Chapter 4 - Consciousness Flashcards
What is consciousness?
A person’s awareness of everything going on around him/her at any given moment.
What is waking consciousness?
The highest level of consciousness, a state in which thoughts, feelings & sensations are clear, organized & person feels alert.
What is an altered state of consciousness? What are some things that cause altered states?
A state in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern or mental activity as compared to waking consciousness. Sleep and drugs cause an altered state.
How many stages of sleep are there? What is the difference between the different stages of sleep?
There are 5 stages in total. The different stages of sleep involve different levels of awareness, consciousness, responsiveness & physiological activity.
What is dreaming?
When you are asleep but experience visual, auditory & tactile images.
What are biological rhythms?
Internal timing devices genetically set to regulate various physiological responses for different time periods. Heart rate, body temperature and menstrual cycles are all biological rhythms.
What biological rhythm regulates sleep? What is it responsible for?
The circadian rhythm regulates your internal clock, making you feel tired at night, and awake during the day. It’s genetically programmed to regulate physiological responses during a 24 hour period, and resets at the morning sunlight.
What is an EEG?
An Electroencephalograph, which is a device used to measure brain waves. A lot of sleep studies use EEGs.
What are the first four stages of sleep?
Stages 1-4, also referred to as non-REM sleep. Accounts for 80% of all sleep.
What happens during stage 1 sleep?
A transition from wakefulness into sleep. A gradual loss of responsiveness to stimuli. Experiencing drifting thoughts and images. Hallucinations, and a sense of falling.
What happens during stage 2 sleep?
Beginning of what we know as sleep. Decrease in muscle tension, body temperature, heart rate. Sleep spindles, or high-frequency bursts of brain activity.
What happens during stages 3 and 4 sleep?
Deepest stages, difficult to wake someone from these stages. Reduced heart rate, respiration, temperature, blood flow to the brain. Secretion of growth hormone (GH) which is why sleep is very important for adolescents.
What is REM sleep?
The final stage of sleep. Stands for Rapid Eye Movement sleep (If you look at someone in REM sleep you can see their eyes moving under their eyelids.) Accounts for the other 20% of sleep. REM brain waves are similar to those when wide awake & alert. The only stage where dreaming occurs.
What is REM Paralysis?
Also known as paradoxical sleep, is a condition that happens in REM sleep, where your brain is active yet your skeletal muscles are inactive (muscle paralysis). This is an evolutionary trait in which your muscles are paralyzed so that your body is unable to act out your dreams.
What happens to your sleep cycle after reaching stage 4 sleep?
The sleep cycles starts moving backwards towards Stage 1. Only after it reaches Stage 1 again does it enter REM sleep.
About how long is one sleep cycle?
About 90 minutes.
What happens to the stages of sleep the more sleep cycles occur?
The duration of Stage 4 sleep decreases, and the duration of REM sleep increases.
What are some effects of sleep deprivation?
- Compromises immune system
- Vulnerability to infections
- Increases stress hormone production
- Raises risk for obesity & diabetes
- Irritability, unhappiness.
- Impaired concentration & memory recall.
- Hallucinations
What are some sleep disorders?
Insomnia, nightmares and night terrors.
What is Insomnia? What are some causes?
An inability to get to sleep, stay asleep or get good, quality sleep. Some causes are stress, grief, coping with mental problems, Night-shift work, medical problems, pain, or substance abuse.
What are nightmares?
Bad dreams occurring during REM sleep. More common in children.
What are night terrors?
Occur in children ages 5 to 7, they wake up in the middle of the night in a state of panic. They’re not dreaming, this occurs in deep stages of sleep. The child recalls little or nothing of the panic after waking up.
What is the Wish Fulfillment theory?
One theory as to why we dream, created by Freud. Freud stated that dreams provide a safety valve to discharge unacceptable feelings. He thought they had symbolic meanings that signify our unacceptable feelings. Freud thought dreams had a manifest content, and a latent content, the manifest content being the dreams apparent meaning, and the latent content being the symbolic meaning.
What is activation-synthesis theory?
One theory as to why we dream. The theory states that when we are dreaming brain areas that provide reasoned cognitive control while awake are shut down. The sleeping brain is still stimulated by chemical and random neural influences, and this causes dreaming to occur. During REM sleep, the prefrontal cortex is turned off, whereas the visual cortex and limbic system are turned on.
