May 23, 2019 Part 2

Question 1

What is consciousness?

Answer 1

• it is the awareness of our self and the environment

- >can have different levels of awareness

Question 2

Name the four types of consciousness

Answer 2

1) Alertness
- >you are awake and aware of who you are

2) Daydreaming
- >more relaxed and not as focused on alertness

3) Drowsiness
4) Sleep

Question 3

What are the 4 main types of brain waves

Answer 3

1) Alpha
- >daydreaming state
- >lower frequency than beta waves

2) Beta
- >associated with being awake and concentrated

3) Theta
- >slower/lower frequency than alpha waves
- >right after you fall asleep

4) Delta
- >slower/lower frequency than theta waves
- >deep sleep or coma

Question 4

What are the 4 main stages of sleep? What duration do these 4 sleep stages occur over?

Answer 4

-there are 4 sleep stages that occur over 90 minutes

• first three stages are non-REM(N1/N2/N3)
• last stage is REM stage
• > REM stage is characterized by rapid eye movement

Question 5

What is N1 characterized by?

Answer 5

• dominated by theta waves

- hallucination, Tetris effect and hypnic jerks(muscle twitching that you may experience)

Question 6

What is N2 characterized by?

Answer 6

• deeper stage of sleep than N1
• > harder to wake someone up in this stage
• > more theta waves, as well as sleep spindles or K-complexes

Question 7

What are the functions of K complexes and sleep spindles

Answer 7

Sleep spindles

• > burst of rapid brain activity
• > maybe help us sleep through loud noises
• > so remain in a tranquil sleep state

K complexes

• > suppress cortical arousal and keep you asleep
• > also help sleep-based memory consolidation
• > they occur naturally but you can make them occur by touching somebody

Question 8

What is N3 characterized by?

Answer 8

• slow wave sleep
• > very difficult to awaken
• > characterized by delta waves

Question 9

What is the most important function of REM sleep

Answer 9

• it is for memory consolidation

- >formation of episodic memories

Question 10

What is the complete cycle of sleep in order? Also how long does each stage last? What does it depend on?

Answer 10

• N1->N2->N3->N2->REM->N1
• how long you spend in each stage depends on
• > how long you have been asleep and your age
• > eg; babies spend more time in REM sleep

Question 11

What is the function of the circadian rhythms? What is it controlled by

Answer 11

• they are our regular body rhythms across a 24 hour period

- >it is controlled by melatonin produced in the pineal gland

Question 12

What happens to prefrontal cortex activity during REM sleep

Answer 12

• the activity is decreased

- >explains why our logic is sometimes weird af during dreams

Question 13

What is the Sigmand Freud theory to why we dream

Answer 13

• dreams are our unconscious thoughts
• > they are our desires that need to be interpreted
• > note this theory is bullshit and hasn’t been proven

Question 14

What is the evolutionary biology theory to why we dream

Answer 14

• it is to prepare for the real world
• allows us to problem solve
• others say it has no purpose

-so it is across the board to what is the function of dreams when it comes to evolutionary biology

Question 15

What are the terms manifest content and latent content in reference to Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams

Answer 15

Manifest content
->literal meaning

Latent content
->the hidden meaning

• Sigmand just wanted us to understand that dreams have meanings
• > interpreting them can help us resolve and identify hidden conflict

Question 16

What is the activation synthesis hypothesis?

Answer 16

• brain gets a lot of neural impulses in the brainstem
• > the frontal cortex inteprets these random signals

-frontal cortex=synthesis, while brainstem=activation

• overall the point of this theory is that
• > our brain is simply trying to find meaning from random brain activity
• > therefore, dreams might not even have any meaning

Question 17

What are the consequences of sleep deprivation?

Answer 17

• more susceptibility to obesity
• > as body makes more cortisol and the hunger hormone ghrelin
• can increase risk for depression
• more irritable and poorer memory

Question 18

What is insomnia? What are some treatments

Answer 18

-trouble falling asleep or staying asleep

• treatments can involve psychological training and lifestyle changes
• > it is a better alternative to medication

Question 19

What is narcolepsy? Is the cause known? How can it be overcome?

Answer 19

• narcolepsy is the inability of preventing oneself from falling asleep
• > it can include just falling into REM sleep
• > cause is not completely known and it is thought to be genetic

-neurochemical interventions can cause someone to overcome narcolepsy potentially

Question 20

What is sleep apnea?

Answer 20

• it is the inability to breathe while sleeping
• > body realizes you are not getting enough oxygen and wakes up just long enough to gasp for air

-don’t get enough N3

Question 21

What is sleep walking/ sleep talking? When do these two occur? In what stage of sleep?

Answer 21

• they are mostly genetic
• > occur during the N3 stage
• > are harmless
• > occur more often in children

Question 22

Give examples of induced states of consciousness

Answer 22

-hypnosis+ medication