5.1 consciousness: the nature & functions of sleeping

Question 1

sleeping

Answer 1

lowest conscious level

we spend over a third of out lives sleeping

Question 2

biological rhythms

Answer 2

as biological organisms people age and that means their lives change across time, our roles and activities won’t necessarily change dramatically throughout our life spans
life isn’t all change, other species age but also complete repetitive cycles and their biological processes across time
biological rhythms are the repetitive cycles

Question 3

circannual rhythms

Answer 3

year long cycles of biological change

-like bears/beed cycles of activity during warm months and hibernation during winter

Question 4

infradian rhythms

Answer 4

biological rhythms that cycle over a period longer than a day
(like female menstrual cycles)

Question 5

ultradian rhythms

Answer 5

biological rhythms that cycle over a period shorter than a day
(like cyclical changes in our hormone levels throughout the day)

Question 6

circadian rhythms

Answer 6

biological rhythms that cycle over a 24 hour period

like our sleeping/waking cycle

Question 7

sunlight and sleep/wake cycle

Answer 7

exposure to sunlight plays a role in our cycles

Question 8

suprachiasmatic nucleus

Answer 8

part of the brain which is responsible for coordinating our circadian rhythms with exposure to sunlight
SCN of the hypothalamus
receives info about lighting levels from the retinas of our eyes and sends that info to the pineal gland

Question 9

pineal gland

Answer 9

releases hormone called melatonin

Question 10

melatonin

Answer 10

a hormone excreted by the pineal gland that contributes to our level of alertness
more melatonin = less alterness and more sleepiness

Question 11

entrainment

Answer 11

the synchronization of biological rhythms with external cues, such as light or temperature.
however, external cues do not modify some of our biological rhythms

Question 12

endogenous rhythms

Answer 12

biological rhythms that do not depend on external cues

when people kept in constant artificial lighting conditions tend to follow a 24-25 hour sleep/ wake cycle

Question 13

aging alters sleep patterns

Answer 13

younger people tend to be more alert and awake in the evening than older people, who tend to be more alert in the early morning and get drowsy earlier in the evening
across the life span humans also see a gradual decline in the amount of sleep they require
babies gets about 16 hours of sleep a day
where ages 55-90 get around 6 hours a day

Question 14

what happens while we sleep

Answer 14

we cycle through several shorter alternating rhythms

there is a lot of biological activity going on while we sleep

Question 15

polysomnography

Answer 15

a group of physiology measures (for biological activites)

measures of breathing rate, body temperatures, sensors for measuring muscle activity and the electroencephalogram- EEG

Question 16

EEG

Answer 16

provides measures of brain activity at different locations across a persons scalp
EEG recordings provide the main basis for distinguishing between the different stages of biological change that occur while a person sleeps
EEG measures changes in electrical charges that correspond to the firing of neurons in the brain and thus generates a record of alternative positive and negative electrical charges
when printed graphically- these changes in electrical charge look like a jagged wave of peeks and valleys
-frequency
-amplitude

Question 17

frequency of EEG

Answer 17

the rate of up and down shifts in the EEG waveform

Question 18

amplitude of EEG

Answer 18

the distance in height b/w the peak and valley of an EEG waveform

Question 19

beta waves

Answer 19

high frequency, low amplitude waves that dominate when we are awake and alert

Question 20

alpha waves

Answer 20

as a person transitions into sleep the frequency slows down a bit and the amplitude of the waves increases a bit
this wave is common when people are drifting off to sleep or in a high state of relaxation (ex. massage or hot tub)
this is the point before the shift of the deepest level of sleep

Question 21

theta waves

Answer 21

when we fall asleep the biological cycle we tend to follow consists of four stages
Stage 1- relative to alpha waves, the brain waves become slower and amplitude increases to form theta waves (slower breathing rate, heart rate and lower blood pressure also accompany this change in brain activity)

Question 22

sleep spindles and K complexes

Answer 22

stage 2
after about 15 min we enter into stage 2 in which sleep spindles appear which are bursts of high frequency/low amplitude waves
K complexes also appear which are bursts of large amplitude waves

Question 23

delta waves

Answer 23

stage 3 and 4
- around 20 min later we enter yet a deeper level of sleep in stage 3 characterized by delta waves which are low frequency high amplitude waves. this continues into stage 4 which is the deepest level of sleep and the stage at which a person will be least responsive to sounds or someone shaking them to wake up

Question 24

rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

Answer 24

after stage 4 about one hour into sleeping the cycle proceeds in reverse to stage 1 but instead of waking up we transition from there to REM sleep. brain waves are fast during this stage, similar to the forms of an awake person. heart rate and breathing rate quickens during this stage, although body movements are suppressed during this stage, eye movements are rapid.
(stages 1-4 in non-REM or NREM sleep)

Question 25

restore and repair hypothesis

Answer 25

the idea that sleep is to allow down time for the body to perform essential maintenance functions (sleep deprivation gives support for this idea)

Question 26

sleep deprivation

Answer 26

can lead to deterioration in mental and physical health not getting enough sleep makes people less efficient when they are completing daily activities it harms our ability to learn weakens our immune system problem; how much sleep we need does not relate well to the amount of energy we expend working hard mentally and physically on a day only seems to increase our sleep requirements very slightly when compared to the amount of sleep we require after a relatively lazy day

Question 27

preserve and protect hypothesis

Answer 27

the idea that sleep serves the function of conserving our energy and keeping us out of trouble during the nighttime (nighttime is the most dangerous part of the day, our eyes are not meant for functioning in the dark) preserve: animals that sleep the most are at the least risk of being eaten (ex: bats sleep 20 hours per day, predators sleep about 15 hours per day) animals that are commonly preyed upon, like caribou, sleep

Question 28

daylight savings time

Answer 28

our bodies are used to routine, our bodies like predictability daylight savings time can cause problems this changes our cycle leaving us deprived of sleep until we make the adjustment number of workplace injuries and fatal car accidents increase when people lost 40 minutes of sleep

Question 29

people who do not get as much sleep as they require has a list of impairments that can happen

Answer 29

-worse at divided attention tasks -impairments in concentration -decision making is harder, problem solving, maintaining control over ones emotions and inhibition inappropriate behaviour sleeping less than 7 hours 4 days in row is enough to observe these impairments

Question 30

driving sleep deprived

Answer 30

is the same as drinking and driving - one of the most common causes of fatal car accidents - error, lack of productivity, bad choices and chaos all come from sleep deprivation

Question 31

sleep displacement

Answer 31

when we are unable to sleep during our normal sleeping time | jet lag

Question 32

Jet lag

Answer 32

the uncomfortable period of adjustment while our biological rhythms synchronize with a new time zone after traveling - people are drowsy, lack concentration and more prone to getting sick - traveling east is more difficult to adjust, because adjusting requires going to sleep earlier than normal, traveling west requires staying awake longer to get back into sync with a new time zone

Question 33

sleep disorders: | insomnia

Answer 33

most common extreme inability to sleep people vary from the amount of sleep they requires so psychologists diagnose insomnia based on how rested people feel during their waking hours -officially defined as a feeling of being unable to get enough sleep to function during the day for at least 3 months

Question 34

different types of insomnia

Answer 34

since there are a number of ways getting enough sleep can be disrupted there are a number of types of insomnia - onset insomnia - maintenance insomnia - terminal insomnia - secondary insomnia

Question 35

onset insomnia

Answer 35

problems getting to sleep

Question 36

maintenance insomnia

Answer 36

trouble with going back to sleep after awakening during the night

Question 37

terminal (or early morning) insomnia

Answer 37

trouble getting a full nights sleep from waking up too early

Question 38

secondary insomnia

Answer 38

difficulty sleeping caused by some other primary influence, like chronic pain, drug use, anxiety or depression, or trying to sleep in a noisy or uncomfortable environment

Question 39

sleep disorder: | night terrors

Answer 39

intense emotional reactions during sleep that cause screaming, thrashing around and waking up in a state of panic -theses are not dreams, this sleep disorder is caused by unusually stressful situations, a heightened state of anxiety that a person finds them-self in during the day that carries over into a panic attack when they are in a non-rem stage of sleep

Question 40

Sleep disorder: | movement disturbances

Answer 40

hard to fall asleep when you find it hard to control physical movement restless leg syndrome -a persistent urge to continually shift the position of ones legs somnabulism (sleep walking) -walking around or engaging in other activities while one is asleep sexomnia (sleep sex) -engaging in sexual activity during sleep, including touching oneself or others and talking dirty REM behaviour disorder -physically acting out the actions that one is performing as part of a dream

Question 41

sleep disorders: | sleep apnea

Answer 41

a disorder in which a person has difficulty sleeping because of recurring episodes of not being able to breathe is often a problem of airflow obstruction

Question 42

sleep disorders: | narcolepsy

Answer 42

a disorder in which individuals are very sleepy or even prone to rapidly and unpredictably falling asleep during waking hours seems to arise from a deficiency in a hormone called orexin, which is important from maintaining a state of wakefuleness

Question 43

tips for maintaining good sleep hygeine

Answer 43

1. bed should be for sleep or sex, but not for work or anything else 2. don't try too hard to sleep 3. exercise early in the day 4. don't consume sleep-disruptive substances before bedtime 5. put worries in a journal before bedtime, so that you can set them aside 6. if you can't sleep after 30 min, get up and do something and try again when you feel tired 7. try to get up and go to sleep at the same time everyday 8. when all other efforts fail, seek help from a sleep specialist 9. avoid taking sleeping pills

Question 44

biological rhythms

Answer 44

infradian, ultradian, circadian

Question 45

polysomnography helps distinguish b/w EEG wave forms

Answer 45

alpha beta theta delta

Question 46

waves forms help distinguish between

Answer 46

the various stages of sleep Ex.REM and non-REM sleep

Question 47

Consciousness

Answer 47

what we are aware of at any point of time | includes perceptions, thoughts and feelings