Biopsychology : Ultradian Rhythms Flashcards

1
Q

What is an ultradian rhythm?

A

A biologist rhythm that occurs multiple times a day (last fewer than 24hrs)

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2
Q

The Sleep Cycle - How many stages of sleep are there?

A

Five stages lasting 90mins collectivity and repeat throughout sleep. The cycle alters between REM and NREM

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3
Q

The Sleep Cycle - What’s REM?

A

Rapid eye movement – where brain waves speed up and dreaming occurs (brain waves resemble ‘wide awake’ brain waves)

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4
Q

The Sleep Cycle - What’s NREM?

A

Non-rapid eye movement

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5
Q

The Sleep Cycle - How does the cycle progress?

A

Light sleep progressing into deep sleep, then REM. Brain waves decrease in frequency (cycles per second) and increase in amplitude (height).

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6
Q

The Sleep Cycle - Stages 1 and 2

A

Light sleep (easily woken). Brain wave patterns become slower and more rhythmic (alpha and theta waves)

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7
Q

The Sleep Cycle - Stages 3 and 4

A

Deep sleep/ slow wave sleep (SWS) and its difficult to wake someone. Brain waves become even slower and have a greater amplitude (delta waves.

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8
Q

The Sleep Cycle - Stage 5

A

REM sleep (body is paralysed) and its difficult to wake someone up. Brain activity speeds up and resembles the awake brain – associated with dreaming.

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9
Q

Whats the sleep staircase?

A

the progression through the stages of sleep in a structured pattern though the night. Sleep typically moves from lighter stages to deeper stages and then back up to lighter stages before REM. (Wake, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, etc)

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10
Q

Dement and Kleitman (1957) - Aim

A
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11
Q

Dement and Kleitman (1957) - Procedure

A

to investigate the relationship between eye movements in REM and NREM sleep

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12
Q

Dement and Kleitman (1957) - Findings

A

monitored 9 adults (with no caffeine or alcohol) for between 6-17 nights and recorded their brain activity w EEG.
IV – whether they were woken from REM/ NREM
DV – whether they could recall a dream and is so, the detail

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13
Q

Dement and Kleitman (1957) - Findings

A

more dreams were recalled in REM vs NREM (152:11). Ps could accurately estimate dream duration. Ps eye movements were strongly related to dream content

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14
Q

Dement and Kleitman (1957) - Conclusion

A

REM activity during sleep was highly correlated with the experience of dreaming, Bain activity varied according yo how vivid dreams were, and Ps woken during dreaming reported very accurate recall of their dreams.

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15
Q

Are mealtimes ultradian rhythms?

A

Regular intervals where organisms consume food within a 24hr period, typically repeating every few hours.

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16
Q

Whats the mealtime cycle duration?

A

In humans, meal patterns usually follow a 3-5hr cycle (3 main meals)

17
Q

What’re the biological basis’ to mealtimes (endogenous pacemakers)?

A

The hypothalamus regulates hunger and satiety, responding to signals from the digestive system, hormones and nutrient levels in the blood. The body’s metabolic processes, changes in blood sugar levels, release of ghrelin (stimulates appetite), insulin (manages blood glucose levels after eating) and leptin (satiates appetite).

18
Q

What the environmental and social influences to meal times (exogenous zeitgebers)?

A

Affected by cultural, social, environmental factors (work schedule, social norms, availability of food). External factors can override internal biological rhythms, leading to changes in meal patterns (work shifts, etc)

19
Q

Strengths to ultradian rhythms…

A

Helps understand changes in sleep patterns → Research shows that slow-wave sleep, crucial for growth hormone production, decreases with age. Van Cauter et al. (2000) suggests that this reduction may contribute to the physical impairments in older adults, due to decreased release of growth hormone during sleep.

20
Q

Limitations to ultradian rhythms…

A

Methodological issues due to artificial environments → Ps often sleep in laboratories, wired to EEG machines, and restricted from consuming caffeine or alcohol. This setting very different from normal sleeping conditions, leading to low mundane realism and affecting naturalness of sleep.

Individual differencesTucker et al. (2007) found large variations in duration of each sleep stage among Ps, particularly in stages 3 and 4, which are crucial for deep sleep and restorative processes.