Ch 4 Levels of Conciousness Flashcards
conciousness
awareness of one’s environment and mental processes, most early psychologists studied this
William James definition of consciousness
- always changing
- personal experience
- continuous
- selective
sleep
an altered state of conciousness
electroencephalogram (EEG)
- best measure of brain activity
- measures electrical activity of brain
electromyogram
- measures muscle tone, another indicator of sleep stages
- also used in sleep studies to help indicate sleep level
stages of sleep (NREM)
Beta - awake and alert, and REM
Alpha - stage 1 sleep
Theta - transitional sleep
Delta - deep sleep
Stage 1 sleep
- brief transitional stage usually lasting 5-10 mins
- predominantly alpha waves and theta waves towards the end
- very light sleep
- hypnotic state at the beginning of sleep and at the end when waking up
- hypnic jerk
Stage 2 sleep
- characterized by brief higher frequency brain waves
- predominately theta waves
- sleep spindles
- K Complex (brain shutting out external stimuli)
Stage 3 sleep
- 20% of EEG activity
- predominately delta waves
- very difficult to awaken
- internal functions slow down
- deep sleep
- more stage 3/4 at beginning of night, less as night goes on
- tossing and turning and sleepwalking occurs during this
Stage 4 sleep
- more than 50% of EEG activity
- last stage of NREM sleep
- at end of stage, brain waves start to increase
REM sleep
- beta waves
- caused by visual center of brain (occipital lobe) being active during dreaming
- adults typically spend 25% of sleep in REM, teens spend more
- increases as night goes on
REM rebound
overabundance of REM occurs, usually following many nights of REM sleep reduction
antonia
muscles are relaxed and body is paralyzed, prevents sleeper from acting out their dreams
latent content
- unconscious drives and wishes that would be threatening if expressed directly
- dream is HIDDEN or unclear
manifest content
obvious or known meaning of the dream
information processing
brain sifts through events of the day and keeps what is needed and discards what is not
physiological functioning
- REM occurs as a result of brain and body growth
- may explain why infants and children dream more than adults
activation-synthesis
- random neutral firings occur during REM
- the brain is simply trying to make sense of these firings
nightmares
- anxiety producing dreams that often lead to awakening
- “mare” is old English phrase meaning spirit or goblin
night terrors
- aka incubus attacks or devil on your back
- abrupt awakening from dream or nightmare that occurs during NREM sleep
- panic, PTSD
somnambulism (sleepwalking)
- occurs when a sleeping person arises and wanders about in deep NREM
- stage 3 or 4, motor cortex of brain is engaged
- talking in sleep also occurs
insomnia
inability to fall asleep or stay asleep for the entire night
onset insomnia
inability to fall asleep
maintenance insomnia
inability to stay asleep
termination insomnia
waking up early and not being able to fall back asleep
pseudo insomnia
dreaming of being awake when you are asleep
solutions for falling asleep
- sleeping pills/alcohol can make you sleepy but are addictive
- use of sedatives NOT for long term use
- melatonin is hormone found in body that can help
- reduction of melatonin seen in people taking high doses of aspirin and ibuprofen
- supplement can help
narcolepsy
- feeling of extreme sleepiness which can occur at any time
- genetic component
cataplexy
- most common symptom of narcolepsy
- sudden and extreme muscle weakness
sleep apnea
- characterized by repeat awakenings through the night because you aren’t able to breathe properly
- breathing may be stopped for as long as a minute
- airway is shut off
- loud snoring is warning sign
- can occur 300-400 times a night
- CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) can help
hypnosis
- an altered state of consciousness one enters voluntarily
- increase in suggestibility
- discovered by Franz Mesmer, used with his patients
- able to access through thoughts and memories from the past
- some are more hypnotizable than others (more intelligent and better daydreamers)
suggestibility
- open to suggestions that a hypnotherapist may place in your subconscious
- most often used in weight reduction, smoking, and phobias
meditation
- self induced state of altered consciousness
- mantras are often used to help focus one’s attention and relax
