Chapter 4 Flashcards
In what stage do sleep spindles begin to appear on the EEG machine?
Stage N2
….muscular activity cause his eyeballs to move back and forth beneath his eyelids. In what stage of sleep is he
Stage R - REM
Describe the N3 stage of sleep
The individual is deeply asleep. Delta waves dominate the EEG pattern, and snoring might occur.
What is NREM
NON-rapid eye movement
What are the 2 broad categories of sleep?
REM and NREM
During what stage of sleep do myoclonic jerks occur?
Stage N1
Which drug classe most operate through disrupting the typical function of the serotonin neurotransmitter system?
Hallucinogen
What is consciousness?
Awareness
How is awareness regulated?
Arousal
What is higher level consciousness
more controlled processing, ie studying for an exam, planning, problem solving.
means youre paying attention
What is lower level consciousness
automatic processing, requires little attention. ie, daydreaming, wandering thoughts.
Daydreaming can be potentially useful in problem solving
What are altered states of consciousness
fatigue/illness/trauma/deprivation/stress from immediate situation, drug states, meditation/hypnosis
What is subconscious awareness
Incubation - subconscious processing
Parallel processing - the process of your eyes seeing something
Sleep and dreams - low level of consciousness of the outside world and reversible
What are biological rhythms
Different fluctuations of the brains sub-consciousness
1. annual or seasonal
2. 24 hour cycles (circadian rhythms), natural sun goes down we wanna be asleep, sun comes up we wanna be awake
What are examples of biological clocks
- desynchronizing the clock. Jet lag, shift-work problems, insomnia
- resetting the clock. using bright light to wake up, using melatonin to help with insomnia.
Why do we need sleep
- Adaptive Evolutionary Function - helps us conserve our energy and keeps us safe (sleep at night when we cant see well, biological)
- Restorative Function - helps with cellular growth and repair
- Brain Plasticity - enhances synaptic connections and memory consolidation
What does chronic sleep deprivation result in
- decreased alertness and cognitive function
- inability to sustain attention
- less complex brain activity
- adverse effects on decision making
It is advised 7-9 hours of sleep
What does EEG measure
Our sleep waves/brain activity when we sleep
Stage W?
Wakefulness
Called Beta Waves when alert
High frequency, low amplitude
Called Alpha Waves when relaxed
Increased amplitude and more synchronous
Stage N1?
Called Theta Waves
Happens in shallow sleep
Stage N2?
Also theta waves
This is when sleep spindles happen
Stage N3
Delta waves
full, deep sleep
slowest frequency and highest amplitude of brain waves
Stage R
REM sleep
EEG is similar to relaxed wakefulness
What does REM stand for
Rapid Eye Movement
This is when dreaming happens
Non-REM sleep (stages N1-N3)
No rapid eye movement
very little dreaming
How many cycles do we have per night?
Around 5 cycles every night of the stages of sleep
Each cycle is around 90-100 minutes long
Stages in a typical night:
60% of the night in N1, N2
20% of the night in N3
20% of the night in REM
Reticular Formation
In the older part of the brain
critical in sleep and arousal
Neurotransmitters for sleep
Serotonin, norepinephrine and acetylcholine
GABA receptors help regulate sleep
How does light affect sleep
Light tells your brain to not produce melatonin and vice versa
How does sleep change across the life span
You need less sleep as you get older
How is sleep related to disease
- stroke and asthma attacks are more common at night and early in the morning
- infectious diseases induce sleep
- sleep deprivation hampers immune response
- sleep problems are more common in those why psychological and other disorders
Sleep deprivation affects:
Your brain, heart, stomach, muscles, immune system, fat cells and joints.
Heart - high blood pressure
brain - decreased ability to focus
stomach - more hungry
fat cells - more deposits
muscles - deprived
joints - arthritis
immune system - more susceptible to infectious diseases
What is Freud’s Psychodynamic Approach to sleep
Sleep helps manifest and latent content
What is Cognitive Theory
Sleep helps the brain process information and memory
What is Activation-Synthesis Theory
Sleep helps the brain make sense out of random brain activity
Freud’s Wish Fullfillment
Dreams helps provide safety in unacceptable feelings. This theory lacks any scientific approach.
5 types of sleep disorders
- insomnia
- sleepwalking/sleep talking
- nightmares/night terrors
- narcolepsy
- sleep apnea
How common is insomnia?
Seen in 1 in 10 adults, but as people get older it’s seen in 1 in 4 adults
How common is sleep apnea?
Seen in 1 in 20 adults
What do psychoactive drugs do?
They change mood and perception
When is drug use considered a disorder?
- diminished control
- cravings, failed attempts to regulate
- diminished social functioning
- disrupts commitments
- hazardous use
- worsening problems
What neurotransmitter do drugs increase?
Dopamine
What can continued use of psychoactive drugs lead to?
- tolerance
- physical/psychological dependence
- addiction
- substance use disorder
- losing track of responsibilities
- problems in workplace/relationships
Alcohol dependence mimics what in the brain/MRI?
Dementia
lots of deterioration of the brain in MRI
What does alcohol do to your neural processing?
Slows it down
Slows the sympathetic nervous system
How does heavy drinking after moderate drinking affect your body?
Moderate drinking depresses your vomiting response, so heavy drinking following moderate drinking will almost stop your vomiting response altogether and when your body needs to vomit, it won’t, leading to alcohol poisoning/overdose
What are barbituates?
Tranquilizers
What do barbituates do?
- depress nervous system
- can impair memory and judgement
- Can induce sleep and/or help with anxiety
What are opiates?
- opium, heroin, methadone, codeine, oxycotin, morphine, fentanyl
What do opiates do?
- depress neural functioning
- helps replace pain with pleasure
- leads to lethargy and slow breathing
- leads to cravings and withdrawals quickly
- overflowing brain leads to it stopping from making its own endorphins
What do stimulants do?
- excite neural activity
- speeds up body functions
- helps us feel alert, lose weight, boost mood and performance
What are some side effects of nicotine?
- arouses the brain
- increases heart rate and blood pressure
- relaxes muscles and triggers the release of neurotransmitters that may reduce stress
- reduces circulation to extremities
- suppresses appetite for carbs
What are some side effects of cocaine?
- powerfully addictive
- overflows the brain with dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine
- triggers aggression
- emotional disturbances, convulsions, cardiac arrest and respiratory failure
Cocaine blocks the re-uptake of neurotransmitters
What are some side effects of meth?
- stimulates neural activity
- body functions speed up
- mood soars
- releases dopamine
- lasts about 8 hours
- aftereffects: irritability, insomnia, hypertension, seizures, social isolation, depression and violent outbursts
- reduces baseline dopamine levels over time
What are some side effects of ecstasy?
- releases dopamine and stored serotonin
- dehydrates your body
- damages serotonin producing neurons
- suppresses immune system
- impairs memory
- disrupts sleep
What are some side effects of hallucinogens?
- distorts perceptions
- evokes sensory images
- dissolves sense of self
- can invoke experiences similar to near death
What are some side effects of THC?
- amplifies sensitivity to senses
- impairs motor coordination and reaction time
- lingers in the body for more than a week
- alleviates chronic pain
- not associated with lung cancer
- associated with chronic bronchitis, psychosis, social anxiety disorder and suicidal thoughts
- impairs attention, learning and memory
What are some biological influences of drug effects?
- identical twins have a higher risk of using if their twin does
- genes that lead to the brain producing less dopamine than normal
- drugs reprogram the brain’s reward system
