Chapter 5 (part 2) - Purpose of Sleep Flashcards
what is sleeping good for?
a restorative process
sleeping and physical health
helps our tissues and muscles regenerate
hormones are released which helps us to regulate the body in a variety of ways.
how does sleeping help mental health?
we need sleep to function properly.
Irritations such as stress, anxiety, and even depression can be affected by lack of sleep.
without sleep, normal and everyday things won’t seem tolerable.
how does sleep help learning?
memory consolidation; emotional memories; trouble focusing if sleep deprived. Attention is impacted with less sleep; our mind will wonder and we may doze off.
evolution and survival
conserve energy; avoid night
how does sleep help learning?
memory consolidation; emotional memories; trouble focusing if sleep deprived. Attention is impacted by less sleep; our minds will wander and we may doze off.
what is short-term sleep deprivation?
can impact you over time
not overly significant
- Groggy; feel “out of it”
- Irritability
- Loss of concentration
- Problems with judgment
- Driving Errors
- Physically tired
- Can lead to “sleep debt”
what is long-term sleep deprivation?
- more serious
- will also experience the same symptoms as
short term sleep deprivation - More prone to accidents (driving; workplace)
- More likely to suffer from the disease
- Early mortality
how can we sleep better?
Stick to a sleep schedule
Use light to your advantage
Create a sleep space
Get ready for sleep with relaxing activities
how do we stick to a sleep schedule?
- keep routine on weekends
- regulate the internal clock
- better patterns will help with long-term health
how to use light to your advantage
- expose yourself to light in the morning
- avoid bright light, such as screen, before bed
- when we start at technology this will send signals to the suprachiasmatic Nucleaus
- expose yourself to light in the morning (regulate circadian rhythm)
SCN
(SCN) is a small group of cells located in the hypothalamus of the brain. It is considered to be the master clock that regulates the circadian rhythms of the body, which are the internal biological rhythms that cycle approximately every 24 hours.
create a sleep space
- the bed is for sleeping
- keep it cool: 15 - 19 degrees c (cool external environment)
- no noise or lights
- exercise not a good idea before bed
get ready for sleep with relaxing activities
- read, take a bath, music, medication
- avoid stimulating activities right before bed, such as work and exercise
when should we avoid stimulants?
within 4-6 hours of sleep
Coffee/caffeine, nicotine
what should we avoid before bed?
heavy meals near bed time
- within 3 hours
- light snack If hungry
what should we do during the day so we sleep better?
exercise
- vigorous best but any will do
- movement regulates the body
what is insomnia?
difficulty falling and staying asleep
symptoms of insomnia
Trouble falling asleep (>30 minutes to fall asleep)
Waking up too early in the morning
Waking up during the night and having trouble returning to sleep
what percent of people report chronic insomnia?
9-15% of people report chronic insomnia
possible causes of insomnia
Poor nighttime routine
Some medications; Alcohol consumption
Anxiety, including lack of sleep
what is subjective insomnia?
people who complain they lack sleep but show normal patterns of sleep
why are sleeping pills questionable?
Some people may need them, but they can cause problems:
- some pills are known to cause memory issues
- possible to develop a tolerance and need more
- can be associated with forms of dementia
Psychotherapy may be as or more effective
what are night terrors?
sudden walking episodes characterized by screaming, perspiring, and confusion, followed by a return to deep sleep. usually only last a few minutes
who do night terrors typically affect?
children
what is sleep walking?
- walking while fully asleep
- walk like a fully awake person; slightly clumsier
- children sleepwalk more than adults
- sleepwalking occurs during non-REM sleep
- often involves mundane activities
what do scientists not know?
why we dream
- most people report dreaming
what are some ideas as to why we dream?
- processing emotional memories
- integrating new experiences with established
memories - learning new strategies
-stimulating threatening events
- reorganizing and consolidating memories
what is Freud’s Dream Protection Theory?
Dreams are the guardians (protectors) of sleep
- dreams allow primal urges to be expressed without disturbing sleep
- a way to fulfill deep-routed wishes
dreams serve as a defense mechanism to protect the unconscious mind from repressed thoughts and desires that may be too threatening or anxiety-provoking to face directly in waking life. According to this theory, the manifest content of a dream (the actual events and images that are experienced) serves as a disguise or distortion of the latent content (the underlying unconscious wishes or fears).
how does the dream work to disguise the content?
Freud believed that dream work, which is the process by which the unconscious transforms the latent content of a dream into manifest content, uses various mechanisms to disguise the true meaning of the dream.
what is manifest content?
the images and details of the dream
what is latent content?
the dream’s true meaning
what does understanding dreams require
careful interpretation
how was Freud’s dream protection theory disproved?
dreams are often negative so therefore not fulfilling wishes
Freud thought sexuality plays the dominant role in human life; 90 of dreams are not sexual
what is activation-synthesis Theory?
Dreams reflect brain activation during sleep and the forebrain’s attempt to combine the fragments of information into a narrative
what are dreams not about? (activation-synthesis Theory)
not about wishfulfillment
Activation:
incomplete signals are sent to LGN of Thalamus
what is the LGN of thalamus?
a small but essential structure located in the thalamus of the brain. It is part of the visual pathway and relays visual information from the retina to the visual cortex. The LGN receives input from the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain, and then projects this information to the primary visual cortex via optic radiations.
what is activation? (activation-synthesis Theory)
incomplete signals are sent to LGN of Thalamus
What is synthesis? (activation-synthesis Theory)
forebrain assembles the incomplete signals into a narrative.
often dreams are not logical
according to Hobson (2009), what do dreams reflect?
“Proto consciousness”
what is “proto consciousness”?
Preconsciousness refers to the level of mental processing that occurs outside of our conscious awareness but can be readily brought into consciousness with little effort or attention.