sleep Flashcards
what is consciousness
Consciousness is everything we experience.
It is the awareness of the environment (external) and your own existence and mental processes (internal) at any given moment including, thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions, memories.
consciousness as a continuum
No distinct boundaries between states of consciousness
Normal waking consciousness
Altered states of consciousness
normal waking consciousness
Considered to be the baseline upon which we judge all states of consciousness.
Clear organised alertness to internal and external stimuli.
At the higher end of the continuum we mostly perceive time, places and events as real, meaningful and familiar.
3 characteristics of NWC
Moderate to high levels of awareness
Good memory and cognitive abilities
Ability to focus attention on specific tasks and switch attention between tasks
altered state of consciousness
Any state that is characteristically different from normal waking consciousness in terms of awareness, feelings and behaviours. Altered states of consciousness can occur naturally (daydreaming) or with intervention (medication)
3 characteristics of ASC
Changes to levels of awareness
Memory difficulties and reduced cognitive abilities
Difficulty paying attention to specific tasks
what is a psychological construct
a concept or explanatory model that is created to describe activity that we cannot directly observe
why is sleep an ASC 5
Less limited - lose conscious control
Controlled and automatic processes
Perceptual distortions
Cognitive distortions
Emotional awareness can be flattened
why do we sleep
Sleep is needed to protect mental health physical health and overall quality of life
what is NREM sleep
A type of sleep characterised by a lack of rapid eye movement and is subdivided into 3 different stages. Starts when we first fall asleep and is thought to be important for restoration and repair of the body. NREM is needed to feel refreshed and non-fatigued.
As you move through each stage of NREM sleep the sleep experienced becomes progressively deeper
what is NREM good for
Evidence that stage 3 triggers the body to release growth hormone promoting normal growth in children,m teens and adults
Hormone boosts muscle mass and helps to repair cells and tissues
Helps to control appetite, energy metabolism and glucose processing
Helps to consolidate new memories and skills
stage 1 NREM
Close our eyes and gradually lose awareness
Can still be aware of faint sounds
Lasts approx 5 mins - ranges from 30s to 10m
If woken my think you haven’t been asleep
As your move through each stage, experience becomes deeper
Hypnic jerks occur as muscles relax
Eyes can roll
Low arousal threshold
stage 2 NREM
More difficult to wake up but still easy to arouse
Moderate sleep
Continues slowing of heart rate, breathing and muscle activity, body temp falls
Considered light sleep
Some say it is when we are truly asleep
Approx 10-12 mins - after 5 sleep is deeper and lengthens with each successive cycle
Accounts for 50% of total sleep
Brain waves are slower with brief bursts of electrical activity
stage 3 NREM
Considered period of deep sleep
More deeply relaxed - less responsive to outside world
Heart rate to lowest level, muscles completely relaxed and we barely moved
No eye movements
If woken we usually feel confused and disoriented - poor memory of sleep events - sleep inertia
largest , slowest brain waves - delta waves
Highest arousal threshold hard to wake someone up in stage 3During night, less and less time spend in stage 3
May not have any stage 3 towards morning
In first cycle may spend 20-30 mins in this stage
Can have no stage 3 in NREM in last ⅔ cycles
Makes up about 10-15% of total sleep time
Progression from N1 to N3 takes about 45-60 mins
what is REM sleep
A type of sleep characterised by rapid eye movement, high levels of brain activity and low levels of physical activity
what is REM sleep good for
Helps us sort and consolidate memories
Stimulates areas of the brain essential for learning
sleep cycles
Sleep hypnogram across a night for a healthy young adult
We generally have 5-6 cycles a night
Sleeper usually only enters stage 1 once during the cycle
Go back through the cycle in reverse order.
First cycle goes 1,2,3,2,REM
Second cycle - 1,2,3,2,REM
Each cycle lasts approx 90 minutes
Stage 3 usually only occurs in first 2 sleep cycles
As the night progresses, time in NREM decreases and time in REM increases
distinction between NREM and REM 4
More time spend in NREM than REM
REM duration becomes longer over the sleep cycle whereas NREM becomes shorter
NREM stage 3 is only evident in first couple of cycles but REM occurs throughout the night
NREM has 3 stages, REM has 1
how do we measure sleep
Sleep behaviour can be measured objectively (measurements under controlled conditions) or subjectively (measurements collected through personal observations - sleep diaries)
what is measured when measuring sleep 4
Bodily processes and changes as we fall asleep during sleep and as we awaken include:
Electrical activity of the brian
Eye movements
Body’s muscle or tension
3 measuring devices
EEG
EOG
EMG
electroencephalography
Studies brain waves during sleep - spontaneous, rhythmic electrical impulses from brain areas.
It detects, amplifies and records electrical activity.
Displays brain waves on a graph as it electrically receives signals from thousands of neurons that are active in the vicinity.
Vary in frequency (number of brain waves per second - higher the frequency the faster the brain waves, the more brain activity) and amplitude (intensity – size peaks and troughs - higher amplitude - bigger peaks)
electro-ocoulography
Measures eye movements or eye positions during sleep
Detects, amplify and records electrical activity in eye muscles that control eye movement
Electrodes attached to the areas of the face surrounding the eye.
Measures changes in eye movements in different types and stages of sleep and while dreaming.
During an ASC our ability to control eye movements does not occur to the same degree as an NSC - helps to determine a person’s state of consciousness and stage of sleep.
what does an EOG detect
When someone is awake: high level of control of muscles
In REM Sleep: EOG will detect a high amount of electrical activity because the eyes move rapidly beneath the eyelids
In NREM sleep: EOG detects low electrical activity - muscles around the eyes will have little to no movement.
electromyography
Studies the electrical activity of skeletal muscles during sleep
Detect, amplify and record electrical activity.
Attach electrodes to the skin on the relevant muscles
Records displayed as line graphs
Reveals changes in muscle movement and tone
Muscles progressively relax as we move through NREM sleep - decrease in tone and movement
Times when muscles spasm (stage 1) or deeply relax (3) and atonia (muscle paralysis) in REM sleep.
what is a polysomnogram
A device that combines all three - the EOG, EMG and EEG and provides data simultaneously.
what is video monitoring
Uses infrared cameras to record a person while sleeping: observes disturbances in sleep
Often occurs in a sleep lab at the same time in the EOG, EMG and EEG.
May reveal frequent waking , restless legs, nightmares, sleepwalking and other behaviour, teeth grinding, changes in posture.
Helpful in diagnosing sleep disorders.
strengths and problems with video monitoring 3
can observe al night but results may be inconclusive
records sounds but interpretations may be subjective
can slow footage down and enhance but can only record overt behaviour
sleep diaries
Individuals keep a record of their own experience (thoughts, feelings, behaviours) in a “log” which includes sleep and waking activities over a period of time. Often used in conjunction with objective measures
what information is kept within sleep diaries 3
Time we try to fall asleep
Time it is through that sleep onset occurs
Number time and length of awakenings during sleep