Transcript States of Consciousness Consciousness Awareness of yourself and the environment. The immediate awareness of mental activities and internal sensations, and of the external environment.

States of
Consciousness
Consciousness
Awareness
of yourself and
the environment.
The immediate awareness
of mental activities and
internal sensations, and of
the external environment
How do we adjust from a state of
conscious awareness into various
states of unawareness and
unconsciousness?
Some things occur naturally in the world
that make us either more or less aware
 Some things we do purposefully that
makes us either more or less aware
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What kinds of natural changes occur in the
environment and/or in our bodies that:
 Make
us feel more or less tired
 Make us feel more or less energetic
 Make us feel more or less focused
 Produce more or less of certain chemicals in
the body
 Activate or deactivate certain parts of the
brain
 Adjust our moods and appetites
Biological Rhythms
are natural life cycles
that help to guide our
levels of awareness
and our behaviors
Examples of Biological Rhythms
Cycles – Seasonal changes
affecting moods, appetite, sleep
patterns
 Twenty-Eight Day Cycle – Female
Menstrual Cycle
 Twenty-Four Hour Cycle – Daily cycle
of levels of alertness, hormones, body
temperature, etc.
 Ninety-Minute Cycle – Sleep Cycle
 Annual
Circadian Rhythms
A
cycle or rhythm that is roughly 24
hours long.
 Our biological clock is synchronized
with the 24-hour cycle of day and
night, producing a general pattern of
wakefulness and sleep, appetite,
activity levels, hormone releases, etc.
Circadian Rhythms
 The
circadian rhythms related
to wakefulness and sleep are
controlled by the
suprachiasmatic nucleus
(SCN), which is a cluster of
neurons in the hypothalamus
The Sleep-Wake Cycle
The
SCN is connected to the visual
system of the body.
When there are decreased levels of
light, the SCN triggers the pineal
gland to release melatonin, which
causes sleepiness and reduced
activity level
When there are increased levels of
light, melatonin levels decrease and
conscious awareness level increase
Free-Running Circadian Rhythms
 Experiments
in which all environmental
time cues are removed – no clocks,
and light is artificially controlled
The body creates its own sleepwake cycle that is roughly onehour off of normal sleep and wake
times – it works on a 25 hour day
schedule
Sleep
Why do we sleep?
 Restorative
Theory of Sleep (Biological
Perspective)
Sleep
promotes physiological processes that
restore and rejuvenate the body and the mind
NREM (typically dreamless) = bodily
restoration and REM (dream) = mind
restoration
When and where we sleep?

Adaptive Theory of Sleep (Evolutionary
Perspective)
Unique sleep patterns of different
animals evolved over time to promote
survival and environmental adaptation.
When and where we sleep, and for how
long, is determined by your status in the
hierarchy

Lions sleep anytime, anywhere. Mice, short bursts of
sleep in well protected nests.
Sleep
 There
are two different types of sleep:
NREM
Sleep: quiet, typically dreamless sleep
in which rapid eye movements are absent,
and the body repairs and regrows tissues,
builds bone and muscle, and strengthens the
immune system.
REM Sleep: type of sleep during which rapid
eye movements and dreaming occur and
voluntary muscle activity is suppressed
(Paradoxical Sleep)
NREM Stages of Sleep
As you progress from a state of wakefulness
to deep sleep, brain/body activity decreases.
 EEG readings show changes from high
frequency/low amplitude brain waves to low
frequency/high amplitude brain waves.
 Wide Awake and Alert = Beta Waves
 Pre-Sleep Relaxation = Alpha Waves
 Light Sleep of Stage 1 and 2 = Theta Waves
 Deep Sleep of Stage 3 and 4 = Delta Waves

 When
there are more than 50% Delta Waves
you are in the deepest sleep
 Stage
1:
About
5 minutes
As you transition from wakefulness to early
sleep you may experience some type of
hypnagogic hallucinations and/or myoclonic
jerks
 You
may hear a loud crash, hear someone
call your name, feel a sensation of floating,
smell something burning, see a variety of
colors.
 Involuntary muscle spasms
 Spontaneous firing in the lobes of the brain?
 Stage
2:
The next 20 minutes
Breathing becomes rhythmical
Some small muscle twitches
Brain activity begins to slow down
and the appearances of sleep
spindles
Quick bursts of brain activity
that last for a second or two –
creation of memories?
Stages of Sleep
 Stages
Next
3 and 4:
35 Minutes
Heart rate, blood pressure, and
breathing drop to their lowest levels
Replenishing chemical supplies,
growth hormones released, the
immune system repairs the body
Stages of Sleep
 By
the time a sleeper has
reached Stage 4, they have been
asleep for about 60 minutes total.
After Stage 4 has been reached,
the sleeper cycles back from
Stage 3, through Stage 2, and
close to Stage 1 in a matter of
minutes and enters REM Sleep.
 REM Sleep (Paradoxical Sleep):
The brain becomes more active
and
generates small, fast brain waves
Visual and motor neurons fire
during this stage, but voluntary
muscle movements are suppressed
(paralysis)
Heart rate, blood pressure, and
respiration increase, muscles
twitches, heightened sexual arousal
The first REM stage lasts about 30
minutes – the first sleep cycle lasts
about 90 minutes total
Beyond the first 90 minutes
Sleepers cycle between NREM and REM
sleep throughout the night
 Each cycle lasts about 90 minutes
 As the night progresses, Stages 3 and 4
get shorter and REM sleep increases, up
to 40 minutes at a time

REM
The
Rebound Sleep
less time we spend in
REM sleep one night, the
longer amount of time we will
spend in REM sleep the next
night
Sleep Disorders
 Narcolepsy
A
sleep disorder characterized by
excessive daytime sleepiness and
brief lapses into sleep throughout
the day
 Though
narcoleptics can fall asleep at
any time, often times arousals trigger
sleep – laughter, anger, surprise, sex
 Narcoleptics instantly lose muscular
control (cataplexy) and enter REM
sleep.
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Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep
and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy experience excessive
daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of
falling asleep during the daytime. These sudden sleep attacks may
occur during any type of activity at any time of the day.
In a typical sleep cycle, we initially enter the early stages of sleep
followed by deeper sleep stages and ultimately rapid eye movement
(REM) sleep. For people suffering from narcolepsy, REM sleep
occurs almost immediately in the sleep cycle, as well as periodically
during the waking hours. It is in REM sleep that we can experience
dreams and muscle paralysis.
Some experts think narcolepsy may be due to a deficiency in the
production of a chemical called n by the brain. In addition,
researchers have discovered abnorhypocretimalities in various parts
of the brain involved in regulating REM sleep.
Hypocretin is an important chemical in your brain that helps regulate
wakefulness and REM sleep. People with narcolepsy have low
levels of this neurochemical.
Insomnia
A
condition in which a
person regularly
experiences an inability to
fall asleep, to stay asleep,
or to feel adequately
rested by sleep.
Sleep
A
Apnea
sleep disorder in
which the person
repeatedly stops
breathing during
sleep

Obstructive sleep apnea, the more
common form that occurs when throat
muscles relax

When the muscles relax, your airway narrows or closes as you breathe in, and you
can't get an adequate breath in. This may lower the level of oxygen in your blood.
Your brain senses this inability to breathe and briefly rouses you from sleep so you
can reopen your airway. This awakening is usually so brief that you don't remember it.
 You may make a snorting, choking or gasping sound. This pattern can repeat itself
five to 30 times or more each hour, all night long. These disruptions impair your ability
to reach the desired deep, restful phases of sleep, and you'll probably feel sleepy
during your waking hours.

Central sleep apnea, which occurs when
your brain doesn't send proper signals to the
muscles that control breathing

Central sleep apnea, which is much less common, occurs when your
brain fails to transmit signals to your breathing muscles. The most
common cause of central sleep apnea is heart failure and, less
commonly, a stroke.
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Sleepwalking, formally known as somnambulism, is a
behavior disorder that originates during deep sleep
and results in walking or performing other complex
behaviors while asleep.
Sleepwalking is a disorder of arousal, meaning it
occurs during slow wave sleep, the deepest stage of
dreamless (non-rapid eye movement, or NREM)
sleep.
The cause of sleepwalking is usually unknown.
Fatigue, lack of sleep, and anxiety are all associated
with sleepwalking. Sleepwalking may occur due to:
 Alcohol,
sedatives, or other medication
 Medical conditions, such as partial complex seizures
 Mental disorders
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Night terrors happen during deep non-REM sleep. Unlike
nightmares (which occur during REM sleep), a night terror is not
technically a dream, but more like a sudden reaction of fear that
happens during the transition from one sleep phase to another.
Unlike nightmares, which kids often remember, kids won't have any
memory of a night terror the next day because they were in deep
sleep when it happened — and there are no mental images to recall.
During a sleep terror episode, a person might:
Sit up in bed
Scream or shout
Kick and thrash
Sweat, breathe heavily and have a racing pulse
Be hard to awaken, but if awakened be confused
Be inconsolable
Stare wide-eyed
Get out of bed and run around the house
Engage in aggressive behavior (more common in adults)
Sexsomnia is allegedly like any other
behavior acted out while sleeping, like
sleep walking or eating or talking.
 Sometimes referred to as Sleeping Beauty
syndrome, KLS is a very rare disorder that
causes people to sleep up to 20 hours a
day.
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Dreams
Dreams
are the
meaningless and the
result of random neural
impulses that are put into
a story format by the
cortex in order to try and
make sense of it.
(Activation Synthesis Model)
Dreams
are a purposeful
way for the brain to try to
organize and interpret the
overwhelming amount of
stimulation that it receives
during the day.
(Information Processing Theory)
Information Processing?
 Put recent events into
perspective
 Practice skills
 Test hypothesis
 Experience and test different
scenarios without
consequences
 Dreams
are manifestations of
“unfulfilled desires". Dreams
reflect our real passions,
aggressions, emotions, etc.
They are stored in the
unconscious part of the brain
and not dealt with in real life.
(Psychoanalytical Perspective)
 The
manifest content of a
dream is the literal storyline
and events that occurred
 The latent content of a dream
is the interpretation of the
unconscious drives, wishes,
and desires that created the
dream
A
lucid dream is the act of
consciously perceiving and
recognizing that one is
dreaming, enabling more
control over the content and
quality of the experience.
Hypnosis
Altered States of
Consciousness
Hypnosis
A
social interaction in which
one person (the hypnotist)
suggests to another (the
subject) that certain
perceptions, feelings,
thoughts, or behaviors will
spontaneously occur
Posthypnotic Suggestion
A
suggestion, made
during a hypnosis
session, to be carried out
after the subject is no
longer hypnotized
 Dissociation
is a split in
consciousness, which allows some
thoughts and behaviors to be
perceived while others are not
IE.
An unhypnotized patient will feel the
cold and the pain of an ice bath in less
than 25 seconds. A hypnotized patient
will feel the cold, but not the pain,
though their sensory systems will
register the activity is present
Posthypnotic Amnesia
A
temporary memory
loss; supposed inability
to recall what one
experienced during
hypnosis
A Few Clarifications About Hypnosis
Hypnosis is not a state of
unconsciousness, nor is it complete mind
control
 Most everyone can be hypnotized, unless
you are resistant to the idea
 Hypnosis is a heightened state of
awareness and relaxation, combined with
a large degree of openness to suggestion

Can hypnosis force people to act
against their will?
The person who is hypnotized is aware of
everything the hypnotist says at all times
while they are experiencing hypnosis.
 An authoritative person in a legitimate
context can induce people, hypnotized or
not, to perform some unlikely acts
 Directly proposed hypnotic suggestions
cannot make you do anything against your
morals, religion, or self-preservation.

A Few Clarifications About Hypnosis
 Age
Regression Therapy (the ability
to re-live childhood memories through
hypnosis?) is ineffective
 25% of Americans believe in
Reincarnation, though hypnosis does
not seem to accurately bring any
“past lives” to the surface
Drugs and
Consciousness
Altered States of
Consciousness
Define Psychoactive Drugs
Chemical
substances
that change moods,
perceptions, behaviors,
and consciousness
Tolerance refers to
Higher
doses of a
drug are required to
produce the original
effects.
Addiction refers to
The
ongoing abuse of
drugs that leads to
compulsive use of the
substance.
Withdrawal refers to
The
unpleasant
physical or
psychological effects
following discontinued
used of a substance
Drug Rebound Effect
Withdrawal
symptoms
are often the opposite of
the drug’s action
Depressants
 Drugs that reduce neural activity
and slow body functions
 Many depressants work by
increasing GABA production
 Depressants include Alcohol and
Tranquilizers
Stimulants
 Drugs
that excite neural activity and
speed up body functions
 Produces feelings of optimism and
boundless energy, arouses behavior,
and increases mental awareness;
 Including: Caffeine, Nicotine,
Amphetamines (Speed, Ecstasy),
Cocaine
Psychedelics/Hallucinogens
Drugs
that distort visual and
auditory perception
Often alter serotonin and
epinephrine levels
Including: LSD and Marijuana
Narcotics
Drugs
that stimulate the
production of endorphins
and reduce pain responses
Including morphine, heroin,
codeine.