【4】States of Consciousness



Consciousness - state of being aware of internal and external stimuli

Sleep - decreased levels of physical activity; reduced sensory awareness

Wakefulness - high sensory awareness, thought, and behavior

Biological rhythms - cycle of bodily change that maintains homeostasis in the body

  •  Circadian rhythms -  takes place over 24 hours
Sleep regulation - how the brain switches between sleep and wakefulness

Sleep

  • - sleep rebound - when someone falls asleep faster after being sleep deprived; 1 type of homeostatic regulation
  • - can be tracked using EEG (electroencephalography) which measures brain waves
  • - sleep-wake cycles are controlled by the thalamus, hypothalamus, (for slow wave sleep) and the pons (for REM sleep)
    • is regulated by melatonin which is secreted by the pineal gland
  • - regulates and secretes hormones eg. melatonin, luteinizing hormone
  • - stimulates growth and follicles

Disruptions of Normal Sleep

Jet lag - when a person's internal circadian rhythm and their environment are misaligned
  • Symptoms - fatigue, sluggishness, irritability, insomnia (difficulty in falling/staying asleep)
Sleep Debt - leads to decreased levels of alertness and mental efficiency; caused by sleep deprivation

Hypotheses on why we Sleep

Adaptive
  • for us to restore resources that were used during the day
  • to avoid predators in the dark
  • evolutionary pressure
    • maintaining healthy weight, decreasing stress, increasing mood, coordination, cognition, and memory formation
Cognitive
  • insufficient sleep disrupts cognitive functions
  • benefits: improved creative thinking, language, judgement, and processing emotional information
    • Sleeping after learning a new task can improve performance

4 Stages of Sleep

  • differentiated by brain wave activity
  • divided into 2 categories 
    • Non-REM sleep - made up of 3 stages
    • REM sleep - aka rapid-eye movement sleep; your eyes dart around while your eyes are closed; brain waves are similar to those that are awake
Non-REM
Stage 1 (drifting to sleep)
  • heart rate and respiration slows down
  • muscles become less tense
  • core body temperature drops slightly
  • Early - produces alpha waves (8-13 Hz)
  • Late -  produces theta waves (4-7 Hz) 
Stage 2 (going into a state of deep relaxation)
  • theta waves are produced
    • waves are sometimes interrupted by sleep spindles
    • Sleep spindles - random bursts of higher frequency brain waves; important for learning and memory
    • K-complexes - spikes of high amplitude patterns; also appears as a response to external stimuli
Stage 3 (deep-sleep)
  • produces delta waves (less than 3 Hz)
  • heart rate and respiration slows down more
    • If the person has increased alpha waves during stage 3, the person will not feel refreshed when waking up
Stage 4 (REM Sleep)
  • brainwaves become similar to those observed when a person is awake
  • when dreams happen
  • muscles get paralyzed
Sleep cycles (~90 minutes long)
  • An average night has 5 cycles (~7.5 hours)
    • As we go though each cycle, stage 3 will shorten and REM sleep lasts longer
    • stage 1: 5 mins
    • stage 2: 20 mins
    • stage 3: 10 mins
    • stage 4: 30 mins
  • REM rebound - when REM sleep is interrupted

Dreams

Sigmund Freud believed that dreams can give insight for dealing with problems in our unconscious mind
  • Manifest content - storyline of a dream
  • Latent content - hidden meaning of a dream
Collective unconscious - theoretical repository of information that is shared by everyone; certain symbols in dreams reflect universal ideas with meanings that are similar for all people regardless of culture or location

Problem-solving theory of dreaming - mind tries to solve issues that exist while you're awake while you're unconscious.

Sleep Disorders

  • 30-50% of the population experiences some type of sleep disorder in their lifetime
Dyssomnias - abnormalities in the amount, quality, or timing of sleep 

        Insomnia - inability to sleep/can't maintain sleep

        Narcolepsy - inability to stay awake; random periods where a person enters REM 
        sleep for a few minutes; might be caused by irregularity in the production of orexin 
        in the hypothalamus

        Sleep Apnea - repeated stops in breathing while sleeping; associated with obesity 
        and alcohol consumption
                                - people wake up after 1-2 mins of not breathing
                                - SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) - fatal for babies

        Somnambulism - sleepwalking (+ sleeptalking); does not occur during REM sleep

        Night terrors - screaming, crying, jerky movements while in deep sleep
                               - overlaps with somnambulism; can create motions of being attacked; 
                                  the person who experiences these will not have memories of it

Substance Abuse

dependence - happens when the person keeps using a substance to avoid unpleasant feelings associating with not taking it
                        - caused by not wanting experience withdrawal symptoms

tolerance - over time, more of a substance is needed to get desired effect; doesn't always lead to dependency on that substance

withdrawal - causes symptoms from not taking from not taking a substance someone's dependent on

psychoactive drugs - chemicals that change perceptions and mood; stimulates release of dopamine; 3 types
  • depressants - calms down neural activity and slows down body functions
    • Ex. alcohol (not a stimulant or disinhibitor though it acts like one)
      • brain activity that controls judgement and inhibition slows down
      • the urges you would feel while sober are more likely to be acted upon when drunk
      • alcoholism - alcohol -> tolerance -> withdrawal -> problematic use; can cause brain shrinkage
        • women have less digestive enzymes for alcohol than men
        • consequences: impaired judgement, alcohol poisoning, blackouts, lowered self-awareness/zoning out, slowed nerve regeneration, nerve death
      • expectancy effects - believing in the effects of alcohol can cause us to act in ways we believe we would when drunk; expectation of its effects influence behavior
    • barbiturates (tranquilizers) - commonly used as sleep and anti-anxiety meds
      • this plus alcohol results in a lethal depressant 
      • consequences - lowered nervous system activity, memory and judgement
    • opiates - (opium/narcotics) - depress neural activity, reduces pain and anxiety
      • Ex. morphine, heroine, codeine, methadone
      • Side effects: increased feelings of pleasure, constricting of pupils, slowed breathing, lethargy
      • Repeated use can cause the brain to stop producing endorphins and withdrawal symptoms are intense can lead to an overdose (lethal)
  • stimulants - excite neural activity and speeds up functions
    • addiction causes a crash when withdrawal sets in
    • Side effects: pupils dilate, breathing rate increases, blood sugar levels rise, reduced appetite, increase in energy and self-confidence
    • Ex. caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, ecstasy
      • nicotine - in tobacco
        • E-cigs - can make regular smoking more addictive + toxic chemicals; does NOT help people quit smoking
        • 1/7 smokers who try to stop, will.
        • Withdrawal symptoms - craving, insomnia, anxiety, irritability, distractibility
      • cocaine - stimulant that temporarily increases alertness and a euphoria rush (depletes brain's supply of NT, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine)
        • After 1 hour of taking, a crash occurs; increase in agitation and depression when drug wears off
        • Effects of cocaine are dependent on dosage and the user's expectations of taking it
      • Amphetamine -  speeds up neural activity, body functions; causes mood changes
        • Methamphetamine - stronger variant; reduces base levels of dopamine over time
  • hallucinogens - psychedelic; distort perceptions, make up sensory images
    • visual cortex and emotional centers are stimulated
    • hallucinations range from simple shapes to dream-like experiences
    • creates symptoms similar to near death experience
    • seeing a bright light, replaying old memories, out of body experiences
    • Ex. synthetic (LSD, ecstasy) or natural (marijuana)
      • Ecstasy - synthetic halllucinogen that blocks serotonin reuptake which produces feelings of euphoria and social intimacy 
        • Side effects: dehydration, increased blood pressure, decreased sleep, immunity, and memory
      • LSD - aka acid; causes feelings of euphoria, detachment, and panic
        • user's mood and expectations can affect experience
      • Marijuana - contains THC; heightened sensitivity to colors, sounds, tastes, and smells
        • ranges from producing a relaxing effect to a euphoric high
        • impairs motor and coordination skills
        • Side effects: agitation, psychosis, chronic bronchitis, social anxiety, suicidal thoughts, depression, impaired memory

Altered States of Consciousness

hypnosis - makes a person relax and open to suggestion; might experience seeing things that aren't there; able to unlock repressed memories
        posthypnotic suggestion - instructions given to hypnotized people after they wake 
        up
  • Neodissociative theory - hypnosis splits the mind into 2 parts
    • 1st part obeys the hypnotist
    • 2nd parts acts as a hidden observer
meditation - techniques that train attention
        MSBR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) - tool used in medical settings to help 
        alleviate stress, pain and anxiety; increases alpha and theta brain wave activity



























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

【3】Biopsychology - Notes

Image
  ☆  seeks to explain the biological mechanisms that underlie behavior -  ⭐  Each human body is unique - ⭐ Darwin's theory of natural selection         ↪ survival of the fittest - animals that are better suited                 to the environment will pass on their traits Sickle Cells Sickle-cell anemia (SCA) is a genetic condition where some of a person's blood cells have a crescent shape This condition still persists in places like Africa because it grants the carriers resistance and immunity to malaria. Those with 2 of the SCA aren't immune to malaria. Carrier -  has one copy of a gene instead of 2; doesn't necessarily show symptoms of diseases resulting from the gene Genetic Variation  - genetic differences between individuals that contribute to a species' adaptation to its environment Phenotype  - physical characteristics with genetic & environmental factors Genotype -...
Read more

【3】Biopsychology - Important Figures

Image
Phineas Gage (1823-1860) Had an accident as a railroad foreman when has was 25 on September 13, 1848 that caused a iron rod to lodge into his head while blasting it down a hole to clear out rocks. Despite this, he was still able to stand, walk, and speak after this incident. In the proceeding months, his behavior changed drastically, changing from a mild soft-spoken man to a violent and odd one that would behave inappropriately. Lost impulse control, a frontal lobe function. It is possible that more than just that part of the brain was impacted.   Henry Molaison (1927-2008) Had a brain surgery in 1953 to treat his case of severe seizures when he was 27. His hippocampus and amygdala were removed from his brain. Although the surgery lessened the severity of his seizures, he was unable to form new memories. Includes things like remembering faces and events that just occurred. However, he could still learn new skills, even though he had no conscious memories of learning them.
Read more

【1】Intro into Psychology - Important Figures

Image
Wilhelm Wundt ⭐ Voluntarism   ⭐ Established psychology as a science and an academic discipline. Believed that our consciousness shapes are conscious experience. Experimented with introspection by measuring his participants' reactions time to stimuli eg. light, images, and sounds inside an empty room. Edward  Titchener ⭐  Structuralism   ⭐ Developed the field of structuralism. Student of Wilhelm Wundt.  Focused on mental process rather than their function. William James ⭐ Functionalism   ⭐ Views on psychology are heavily influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution. The 1st American psychologist. Included studying objective and measurable topics in psychology like physiology, anatomy and mental activities. B.F. Skinner ⭐  Behaviorism   ⭐ Skinner's Box - experiment in testing behaviors using operant conditioning. Doing a certain action that gives a reward is likely to be repeated while doing another action that punishes the subject are unlikely to be ...
Read more