 students are willing to give up?
What do you think is the sense most PSY101 students would never want to lose?
Sight (22)
Hearing (5)
Touch (3)
Taste (1)
Smell (1)
Smell (15)
Taste (10)
Sight (2)
Hearing (1)
Touch (1)
Click to reveal all bullets in each column.

25. Table 3.5 A Guide to Selected Psychoactive Drugs Myers: Psychology, Tenth Edition Copyright © 2013 by Worth Publishers

26. Prevalence of Drug Use in the United States
Nicotine Use as of 2011:
26 percent of high school dropouts smoke; 6 percent of people with graduate degrees smoke
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27. What influences can lead to drug use?
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28. What can turn drug use into dependence?
Biological factors: dependence in relatives, thrill-seeking in childhood, genes related to alcohol sensitivity and dependence, and easily disrupted dopamine reward system
Psychological factors: seeking gratification, depression, problems forming identity, problems assessing risks and costs
Social influences: media glorification, observing peers
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29. Does recovery require therapy, or require a 12-step group?
Are substances inherently addictive and should they be avoided at all cost?
Only 10 to 16 percent of people who try most drugs, even morphine and cocaine, become addicted.
Does recovery require therapy, or require a 12-step group?
In general, recovery rates do not seem to differ much from people quitting on their own.
Controversies Related to Addiction
Is the “addiction” concept applicable to repeated behaviors that do not involve ingesting chemicals?
Labeling it this way can be seen as making excuses for misbehavior such as gambling or sexual affairs. However, many of the dependence criteria are often met, and there may be a dopamine-based chemical process underlying some ‘addictive’ behavior patterns.
Click to reveal questions and again to reveal the answer to each question.
Instructor: you could have a discussion related to the third subject/circle. Pick a behavior that has been considered by some as an “addiction,” such as gambling, sex, or internet use, and see if it meets each of the diagnostic criteria for dependence.
Note: The new diagnostic manual, the DSM V, may define behavioral addictions as disorders.

30. CTQ for Lecture #8
Why do you think some people become addicted to drugs? Based in your opinion, how do you think these people can become non-addicted?
Psychology 7e in Modules