Ch.7 Sleep/consiousness Flashcards
Biological clocks
Internal timing devices that are genetically set to regulate various physiological responses for different periods of time
Implicit (or non declarative memory)
Means learning without awareness, such as occurs in emotional situations or in acquiring habits
Examples: walking, fear of spiders, falling in love
Circadian rhythm
Refers to a biological clock that is genetically programmed to regulate a physiological response within a time period of 24 hours
Your circadian clock is genetically set for how long of days
24 hours and 18 minutes
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
One of many groups of cells that make up the hypothalamus; a sophisticated biological clock that regulates a number of circadian rhythms including the sleep-wake cycle. Cells in this nucleus are highly responsive to changes in light
Interval timing clock
Gauges the passage of seconds, minutes, or hours and helps people and animals time their movements
Ex: when you want to take an hour long nap and you wake up an hour later
Located in the basal ganglia
Food-entrainable circadian clock
Also referred to as the midnight-snack clock
Regulates eating patterns in people and animals and might be responsible for late night eating
Jet lag
The experience of fatigue, lack of concentration, and reduced cognitive skills that occurs when travelers biological circadian clocks are out of step with the external clock times at their new location
Light therapy
The use of bright artificial light to reset circadian clocks and so combat the insomnia and drowsiness that plague jet lag sufferers and shift workers
Melatonin
Secreted by the pineal gland
Melatonin secretion increases with darkness and decreases with light
What controls the secretion of melatonin
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
Stage one of sleep
Transition from wakefulness to sleep
Theta waves
Theta waves are
Lower in amplitude and frequency
Stage 2
Theta waves plus sleep spindles (high frequency bursts of brain activity)
If someone in stage 2 is awoken they’ll report having been asleep
Stage 4 sleep
Has delta waves
Heart rate, respiration, temperature, and blood flow to the brain are reduced
GH is secreted
Delta waves
High amplitude and low frequency
Rem sleep
Makes up 20% of sleep time
Waves look similar to beta waves which occur when you’re awake
Rem behavior disorder
Which usually occurs in older people, voluntary muscles are not paralyzed, and sleepers can and do act out their dreams, such as fighting off attackers in dreams
Rem rebound
Refers to individuals spending an increased percentage of time in REM sleep if they were deprived of REM sleep the previous nights
REM sleep helps us
Store or encode information in memory
Beta waves
A short one after awakening from sleep you enter a state of being awake and alert which has beta waves
Beta waves have high frequency and low amplitude
Morning person temp change
Temperature rises more quickly and person gets up earlier
Temperature peaks early so the person goes to bed earlier
Rem sleep gradually declines
Highest during infancy (50% of sleep is rem)
Adolescents sleeping patterns
Need more sleep
Circadian clocks favor going to be later and getting up later
Repair theory
Suggests that activities during the day deplete key factors in our brain or body that are replenished or repaired by sleep. Repair theory sees sleep as mainly a restorative process.
Adaptive theory of sleep
Suggests that sleep evolved because it prevented early humans and animals from wasting energy and exposing themselves to the dangers of nocturnal predators
Sleep deprivation physiological effects
Compromises our immune systems
Increased production of stress hormones
Elevated blood pressure
VPN-ventrolateral preoptic nucleus
A group of cells in the hypothalamus that act like a master switch for sleep
VPN secretes what neurotransmitter
GABA
Reticular formation
A column of cells that stretches the length of the brain stem, arouses and alerts the forebrain and prepares it to receive information from all the senses
-important in keeping the forebrain alert and producing a state of wakefulness
SAD-seasonal affective disorder
A pattern of depressive symptoms, such as loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities that cycle with the seasons
Highest incidence of SAD
New Hampshire
Freuds theory of dreams
Says that we have a “censor” that protects us from realizing threatening or unconscious desires or wishes, especially those involving sex or aggression
Theory that dreams are EXTENSIONS OF WAKING LIFE
Means that our dreams reflect the same thoughts, fears, concerns, problems, or emotions that we have when awake
Activation-synthesis theory
Says that dreaming occurs because brain areas that provide reasoned cognitive control during the waking state are shut down. As a result, the sleeping brain is stimulated by different chemical and neural influences that result in dreams
Inuit theory of dreams
Believe that in dreaming one enters the spiritual world, where the souls of animals, supernaturals, and departed relatives are made known
Insomnia
Refers to difficultly in either going to sleep or staying asleep through the night
Non drug treatment for insomnia
Establish an optimal sleep pattern
Benzodiazepines
Reduce anxiety, worry, and stress and are effective and relatively safe when taken in moderate doses in the short term
Possible dependence on the drug
Non benzodiazepines
Rapidly becoming popular sleeping pills because they are fast acting, reduce daytime drowsiness, have fewer side effects, and are less likely to lead to dependence
Sleep apnea
Refers to repeated periods during sleep when a person stops breathing for 10 seconds or longer.
Treatment: sew tennis balls in the back of pajamas, air mask
Narcolepsy
A chronic disorder that is marked by excessive sleepiness, usually in the form of sleep attacks or short periods of sleep throughout the day
Treatment: hypocretin based medicine
Night terrors
Occur durning stage 3 or 4
Frightening experiences that often start with a piercing scream, followed by sudden waking in a fearful state with rapid breathing and increased heart rate
Nightmares
Occur during REM sleep, are very frightening and anxiety producing images that occur during dreaming
Sleepwalking
Occurs in stage 3 or 4
Consists of getting up and walking while literally sound asleep
