1. Chapter 5 States of Consciousness

2. Levels of Consciousness  Conscious: Brain processes of which we are aware (feelings, thoughts, perceptions)  Preconscious: Information that is not currently in consciousness, but can be brought into consciousness if attention is called to it   Unconscious: Many levels of processing that occur without awareness (fears, desires, urges)  Nonconscious: Brain process that does not involve conscious processing (e.g. heart rate, breathing)

3. Levels of Consciousness Conscious Preconscious Unconscious Nonconscious

4. Sleep and Dreaming  Altered State: normal consciousness is modified by mental, behavioral or chemical means; others notice (hypnosis, drugs, meditation)  Circadian rhythms: Psychological patterns that repeat approximately every 24 hours  Light = decreased melatonin from pineal gland = less sleepy!  Suprachiasmatic nucleus  Sleep Survey!!!

5. The Function of Sleep  Discuss: Why do we sleep?  Possible functions of sleep include: –To conserve energy –Aids memory and problem solving –To restore the body (neurotransmitters, neuron sensitivity) –To flush out useless information from the brain

6. Normal Sleep (Handout)  About 90-minute cycles –Stage 2 = sleep spindles, K complexes –Less of stages 3&4 as night goes on (slow, large delta waves seen here) –REM increases as sleep progresses  The sleep cycle involves: –REM sleep –Non-REM (NREM) sleep  REM-sleep deprivation leads to REM rebound  Paradoxical sleep/sleep paralysis

7. The Typical Sleep Cycle

8. Sleep Disorders  Insomnia: Involves insufficient sleep, the inability to fall asleep quickly, frequent arousals, or early awakenings  Sleep apnea: Respiratory disorder in which person intermittently stops breathing while asleep  Narcolepsy: Involves sudden REM sleep attacks accompanied by cataplexy (dog video) – –Cataplexy: Sudden loss of muscle control that occurs before narcoleptic sleep attack; waking form of sleep paralysis

9. Sleep Disorders  Night terrors: The screaming of a child in deep sleep, who once awakened has no memory of what mental events might have caused the fear  REM behavior disorder: Person does not lose muscle tone during REM, allowing them to act out their dreams –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFXYRQ9xPUA

10. Dreams as Meaningful Events  Freud believed dreams served the following two functions: –Relieve psychic tensions/guard sleep –Sources of wish fulfillment  Manifest (story) v. latent (symbolic) content  Dream content –Varies by culture, gender, and age –Frequently connects with recent experience –May help us form memories –Illogical, difficult to remember, emotional  Limbic system active, frontal lobe inactive

11. Dreams as Random Brain Activity  Activation-synthesis theory: Theory that dreams begin with random electrical activation coming from brain stem; dreams are brain’s attempt to make sense of this random activity  Hobson and McCarley  Dreams also a source of creative insights