Our awareness of ourselves and our environment

Some types of consciousness occur spontaneously
• Daydreaming
• Drowsiness - sleep
• Dreaming

Some types of consciousness are
Physiologically Induced
• Hallucinations
• Food or Oxygen
Starvation

Some types of consciousness are
Psychologically Induced
• Meditation
• Hypnosis
• Sensory
Deprivation

• Beneath the surface, subconscious information processing occurs simultaneously on many parallel tracks
• For example, the ability to monitor a shape as well as a color of an object

• Unlike parallel processing of subconscious information, conscious processing takes place in sequence
• Consciousness- relatively slow and has limited capacity
• Consciousness is nature’s way of keeping us from thinking and doing everything at once

• Mostly involves the familiar details of our lives
Example- imagining an alternative approach to something we have to do or picturing ourselves explaining to an instructor why a paper will be late
• Some daydreams help us prepare for future events by keeping us aware of our unfinished business and giving us a chance to mentally rehearse

• How do our age-old biological rhythms influence our daily functioning and our sleep and dreams?
• What exactly is sleep, and why must we have it?
• What and why do we dream?

• Just one of many types of consciousness we experience
• Comprises several states of consciousness
• Even when sleeping our brains and bodies continue to work

• Definition- periodic physiological fluctuations
• Over varying time periods our bodies fluctuate, and with them our minds
• Emphasizes mood fluctuations due to seasonal affective disorders
Example: winter time-
“everyone gets depressed”

Sleep is affected by
Biological Rhythms or Cycles
• All of us have biological clocks/rhythms
– An internal mechanism controlled by our hypothalamus
– Coordinates hormones, metabolism, body temperature, heart rate, and arousal
– They vary from person to person

• Annual Cycles
– bears hibernate once a year and people experience variations in moods and sleep due to change of seasons
• 28 day cycles
– female menstrual cycle
• 24 hour cycles (Circadian Rhythm)
– Varying and falling alertness, body temperature, growth hormone secretion
– human wake and sleep cycle – circadian rhythms
90 minute Cycles
-We cycle through various stages of sleep

• Another name for our 24 hour biological clock
– Your “internal clock” that releases melatonin
• Hormone that makes us feel tired – less = alert
• Our body temperature and awareness changes throughout the day
• It is best to take a test or study during your circadian peaks
– WHY??
– What happens when you ignore your biological clock?
How can the circadian rhythm or biological clock help explain jet lag?

Are you a Lark or Owl?
Morning lovers= Larks
Evening-Energized- Owls
Thinking is sharpest and memory most accurate when people are a their daily peak in circadian arousal
Reports show- College students typically perform better as the day goes on, whereas adults tend to perform best in the morning and performance levels dwindle throughout the day

Why do we sleep??
1. It is a protective function
– Adaptive theory of sleep
2. It restores body tissues that are depleted during daily activities
– This is called the restorative theory of sleep
3. It helps us conserve energy

Sleep Research
Ways we can study sleep
• EEG
– electroencephalographs – records brain waves
• EMG
– electromyographs – records muscle activity
(usually around the mouth)
• EOG
– electrooculographs – records eye movement
• EKG
– electrocardiographs – records the activity of the heart

The Sleep Fraternity
Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta
• Brain waves
– line tracings summarizing activity in the brain
– Picked up by EEG
– They vary in amplitude (height) and frequency (cycles per second - cps)
Types of Brain Waves
• Beta – normal thought process
• Alpha – deep relaxation, meditation
• Theta – light sleep
• Delta – deep sleep

• There are 5 identified stages of sleep
• It takes about 90-100 minutes to pass through the 5 stages
• The brains waves will change according to the sleep stage you are in
• The first four stages are known as NREM (non-REM sleep)
• The fifth stage is called REM sleep (rapid eye movement)

Stage One
• A transition stage between wake and sleep
• It usually lasts between 1 and 7 minutes and occupies approximately 2-5% of normal night of sleep
• Breathing and heart rate slow and body temperature decline
• Brief periods of alpha waves , give way to theta waves
• Hypnic jerks and hallucinations can take place
– brief muscle contractions and vivid sensory experiences

• This follows stage 1 and respiration rate, heart rate, muscle tension, and body temperature continue to decline
• Lasts 10 – 25 mins.
• Mixed EEG activity
• Sleep spindles occur
– Brief bursts of high frequency brain waves

• Stages three and four are Delta sleep or “slow wave” sleep (SWS) and may last 15-30 minutes each
• Brain activity slows down dramatically
• Body repairs and regenerates tissues, re-grows bone, and builds up the immune system

Stage Three and Four cont.
• The deepest stage of sleep and the most restorative
• In children delta sleep is what makes children unawakeable or “dead asleep” during most of the night
• After stage 4 the cycle reverses itself
• When the sleeper reaches what should be stage one they go into a fifth stage – REM sleep

Stage Five – REM Sleep
• REM – rapid eye movement
• Very active stage of sleep (that is in the brain)
• Breathing, heart rate and brain wave activity quicken
• 20-25% of nights sleep (can change with age)
• you are temporarily paralyzed but most of your internal body systems are active (Paradoxical Sleep)
• EEG shows beta waves
(resemble those of alert people)
• Vivid dreams can occur
• From REM, you go back to Stage 2

Stage 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 3 – 2 – REM 2
People go through about 4 sleep cycles during one night, with REM getting longer and longer as the night passes
The longest REM stage lasts about 40-60 minutes and it is the last of the night
(This is why we remember this dream more easily)

• We all need different amounts of sleep depending on our age and genetics
• But we all sleep about 25 years on average
How do you feel when you don’t get enough sleep??
Are you sleep deprived??

• Research shows getting insufficient sleep can have negative effects on health, productivity, and performance
• Deprived of REM, people usually experience a REM rebound effect
– spending more time in REM in subsequent nights to make up for lost
REM time

• Problems falling or staying asleep
• Has to be Reoccurring
– not your once in a while (I have a big test tomorrow) having trouble getting to sleep episode http:// More info on Insomnia

• the temporary stopping of breathing during sleep
• Causes numerous momentary reawakening (loud snorers)
• sleep apnea info

• Occurs when a person arises and wanders about while remaining asleep
• The episode can be very brief (a few seconds or minutes) or can last for 30 minutes or longer.
• Most often occurs during stage 3 & 4 of sleep and most often earlier in the night
• sleepwalking basics

• Night terrors
– characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified
– occur in stage 4 and are not often remembered
• Bruxism
– teeth grinding

• Klein-Levin Syndrome
– people sleep for excessive amounts of time
• Hypnophobia
– fear of going to sleep
• Hypnalgia
– dream pain
• Myoclonus
– sudden jerking of a body part

• The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days,
21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon.
• It's impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.
• Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams
• Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep
• Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohollevel of 0.05%.