Sleep and Dreams
Chapter 7-1
From The Human Mind Explained edited by
Susan A. Greenfield, 1996
In 1959 New York disk jockey Peter Tripp stayed awake for
200 hours to raise money for charity….After about 50
hours, he started having mild hallucinations, seeing
cobwebs in his shoes when there were none there and
thinking that specks of dirt were bugs; by 100 hours, he
became delirious and saw a doctor’s tweed suit as a
tangle of furry worms; at 120 he needed a stimulant to
keep him awake. After 150 hours, he was disoriented, no
knowing who or where he was, and he became paranoid
– he backed against a wall, letting no one pass behind
him; by 200 hours, his hallucinations had taken a sinister
turn, and he thought a doctor trying to examine him was
an undertaker come to bury him.
consciousness
• A state of awareness, including a person’s
feelings, sensations, ideas and perceptions
Altered states of consciousness
• Different levels of consciousness
Levels of Consciousness
• Alertness to nonalertness
• Alertness – being fully aware with your
attention focused on something and are
conscious of that thing
sleep
• A state of altered consciousness (a different
level of consciousness), characterized by
certain patterns of brain activity
• Unresponsiveness to the environment and
limited physical mobility
Beliefs about Sleep
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That it is restorative
Primitive hibernation
Adaptive process
Clears our minds of useless information
To dream
Studying Sleep
• EEG
The Stages of Sleep
• Early Stages
– Stage I:
• pulse slows, muscles relax, breathing uneven, brain waves
irregular
• Approximately 10 minutes
• Theta waves – lower amplitude and frequency
– Stage II:
• Eyes role from side to side
• Approximately 30 minutes
– Stage III:
• Delta waves – large amplitude
• Later Stages
The Stages of Sleep
• Early Stages
• Later Stages
– Stage IV:
– Deepest level of sleep
– Hard to wake people up
– Delta waves – large and regular, happen more
than 50% of the time
– If suddenly woken, may feel disoriented
– Talking out loud, sleepwalking, bed-wetting
• 75% of the time “asleep” is spent in stages I-IV
REM sleep
• Rapid Eye Movement
– Pulse rate & breathing are irregular
– Adrenal & sexual hormones rise
– Face or fingers twitch
– Large muscles are paralyzed
– Brains waves look like you are awake
– Early at night – 15 mins long
– Late at night – 45 mins long
– Discovered by Nathaniel Kleitman
Sleep Labels
• NREM (non-REM)
– Quiet sleep
– Stages I-IV
• REM sleep
– Active sleep
– Almost all dreaming takes place
Sleep Cycle
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Stages I-IV
REM Sleep
Stage IV
REM Sleep
Stage IV
Approximately 90
minutes
REM purpose
• Seems to serve psychological functions such
as building efficient learning and memory
processes
How Much Sleep
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1/3 of our lives
Newborns: 16 hours a day (half in REM)
16 yr olds: 10-11 hours asleep
Graduate students: 8 hours a night
70 yr olds: 5 hours
Adults: 25% in REM, 75% in NREM
Circadian Rhythm
• The rhythm of activity and inactivity lasting
approximately one
• Biological clock that is genetically
programmed to regulate physiological
responses within a 24-25 hour time period
Sleep Disorders
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Insomnia
Sleep Apnea
Narcolepsy
Nightmares and Night Terrors
Sleepwalking and Sleep Talking
Insomnia
• Failure to get enough sleep at night in order to
feel rested the next day
• Some causes:
– Anxiety
– Depression
– Alcohol
– drugs
Sleep Apnea
• Sleep disorder in which a person has trouble breathing
while asleep
• Symptoms
• Snoring
• Affects 1 in 100 Americans
• Causes:
– Enlarged tonsils
– Repeated throat/ear infections
– obesity
Narcolepsy
• Condition characterized by suddenly falling
asleep or feeing very sleepy during the day
• Permanent/overwhelming feeling of sleepiness
and fatigue
• Symptoms:
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Unusual sleep/dream patterns
Dreamlike hallucinations
Feeling of temporary paralysis
Sleep attacks with REM sleep
Nightmares & Night Terrors
• Nightmares – unpleasant dreams during REM
sleep
• Night terrors – sleep disruptions that occur
during Stage IV of sleep, involving screaming,
panic, or confusion, can be 5-20 minutes long
Sleepwalking & Sleep Talking
• Walking or carrying out behaviors while asleep
• Typically found in children
• Can be inherited
• Causes:
– Stress
– Fatigue
– Use of sedative medicines
The Content of Dreams
• Often incorporate our everyday activities into
our dreams
• Most involve strenuous recreational activities
or passive events
• Most emotions in dreams are unpleasant
• Follow a realistic time scale
Dream Interpretation
• Date back to 5000 BD
• Sigmund Freud believed that all dreams
contain clues to thoughts the dreamer is
afraid to acknowledge when awake
• Inuit people of North America believe dreams
have hidden meanings
• Nathaniel Kleithman said dreaming may have
no purpose
• Francis Crick believes dreaming removes
certain unneed memories
Daydreams
• Low level of awareness
• Involves fantasizing or dreaming while awake
• Typically daydream when bored or activities
require little attention
• Helps remind us of things in the future
• Improve our creativity
• Helps us control our emotions