Consciousness Flashcards
The awareness that we have of our surroundings, our internal states, and ourselves
Consciousness
Increased awareness, where we’re paying especially close attention to the various forms of sensory input that we’re receiving
Alertness
The structure in the brain that is most closely associated with alertness is known as the
Reticular formation and one if its sub components knows as reticular activating system (ARS)
Reticular formation is a complex network of neuron clusters located in the brainstem
When a person cannot be easily roused, can also occur for various reasons, including trauma, loss of oxygen toy the brain, and drug use (both reaction all drugs and for medical purposes such as anesthesia)
Unconsciousness
An even deeper form of unconsciousness, which refers to someone who has lost consciousness, does not react normally to stimuli like light, sound, or pain, does not make any voluntary motions, and is not in a normal sleep/ wake cycle
Coma
Recording brain activity during sleep
Electroencephalograph or EEG
Record muscle and eye activity
Electromyography and electrooculography
A sleep study measuring multiple physiological parameters is called
Polysomnographic study
Waves when a person is fully awake
Beta waves - high frequency, low amplitude, and not very rhythmic
Waves when we start getting fatigued, less alert, and especially when we close our eyes and rest without falling asleep
Alpha waves- lower frequency
Characterized by quick bursts of eye movement, EEG shows brain waves similar to those observed when a person is awake, but muscle movement is very low, almost to the point of being paralyzed.
REM sleep
What division of sleep does dreaming occur and when during the sleep clycle does it occur?
REM sleep- interspersed throughout the sleep cycle, but becomes longer as the night progresses
What is REM rebound
If we miss sleep one night, the next night we’ll spend more time in REM sleep to catch up
Waves during the stage 1 of non-REM sleep
Theta waves- even lower frequency than alpha waves and tend to have lower amplitudes, although somewhat irregular.
What occurs during stage 1 sleep
Slow eye movement. Overall, stage 1 sleep is quite light
What waves do we see during stage 2 of sleep cycle?
Theta waves- we also observes bursts of activity called K-complexes and sleep spindles
What occurs during stage 2 of the sleep cycle
No eye movement, heart rate and breathing rate slow down
These can be observed in theta waves of stage 2 sleep. These are periodic high-amplitude bursts.
K-complexes
These can be observed in the theta waves of stage 2. These are occasional high-frequency bursts of activity that are thought to play a role in memory consolidation
Sleep spindles
Deep sleep stage of the sleep cycle.
Stage 3- used to be divided into 3 and 4 until 2008
The waves observed in deep sleep
Delta waves- also known as slow-wave sleep, and the slow, or low-frequency
- fairly high amplitude
Stage 3 sleep is thought to be important for?
Memory processing, as well as being a stage of sleep where the brain recovers from its daily activities
Deep, slow-wave sleep tends to predominate towards the _________ of a night’s sleep, while more time is spent in lighter REM sleep towards the ________ of a night’s sleep.
Beginning, end
Sleep cycle is around how long for adults and children
Adults- 90 minutes
Children- 50 minutes
The 24-hour-sleep-wake cycle is known as
The circadian rhythm
A hormone generated from the pineal gland that promotes drowsiness
Melatonin
Hormone that is best known for modulating the chronic stress response, but also contributes to wakefulness
Cortisol
The most common sleep disorder, makes it difficult to fall asleep
Insomnia
Involves excessive daytime sleepiness as well as abnormal REM sleep, cataplexy, or sudden loss of muscle control, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations (hallucinations that occur while going to sleep)
Narcolepsy
Occurs when a person is unable to breathe while sleeping, either due to a physical obstruction or problems with neural signaling
Sleep apnea
Obese individuals are at an elevated risk for obstructive sleep apnea with can cause significant health problems. Disorders like these, which interfere with whether on not sleep takes places, are collectively known as?
Dyssomnias
Another category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal behavior during slepp
Parasomnias
Sleepwalking medical term
Somnambulism
A common parasomnia in which sleeper is suddenly plunged into the fight-or-flight response. This often involves the sleeper sitting up and screaming. Such episodes only last for about 30 sec to 3 minutes
Night terror
T or F. Nightmares is not considered parasomnia because it is relatively safe.
False. Nightmares can also be considered parasomnia, since they occur during sleep.
Sigmund Freud’s manifest and latent content
Manifest content: surface-level plot line details of a dream
Latent content: hidden meaning
Freud’s wish fulfillment
Dreams provide a way to resolve a repressed conflict by allowing a person to visualize the satisfaction of a desire
Theoretic approach to dreaming which states that the activation of neurons in REM sleep results in a synthesis of that experiential input through dreaming
Activation-synthesis model
Theoretical approach to dreaming which views dreams as a way that the brain unconsciously processes and works through problems encountered in one’s day-to-day life
Problem-solving theory
Theoretical approach to dreaming which suggests that dream reflect cognitive structures that play a role in our everyday lives, such as conceptions of self, others, and the world.
Cognitive theory
Altered consciousness
Sleep, hypnosis, meditation
There is considerable skepticism as to whether this even exists as a well-definable state, beyond the parameters of ordinary suggestibility and motiovation
Hypnosis
This has been shown to alter brain wave patterns by promoting more alpha and theta waves, normally characteristic or drowsiness and sleep. fMRI studies have shown that various specific brain areas are activated during this altered consciousness
Meditation
This class of drugs increase activity in the CNS, have energizing or invigorating effect, or mimic the effects of the sympathetic nervous system, simulating a fight-or-flight response.
Stimulants
Defined as a patterns of compulsive behavior that persists despite negative consequences. It involves repeatedly engaging in some sort of process that triggers the brain’s reward pathway.
Addiction
This means that mild withdrawal symptoms, including headaches, and difficulty focusing.
Dependence
Caffeine dependence
Even people who are dependent on caffeine don’t show patterns of compulsive, reward-pathway driven caffeine use that persists despite negative consequences
These class of stimulants tend to increase energy and alertness, promote concentration and focus, and reduce appetite. Chronic use could lead to negative effects such as intense mood swings , hallucination, even psychosis.
Amphetamine
A member of amphetamine that promotes a powerful sense of empathy and pleasure, along with the typical amphetamine related effects of increased energy, focus, and appetite reduction
MDMA- also known as ecstasy or molly
A stimulant that works by blocking the reputable of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Derived from coca plant.
Cocaine
This work by reducing activity in the CNS. Since stimulants raise heart rates respiratory rate, and blood pressure, this reduces those.
Depressants
Alcohol’s primary mode of action is enhancing ______ receptors which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in our brains. Therefore, ethanol basically makes the brain act as if it is receding more _______ input than it actually is.
GABA
A psychiatric condition associated with chronic alcoholism that involves amnesia (both anterograde and retrograde), and a tendency for confabulation or invented memories
Korsakoff syndrome
This is associated with a lack of vitamin B1, or thiamine, which can be depleted in heavy drinkers, especially in those who also do not have an adequate nutritional intake
Korsakoff syndrome
Retrograde vs Anterograde Amnesia
Retrograde- events before the onset of the condition
Anterograde- for events starting after the syndrome develops
Alcohol, _______________, and _____________ are classes of depressants that increase GABA receptor activity. Sudden discontinuing of these drugs can lead to berry unpleasant, and even fatal, withdrawal symptoms that include hallucinations, excruciating anxiety, and seizures.
Benzodiazepines and barbiturates
What are benzodiazepines and barbiturates used for?
Barbiturates- treat anxiety and insomnia
Benzodiazepines- same thing and alcohol dependence
*super risky in term of overdose risk, propensity for addiction, and the danger of withdrawal
This drugs cause sedation, sleepiness, and respiratory depression, as well as pain relief and euphoria.
Opioids
Naturally occurring opioids
Morphine
More potent and highly addictive version of morphine that was developed by pharmaceutical researchers in the late 19th century
Heroin
Morphine and heroin can be though of as extremely potent ____________ agonists
Endorphin- block pain and can induce feelings of euphoria
(Ex. Runner’s high0
These distort perceptions, enhance sensory experiences, and promote introspection. Their psychological effects usually mimic sympathetic nervous system activation.
Hallucinogens
Examples of hallucinogens
LSD, ketamine, peyote, psilocybin, PCP
The effects of this drug include stimulant, depressant, and hallucinogenic properties.
Marijuana
Marijuana’s major psychoactive constituent is?
THC- tetrahydrocannabinol- we have cannabinoid receptors in our brain
Non-psychoactive cannabinoids in marijuana that have received attention due to possible therapeutic effects on pain and seizure activity
CBD- cannabidiol
Addiction is defines as compulsive behavior that triggers the ________ ________ and is repeated pathologically despite negative consequences
Reward pathway
The technical term for reward pathway which is made up of sets of structures containing dopaminergic neurons. It is powerfully associated with motivation, reinforcement learning, and any activity that produces psychological dependence- including drug abuse and gambling- activated this pathway
Mesolithic pathway- consists of nucleus accumbens, teh ventral tegmental area, the olfactory tubule, and medical forebrain bundle
Brain structures that are involved in emotion may also contribute to addiction
Amygdala- addiction is associated with intense cravings for the high given by a drug or other addictive activity. It is also thought that the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement might be helpful for understanding addiction
Refers to the phenomenon of a user needing an increasing does of a substance to get the same effect.
Tolerance
If someone requires a drug to function normally, they are said to be __________ to the drug and __________ on it.
Habituated, dependent
stimulants affect the brain in these ways
- promote release of neurotransmitters
- reduce the effects of inhibitory neurotransmitters
- inhibit the reabsorption of neurotransmitters
