Chapter 7 States of Consciousness
*Cerebral Cortex is the Seat of human consciousness.”
Basic Ideas:
Consciousness and altered states of awareness are core features of mental life.
Sleep- has 4 stages
Shallow
Deep
2 States of Sleep 1. REM
2. Non REM
Sleep loss + Sleep Disorders are health problems
Dreams are meaningful- (how much is the question)
Hypnosis can be useful and can change experiences more than Behavior
Psychoactive Drugs  can be abused (duh)
Collecting and interpreting dreams can cause self awareness
Drug Abuse- is related to personal maladjustment
States of Consciousness
To be conscious = to be aware
Consciousness
All sensations perceptions, memories and feelings you are aware of at any
instance.
Waking Consciousness
“Normal consciousness”
A state of clear organized alertness
Can perceive times, places, events
Real, meaningful + familiar
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Consciousness changes
Due to = Fatigue, delirium, hypnosis, drugs
Music, long distance running…
Altered States of Consciousness (ASC)
(defined) Changes in quality + pattern of mental activity
Shifts in perceptions:
 Emotions
 Memories
 Time senses
 Thoughts
 Self Control
 Suggestibility
Causes of ASC
Sensory overload (rave party)
Monotonous stimulation
Unusual physical condition <fever/sleep loss>
Consciousness and Culture (box feature in text)
Ways to alter consciousness
Sweat lodge- Sioux Indians
Sweat causes cleansing + awareness + personal revelation
Some people seek altered states for pleasure and for personal enlightenment
(Timothy Leary, 1960s LSD)
Cultural views of consciousness vary & range from crazy to insight based on
conditioning.
Sleep Pg 252
We are still sensitive even though we are a sleep.
Pg 252 Sleep Quiz
Need for Sleep
Sleep is innate Biological Rhythm
Eventually we all fall asleep
Fear prevents sleep
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Micro-sleep
Pattern of brain activity similar to sleep
Sleep while awake
Like driving
What should you do if you encounter Micro-sleep while driving?
Sleep Deprivation is sleep loss
Longest time awake- 4 days
Peter Tripp- 200 hours without sleep
Causes hallucinations
Record 11 days = 268 hours without sleep
Losing one hour of sleep can affect mood, memory, ability to pay attention, and health
Sleep loss typically causes:
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Trembling hands
Drooping eyelids
Inattention
Irritability
Staring
Increased pain sensitivity
General discomfort
Pg 253
Sleep Deprivation Psychosis (Link)
(before 60 hours of wakefulness)
Loss of contact with reality
Confusion
Disorientation
Delusions
Hallucinations
P 254 Box
“Teenage Sleep Zombies”
Hyper-Somnia
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Caused by need for sleep due to growth
Late start school helps students (longer time to sleep)
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Sleep Patterns = rhythm of sleep and waking
Occur in 24 hour Rhythms,
Sleep waking cycle Circadian Rhythms (about a day)
Light and dark are time markers
8% of population are “Short Sleepers”
“Do well on only 5 hours or less per night”
“Long Sleepers” sleep more than 9 hours
Majority sleep 7-8 hours
Older People
Sleep times declines
Older than 50 = 6 hours average
Pg 235 chart of sleep patterns by age
Pg 255
Stages of Sleep
(There is a sleep promoting (chemical) hormone in brain + spinal cord not in
blood)
Brain and Sleep
Two systems sleep and waking
Circuits and chemicals in one system promote sleep
Circuits and chemicals in other system reduce or inhibit sleep
Stages of Sleep (Brain Activity)
Electro-encephalograph (EEG) measures brain activity.
Electrical signals = brain waves
Beta Waves
Awake = small fast waves = Beta Waves
Alpha Waves
Immediately before sleep = Larger-Slower waves = Alpha Waves
(Also occur when thoughts drift)
Pre-sleep and beginning sleep
Breathing- slows
Pulse slows
Body Temp drops
Four stages occur
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4 Stages of Sleep
Stage 1 Light Sleep- losing consciousness
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Heart rates slows even more
Breathing irregular
Muscles relax- may cause Hypnic Jerk (Reflex contraction through the body)
Small irregular waves
Some Alpha Waves
Stage 2 Sleep Deepens
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Body temp drops farther
EEG – shows Sleep Spindles= short burst of distinctive brain wave activity
Stage 3 Deeper Sleep
New Brain wave  Delta Wave = large and slow
Stage 4 Deepest Sleep
1 hour of sleep
Mostly pure Delta waves
Shift through stages 3, 2, then 1
2 States of sleep REM and Non-REM
REM = Rapid Eye Movement
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Usually stages 2, 3, 4
90 minutes per night
20% of sleep time is REM
Associated with Dreaming
85% of time people awaken an report dreams
Fast irregular EEG pattern
Very active brain
Area of Brain for Imagery & Emotion are more active
REM increases with emotional events= death, work problems, marital conflicts
Stress increases day time REM
Sexual arousal
Body almost paralyzed or have paralysis
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Why are we paralyzed during REM?
“The release of certain neurotransmitters, the
monoamines (norepinephrine, serotonin and histamine), is completely shut down during
REM.[citation needed] This causes REM atonia, a state in which the motor neurons are
not stimulated and thus the body's muscles do not move.”
Non REM
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In stages 1,2,3,4
80% of sleep time
Usually no dreams
Still have some dreams
o But not as vivid as REM
Increases after physical exertion
May help overcome bodily fatigue
REM Behavioral Disorder
People who don’t have paralysis from REM sleep
Babies have more REM sleep 8-9 hours of REM
Sleep Disturbances
o Insomnia
o Sleep walking/Sleep talking
o Nightmares
Insomniao Difficulty going to sleep 30%of all adults have
o Night awakening
 Waking too early
 Prescription sleep aides decrease both stage 4 and REM sleep
 Sleeping Pill Junkies
o Need more and more pills to sleep
o Drug dependency insomnia
 Sleepless caused by withdrawal from sleeping pills
Causes of Insomnia
o Worry
o Stress  temporary insomnia
o Heightened arousal
Foods impact sleep
 Starch = tryptophan = amino acid increases in brain
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Serotonin
Associated with relaxation
Positive mood sleepiness
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Chronic Insomnia
 Problems last more than 3 weeks
Treatment
 Analysis of sleep habits
 Analysis of Lifestyle
 Stress
 Medical problems
 Reduce caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco
 Get a regular schedule body rhythm
 Relax- stimulus control
 Only sleep in bed
 Associate sleep with bed
 So don’t study, watch TV etc in bed
Somnambulist = Sleep Walking
Eyes open
Not during REM sleep
Occurs during NREM sleep
Pg 760
Behavioral Remedies for Insomnia
1. Avoid Stimulants
a. Coffee, Cigarettes, pills
2. Avoid Worries
a. Write down worries or concerns
b. Plan what you will do the next day
3. Relaxation
a. Learn a way to relax
b. Meditation
c. Calming images
d. Strenuous exercise
4. Sleep Restriction
a. Restrict sleep to normal bed time
b. Keep a rhythm
5. Stimulus Control
a. Associate sleep only with bed
b. Go to bed when you feel sleepy
c. Wake up same time each day
d. Avoid non sleep activities in bed
e. Leave bed if not asleep
f. Do something when you are upset
6. Paradoxical Intention
a. Try to stay awake and you will sleep
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Pg 260
NarcolepsySudden irresistible sleep attack
Short term
Triggered commonly by emotional excitement
½ of Narcoleptics suffer from Cataplexy
Sudden, temporary paralysis of muscles
Connected to REM= direct REM sleep
Hereditary connection
Sleep Apnea= Snoring
Interrupted breathing
Breathing stops
Caused by brain stopping sending signals
Blockage of air passage
SIDS (Cool Web site)
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
“Sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained”
1 in 500 children
May be immature or under-development of Arousal Reflex
Pg 261 List of characteristics
Most infants should sleep on their backs
Nightmares Terror
Stage 4 sleep
Nightmare is just a bad dream
Usually 2 per month
Terror = total panic
 15-20 minutes
 Sweat vaguly remember terror
 During NREM – body is not immobilized- victim can get up
 Common in child hood
 2 out of 100 adults
How to end a Recurring Nightmare (Dream Site)
1. Write down the nightmare
2. Write changes to the dream
3. Imagery Rehearsal: (or Lucid Dreams web site cool)
Mentally rehearse the changed dream could reprogram future dream…
Dream article Psychology Today why we dream
And Theory of Dreams article
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P 262
Dreams
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Not all people remember their dreams
Most people dream 4-5 times per night
90 minutes apart
1st dream 10 minutes
Last dream 30 minutes
Lucid Dreaming- awareness that a dream is a dream while it is happening.
Calvin Hall
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Dream expert
Dreams reflect everyday events
Emotionally important people depicted
Actions in Dreams are familiar – running, jumping, talking…
Half of all dreams have sexual elements
It is easier to remember Fear, Anger, Sadness
P262
Dream Theories
Most researchers agree
Dreams reflect our waking Thoughts, Fantasies, Emotions
How Meaningful are Dreams?
Psycho-dynamic Dream Theory
Freud’s book The Interpretation of Dreams (1900)
Dreams are based on wish fulfillment
An expression of unconscious desires
Emphasis on
1. Internal conflicts
2. Unconscious forces
 Dreams express ideas through images
 Dreams express unconscious desires through dream symbols
New book “Dreams are a disguised form of wish fulfillment a way to satisfy unconscious
urges or resolve unconscious conflicts that are too upsetting to deal with consciously. So
sexual desires might appear in a dream as the rhythmic motions of a horseback ride.
Conflicting feelings about a parent might appear as a dream about a fight. Seeing
patients’ dreams as a “royal road to knowledge of the unconscious,” Freud interpreted
their meaning as part of his psychoanalytic therapy.
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Karl Jung and Dream Interpretation
(web site) Collective unconscious and Archetypes
The Activation Synthesis Hypothesis (physiological explanation)
Hobson + McCarley
A different type of thinking occurs as we sleep
Explain Dreams
During REM Sleep
Brain cells controlling eye movement are activatedMessages are blocked to the body so no movement occurs
Cells continue to send messages
The brain struggles to perform searching stored memories which makes dreams
Activation Synthesis Hypothesis (cortex)
Parts of Brain are activated during REM
Cortex is activatedcreates stories +Images
Frontal area of Brain is shut down
Hypnosis is a Relaxation Tool
Hypnosis Altered state of consciousness characterized by narrowed attention + increased
openness to suggestion
Or
“Is merely a blend of conformity, relaxation, imagination, obedience, suggestion, and
role-playing”
Mesmer= 1700’s charlatan who claimed to be able to control people’s minds
Mesmerize= to hypnotize
Included the power of suggestion
James Braid- coined the phrase of hypnotism
Hypnotic susceptibility = how easily a person can be hypnotized
 8% of 10 people can be hypnotized
 4 of 10 will be good Hypno subjects
 People who are imaginative, prone to fantasy
 Also people willing to be hypnotized
Hypnotic Test = Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility scale
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How to Hypnotize
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Focus attention
Relax + Feel Tired
Let go + accept suggestions
use vivid imagination
must cooperate to be hypnotized
Self Hypnosis (Auto- Suggestion)
HypnotismSuggestions alter sensations, perceptions, thoughts feelings, + behavior.
Basic suggestion Effect
Teaching of hypno to carry out suggested actions as if they were involuntary
Hypnosis
Feels actions are automatic without effort
Most people will not act out immoral or repulsive behavior
Hypnosis may cause dissociation- split awareness
Hidden Observer EffectThe detached part of the hypnotized person that- silently observes
Effects of Hypnosis
1. No superhuman acts of strength
2. Memory can be enhanced but not reliably, false memories are common
3. Some amnesia- during hypnosis- possible
4. Can relieve pain
5. Age regression is possible but be skeptical- due to suggestion
6. Sensory- changes can be effected- smell colder, vision, hearing, illusions
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