ALTERED STATES OF AWARENESS Flashcards
altered states
our state of awareness is constantly changing and affects our ability to function in different situation
Affected by how much sleep we get, and our level of physiological and psychological stress.
circadian rhythms
a behavioural or physiological cycle that takes place over a 24 hour period.
controlled by areas in the brain
circadian rhythm examples
Body temp: generally peaks in the afternoon and at lowest in early morning – drop in body temperature in the evening coincides with a drop in alertness.
Sleep/wake cycle
Humans level of alertness at lowest in early hours of the morning and peak in the late afternoon.
zetigebers
Zeitgebers are environmental cues that impact your circadian rhythm and energy levels throughout the day.
Zeitgebers all send “time keeping” clues to your brain that resets your circadian rhythm
Zeitgebers examples
exercise, sunlight, sleep debt, eating, shift work, interest levels, social contact
most obvious zeitgeber is daylight
SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus)
the sleep/wake cycle is controlled by the SCN
SCN is a “biological clock” that keeps track of time of day
(sends messages to the brain and body)
light is the main external cue that syncs this clock
Jet lag
The SCN recognises the time of day to be different from what external cues tell us. Due to travelling through several time zones.
A circadian related problem and results in reduced quality of sleep
On average, it takes one day of adjustment for every hour of time zone change
- 5 hour time difference = 5 days for circadian rhythm to adjust.
symptoms of jet lag
Daytime sleepiness
Increase fatigue
Loss of concentration
Increased irritability
Jet lag facts
Body adjusts more easily if bedtime is delayed than if brought forward.
Sports people need to manage their jet lag in order to increase/maintain their performance.
Strategies to minimise effects of jet lag
Live on destination time before departing
Strategise when to sleep on journey (sleep according to destination night time)
Sync circadian rhythm of eating to destination time
Delay sleep if arriving in the daytime
sleep stages
Sleep is made up of 5 stages, each with different characteristics.
4-6 sleep cycles each night, and each cycle last around 90-110 minutes.
STAGE 1
Described as ‘relaxed wakefulness’ Brain: - Alpha brain waves present on EEG - Reduced brain activity - Irregular, fast and slow amplitude EEG
Body:
- Rolling eye movements
- Slowed breathing and heart rate
- Reduced muscle activity
- Hypnotic jerks
Last approximately 10 minutes
STAGE 2
Brain:
- Presence of sleep spindles and K-complexes
Body:
- Medium amplitude in muscle movement
- No eye movement
- Temperature, heart rate, breathing and blood pressure continue to drop
Last about 20 minutes
STAGE 3 - SWS
Brain:
- Slow waves appear called Delta waves
- Travel to stage 4 (deepest stage)
- Delta waves make up 20 – 50% of brainwave activity
Body:
- Medium to low amplitude in muscle tension
- No eye movement
- Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and temperature continue to drop
Lasts about 15 minutes
STAGE 4 - SWS
Deepest stage of sleep
Brain:
- Delta waves account for more than 50% of brain wave activity
Body:
- Little to no muscle movement
- No eye movement
- Breathing at its slowest and deepest
- Hard to wake someone from this stage > if awoken person is confused and disorientated
Amount of SWS > how restored a person feels
Stage 3 and 4 combined lasts about 30 mins
STAGE 5 - REM
Sleep ‘lightens’ and moves back through stages 4-3-2 to a unique stage (REM)
‘Rapid eye movement’ > eyes moving around
Brain:
- People report ‘dreaming’
- EEG in REM similar to an awake person
- Beta and some alpha waves present
Body:
- Pulse, breathing, blood pressure quicken
- Eyes move around very quickly
Deepest sleep in first cycle > dream sleep in last cycle
sleep debt
build up of the difference between the amount of sleep that a person needs to function at an optimal level and the amount they actually have.
E.g. if a person needs 8 hours each night but only gets 7, they have a sleep debt of 1 hour.
Our desire to sleep during the day increases the more sleep debt we have.
sleep deprivation
When a person does not get the required amount of sleep to function at the optimal level.
Has a negative effect on our bodies by reducing the effectiveness of our immune system.
sleep deprivation symptoms
increased daytime sleepiness irritability hand tremors slower reaction time poorer memory micro-sleeps
sleep disorders
Much more common than people think.
Almost 70 clinically diagnosable sleep disorders.
Usually leave sufferer with increased daytime sleepiness, hence, reduced daytime functioning.
Three common sleep disorders are insomnia, sleep apnoea and narcolepsy
insomnia
Sleep disorder which causes a reduction in quality and amount of sleep, making sufferers unable to function at their optimal level.
insomnia symptoms include
- daytime fatigue
- impaired concentration
due to: - not being able to fall asleep at night
- have difficulty staying asleep
- or waking up early in the morning and can’t go back to sleep
factors that can cause insomnia
Psychological factors: anxiety > heightens physiological arousal therefore difficult to go to sleep.
Lifestyle factors: drinking too much caffeine or smoking cigarettes (both are stimulants), working night shift.
Environmental factors: presence of too much noise or light.
sleep apnea
Sleep disorder in which a person stops breathing periodically for a few moments whilst they are asleep.
Can occur hundreds of times per night
Mild form results in snoring
Severe form results in cessation of breathing
Defence mechanism > body to arouse > restore breathing
Most common in overweight men around 40 years old, however can affect other people.
narcolepsy
Sleep disorder in which people experience irresistible and unpredictable daytime attacks of sleepiness, lasting 5 – 30 minutes.
Sufferers can also experience a loss in muscle tension which adds to sleepiness called cataplexy.
Attacks most frequently occur when sufferer is in a heightened state of arousal such as laughing or angry > goes straight into REM sleep
Very dangerous as these attacks can occur at work or whilst driving.
Cause not known however evidence suggests it may be genetic.
parasomnias
Include a range of sleep ‘phenomena’s’ including sleep walking, sleep talking, nightmares and night terrors.
Very common in children due to more hours of sleep
Night terrors and sleepwalking occur during SWS
Sleep talking and nightmares occur during REM
Typically reduce with age however can reoccur following periods of stress
sleep treatments for insomnia
Stimulus control therapy:
- Therapy used to treat insomnia. Based on the assumption that where a person sleeps has become associated with the process of sleeping
- Sufferers are given rules to follow that encourage only sleep-promoting behaviours
Sleep restriction therapy:
- Based on the assumption that by limiting the amount of time spent in bed, more efficient sleep will follow.
- By limiting the amount of time someone can be in bed then leads to increased sleep debt. This sleep debt will make the person more tired, so they will fall asleep more easily the next night.
stimulus control therapy for insomnia process:
- Lie down in bed to go to sleep only when you feel sleepy.
- Don’t use bed to do things such as read, watch TV, eat or worry.
- If you lie down in bed but cant sleep, get up and go to another room. Repeat as many times as needed.
- Get up at the same time each morning no matter how much sleep you got the night before.
- Do not nap during the day.
sleep restriction therapy for insomnia process:
- Person records estimated amount of sleep time each night in a sleep diary (approximately 2 weeks).
- Diary is used to work out their average number of hours sleep per night.
- Person is allowed to stay in bed for the average number of hours plus 15 minutes, but never less than 4 and a half hours.
- Get up at the same time each day.
- No naps allowed during the day.
- Once a person sleeps for 75% of the time that they are allowed to spend in bed for 5 days, they are allowed to go to bed 15 minutes earlier.
- Repeat procedure until the person can sleep for 8 hours or amount of time desired.
sleep and age
As we get older, the amount of time we spend in delta sleep decreases dramatically.
Elderly people still need plenty of sleep, however the lighter stages make up the majority of their sleep cycle, with little to no SWS or REM sleep.
sleep hygiene
sleep hygiene promotes restful sleep
Things in your behavioural control that can help you to have optimal sleep quality and quantity.
These include:
- Stick to a consistent wake up and bedtime every day of the week.
- Have a quiet and comfortable sleep environment (fans, water etc. can help to block out other sounds).
- Don’t consume caffeine within four hours of bed time.
- If you are having trouble sleeping at night, don’t nap during the day.
- Resolve problems from the day – make a ‘worry’ list to help you feel closure.
- Establish a bedtime routine such as TV off at 9:00pm, shower, read a book, lights off at 10:00pm.
fatigue
sleepiness which causes someone to have more chance of falling asleep and have impaired performance on a task
signs of fatigue
Yawning
Sore and heavy eyes
Blurred vision
Daydreaming
stress
High state of physiological arousal
When we are stressed, the flight or fight response is triggered.
Our bodies response to stress is controlled by the autonomic nervous system.
Comprised of two divisions: sympathetic and parasympathetic
sympathetic nervous system
Activates the body in response to a threat, hence activates the flight or fight response.
Not healthy for the body to be in this high state of stress for long periods of time.
Parasympathetic nervous system
Slows down the body’s functioning to normal levels after the threat has passed.
Maintains energy levels and supports everyday needs of body.
YERKES-DODSON LAW
AROUSAL AND TASK PERFORMANCE
The Yerkes-Dodson Law states that humans need a low level of arousal for a difficult cognitive task, and a high level of arousal for a simple cognitive task. Often the best level is in the middle.
The goal is to achieve an optimum level of arousal, meaning we will perform the task at the best level of physiological arousal. Particularly relevant in sport.
Simple cognitive task:
A task which does not require a high level of mental concentration/cognition.
Complex/difficult cognitive task:
A task which does require a high level of mental concentration/cognition.
Too little arousal – bored, tired: may not perform the task at the optimum level.
Too much arousal – stress, nervous, hyperactive: may not perform the task at optimum level.
STRESS AND HEALTH
Stress can be both negative and positive
E.g. negative: death, job loss; Positive: skydiving, moving house.
how does the body deal with stress over an extended period
GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME (GAS)
Three main sections to GAS:
1. ALARM: release of adrenaline and flight or fight response. Body releases cortisol and epinephrine (stress hormones).
- RESISTANCE: Parasympathetic nervous system tries to conserve body’s energy. Physiological responses remain slightly elevated.
- EXHAUSTION: Body can no longer sustain heightened level of arousal. Body’s ability to repair tissue and fight off diseases is reduced, therefore more prone to illness.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
food substances
food substances:
- avoid nicotine, coffee, and salt
Ways to reduce stress through diet
- Limit sugar intake
- Limit salt and caffeine intake
- Eat healthy food rich in vitamin B complexes and vitamin C
STRESS MANAGEMENT
humour
Leads to eventual reduction in activity to below baseline
Produces state of relaxation
STRESS MANAGEMENT
exercise
Releases endorphins which make us feel relaxed and happy
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
- sleep and fatigue
Objective quantitative measures:
- Electroencephalograph (EEG) which measures brain wave patterns during sleep.
- Electrooculogram (EOG) which measures eye movement during sleep.
- Electromyogram (EMG) which measures the activity of muscles during sleep.
Subjective quantitative measures:
- Epworth Sleepiness Scale – 0-24 score indicating the likelihood of falling asleep during the day whilst doing random tasks.
- Stanford Sleepiness Scale – rating scale from 1-7 indicating how drowsy you feel during the day/night. (pg. 162)
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
- stress and arousal
Objective quantitative measure:
- Polygraph test – measures heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate and galvanic skin response.
Subjective quantitative measure:
Social adjustment rating scale (SRRS) – examines social environment by measuring the degree of social adjustment to stressors required to live normal life
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT
- stress and sleep
Qualitative measures:
- Focus groups and the Delphi technique can be used to assess factors related to both sleep and stress.
ETHICS
patients struggling with sleep and stress must be treated as potentially vulnerable groups.
- informed consent
- voluntary participation
Researchers must minimise harm and remain alert to any distress that participants may experience.
