Variations in Consciousness Flashcards
What is consciousness?
The awareness of internal and external stimuli
Why is it called the stream of consciousness?
it rarely stops, is in constant flux, endless flow of ideas in all directions
What is mind wandering? Example?
people’s experience of thoughts that are unrelated to a task
daydreaming in lecture
What processes and structures in the brain are involved in mind wandering?
default mode network, frontoparietal network
What are some potential benefits of mind wandering?
facilitate future planning, produce creative thoughts, capture meaning in our personal experiences, relieve boredom
What does consciousness arise from?
activity in distributed networks of neural pathways
What are EEG?
device that monitors the electrical activity of the brain over time by recording electrodes that are attached to the surface of the scalp
How does EEG summarize the rhythm of activity in the brain?
line tracings called brain waves
How is human brain-wave activity divided? How many cycles per second are in each category?
beta (13-24 cps)
alpha (8-12 cps)
theta (4-7 cps)
delta (under 4 cps)
What brain waves are dominate when you are alert and solving a problem? When relaxed?
beta waves
alpha waves
What are biological rhythms? Examples?
periodic fluctuations in physiological functioning
Alertness, core body temperature, secretion of growth hormones
What are circadian rhythms? What do they influence particularly in humans?
24-hour biological cycles
regulation of sleep
What is a chronotype?
a persons optimal time to fall asleep (night owl, morning person)
What happens when you ignore your biological clock?
quality of sleep suffers, can cause jet lag
How can you estimate the readjustment process for jet lag?
1 day for each time zone crossed when going east and 2/3 of a day for each time zone when flying west
What have studies linked to rotating shift work?
productivity, relationships, mental health, physical diseases (cancer, ulcers, diabetes, high blood pressure), elevated mortality
What are some way to realign your circadian rhythm?
giving people small doses of melatonin, timed exposure to bright light, careful planning of rotation schedules
What devices are people hooked up to during sleep studies? What do they monitor?
EEG (electrical activity)
EMG (muscular activity and tension)
EOG (eye movements)
What is the structure of consciousness?
conscious, preconscious, subconscious, Freud’s unconscious, non-conscious
What are some characteristics of the conscious?
controlled and logical, you are aware of it (thoughts, emotions, memories, imagination, a sensation)
What are some characteristics of the preconscious?
easily retrieved information, stored knowledge (someone’s birthday, what you had for breakfast)
What are some characteristics of the subconscious?
spontaneous, automatic processing of sounds/sights/sensations, things you don’t notice that are happening (hair on neck, pressure of shoes on feet)
What are some characteristics of Freud’s unconscious?
repressed memories, impulses, difficult to retrieve but accessible in dreams, things you don’t want to see or face, early experiences
What are some characteristics of the non-conscious?
physiological processes not available to awareness, can be influenced through conscious intent
What is stage 1 of sleep? What happens during? What wavelength is dominant?
brief, transitional stage of light sleep that usually lasts a few minutes
breathing and heart rate slow and muscle tension and temperature decline, where hypnic jerks happen
theta waves
What happens during stage 2 of sleep?
typically lasts 30-60 min, there are brief bursts of higher frequency brain waves called sleep spindles
What happens during stage 3 of sleep? What is another name for it? What wavelength is dominant?
deeper form of sleep, lasts about 30 min
slow-wave sleep
high amplitude low frequency delta waves
What happens after slow-wave sleep?
cycle reverses itself and the person sleeping moves back towards lighter sleep stages, and once they reach what should be stage 1 they usually go into stage 5, REM sleep
What does REM stand for?
rapid eye movement
What is REM sleep characterized by?
relatively hard to wake people up from it, irregular breathing and pulse, muscle tone is relaxed (almost paralyzed), EEG activity is dominated by high-frequency beta waves that resemble those that are seen when people are awake
What is REM sleep associated with usually? Why
dreaming
probably because the waves observed are similar to ones when we are awake
What does NREM stand for? What does it consist of?
non rapid eye movement
stages 1-3