Conciousness & Info Processing

Conciousness

Unconscious/Subconscious

• Exert voluntary control• Our awareness of ourselves

and our environment•Communicate our mental

state to others

• Information processedautomatically & in parallel

• Consciousness emerges frominteraction of individual brain

events

Biological Rhythms and SleepCircadian Rhythm = internal biological clock that regulates the timing for

sleep in humans. Occurs on a 24-hour cycle, unless placed under unnatural constant illumination (then, clock runs closer to a 25-hour day).

Light triggers the suprachiasmatic nucleus in hypothalamus to decrease melatonin (sleep inducing hormone) from

the pineal gland in the morning and increase it at nightfall.

Rhythm of Sleep• The circadian clock needs information about light to reset itself daily, which can

come in the form of daylight exposure or other cues associated with your daily sleep/wake cycle (such as your alarm clock, an evening bath or your sleep habits).

• Desynchronization = conflict between external and internal clocks. Several things can confuse the CNS, making it difficult to get a good night’s sleep.

– Jet Lag: The time changes experienced in travel can disrupt your body’s clock. Your body stays on the time in the time zone it is used to. The SCN can only adjust at a rate of about 1 hour per day.

– Night Shift: People working at night must override their body’s natural circadian rhythms. Reversing the normal sleep/wake cycle can result in drowsiness at work, an increased risk of accidents and workplace errors.

– Monday Morning Blues: Staying up and sleeping in an hour or more later than usual on weekends provides our bio clock different cues that push it toward a later nighttime phase, making it harder to fall asleep on Sunday and hard to wake up on Monday morning. 

– Blindness: Unable to receive cues about light, melatonin supplements may help people with blindness regulate their circadian rhythms.

Rhythm of Sleep• We are physiologically primed to fall asleep most easily at a particular time of

day – varies among people and age (larks vs. owls).

– Most humans sleep 9-10 hours unhindered

– Survey 7-4: Count up the number of times you circled the answers in the right hand column.

• 7+ = clear owl night

• 3 and less = clear lark morning

• 4-6 = no larkish/owlish tendencies

– Thinking is sharpest and memory most accurate when people are at their daily peak in circadian arousal.

– Phase delay shift =  bio clock shifts forward during adolescence, making teens more alert at night. 

• Creates a “forbidden” zone for sleep among teens around 9 or 10 pm; followed by a profound drowsiness on waking. Later school starts???  

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02sfacq392&continuous=1

Measuring sleep: About every 90 minutes, we pass through a cycle of five distinct sleep stages. Sleep is divided into two major states:  NREM and REM. With each 90-minute cycle, stage 3 and 4 sleep decreases and the duration of REM

sleep increases.

1 2 3 4 3 2 REM 2 3 4 3 2 REM 2 REM 2 REM

Sleep Stages

Five Stages of Sleep (~ 90 min)

~5 min – hallucinations (sensory stimuli without real stimuli), such as floating or knee jerks. Sensations lack narrative

or story line

~20-25 min – sleep-talkingmay begin at Stage 2

{~30 min - Sleepwalking and night terrors in stage 4; deepest sleep/hardest to awaken

~10-45 min – Dreams; deep muscle paralysis but active brain waves (paradoxical sleep)

When WE REM We DreamPhysiological Function: Dreams provide the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation to develop and preserve neural pathways. Neural networks of newborns are quickly developing; therefore, they need more sleep.Activation-Synthesis Theory: during the night our brainstem releases random neural activity, dreams may be a way to make sense of that activity.

Stage 5: REM SleepAfter reaching the deepest sleep stage (4), the sleep cycle starts moving backward

towards stage 1. Although still asleep, the brain engages in low- amplitude, fast and regular beta waves (15-40 cps) much like awake-aroused state.

Paradoxical Sleep – brain waves similar to when we are awake, increase in breathing and heart rate, but deep muscle paralysis (UNION of OPPOSITES)

A person during this sleep exhibits Rapid Eye Movements (REM) and reports vivid dreams.

Pons is critical for initiating REM sleep. Pons sends signals to the visual nuclei of the thalamus (images),

to the cerebral cortex (thought processes), and spinal cord (paralysis)

REM Rebound• All sleep researchers believe we need REM sleep.

– Infants enter REM sooner and for a greater percentage of sleep than do adults or older children. (50% versus 20%)

– When deprived of REM sleep and then allowed to sleep, we show increased REM sleep called REM Rebound.

– Drugs that regulate serotonin can mess up REM sleep cycle, so recovering drug addicts spend a lot of time in REM sleep; experience many nightmares

• What will happen if you don’t get a good nights sleep for a week, and then sleep for 10 hours?

You will dream a lot.

Sleep Theories1. Sleep Protects: Sleeping in the darkness when

predators loomed about kept our ancestors out of harm’s way.

2. Sleep Helps us Recover: Sleep helps restore and repair brain tissue.

3. Sleep Helps us Remember & LEARN: Sleep restores and rebuilds our fading memories and Builds and reinforces on the Days Learning

4. Sleep Feeds Creative Thinking: After working on a task, then sleeping on it, people solve problems more insightfully than do those who stay awake

5. Sleep may play a role in the growth process: During sleep (specifically, stage 4), the pituitary gland releases growth hormone. Older people release less of this hormone and sleep less.

We spend one-third of our lives

sleeping.

How Long can Humans Stay Awake?

Effects ofSleep Deprivation

Fatigue and subsequent deathImpaired Creativity

Impaired ConcentrationEmotional Irritability

Depressed immune systemSlowed Performance

Research participants have stayed awake for 8-10 days. While showing deterioration in concentration, motivation, and perception, none suffered serious medical or psychiatric problems. However, rats sleep deprived for two or more weeks caused death.

Fatal Familial Insomnia – rare brain disease in which patients lose the ability to fall asleep; fatal in 6 to 30 months due to multiple organ failure. Onset of disorder occurs between the ages of 40 and 60

AccidentsFrequency of accidents increase with loss

of sleep

1. Insomnia: A persistent inability to fall asleep.

1. Narcolepsy: Overpowering urge to fall asleep that may occur while talking or standing up. Lapses directly into REM sleep (usually during times of stress or joy). Last from 5 to 20 minutes. Enter REM sleep within a few minutes of dozing off.

Narcoleptic Dog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0h2nleWTwI

2. Sleep apnea: A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent momentary re-awakenings, possibly as many as 500 times. (1:25, mostly overweight men). Either diaphragm stops moving because the brain no longer sends impulses to control it or breathing is blocked by loss of muscle tone in the tongue, throat and larynx.

Sleep Disorders

Children are most prone to:

• Night terrors: The sudden arousal from sleep with intense fear accompanied by physiological reactions (e.g., rapid heart rate, perspiration). Lake fearful narratives that characterize nightmares. Stage 4 Body Not Ready for paralysis (mostly children - little recall next morn)

• Sleepwalking: A Stage 4 disorder which is usually harmless and unrecalled the next day. Effects an estimated 10 percent of all humans at least once in their lives.

• Sleeptalking: A condition that runs in families, like sleepwalking.

Sleep Disorders

Dream TheoriesSummary

What We Dream

1. Negative Emotional Content: 8 out of 10 dreams have negative emotional content.

2. Failure Dreams: People commonly dream about failure, being attacked, pursued, rejected, or struck with misfortune.

3. Sexual Dreams: Contrary to our thinking, sexual dreams are sparse. Sexual dreams in men are 1 in 10; and in women 1 in 30.

4. Often described in full color5. Some people experience lucid dreaming – dreaming while

knowing that you are dreaming; thus better able to control the dream, such as participating in what is most interesting

6. We retain some awareness of our external world while we dream.

Manifest Content: A Freudian term meaning the story line of dreams.

Freudian (Psychoanalytic Theory)Why We Dream?

“Sometimes,a cigaris just acigar.”

- Freud, on themeaning of dreams

Wish Fulfillment: Sigmund Freud suggested that dreams provide a psychic safety valve to discharge unacceptable feelings. The dream’s manifest (apparent) content may also have symbolic meanings (latent content) that signify our unacceptable feelings. Dreams are the key to understanding our inner conflicts. Ideas and thoughts that are hidden in our unconscious.

Common Dreams and Freudian Interpretations• Example 1: Falling Teeth

– In the dream, I dream that all my teeth are loosen, my sister wants to put my teeth into his mouth, above her teeth. Finally all my teeth have fallen off.

– Interpretation: Freud thinks that mouth, teeth, tongue are some sensitive areas, they are closely related to our sexual desires. On the other hand, teeth represents promises. It reflects that you feel sorry for not keeping a promise. You have to look after your body also, always try to keep yourself healthy.

• Example 2: Poisonous Snake– I dream that when I went back to my home, opened the door, I found that my employer was sitting on my sofa

with her daughter. They were watching TV ( I am surprised at this). When I went to the balcony, I was sacred to find that there is a snake. The snake appeared in a round shape. Afterwards, my employer ordered the snake to bite me, it bit my wrist. I quickly asked my friends to bring me to the hospital. The doctor there heal me. Afterwards, I awake.

– Interpretation: You dream shows that you are forced to do something unwillingly by some powerful people, such as your parents. Your dream shows that you encounter some difficulties in your work, things do not happened as you expected. You have to care more about your health recently, since doing too much work may make you feel tired.

• Example 3: Being Chased– I always have a nightmare. In the dream, a Chinese dead body was chasing me, every time when I was nearly bit

by him, I woke up. Sometimes when the dream was very horrible, I woke up in the middle of the dream. However, when I calm down and sleep again, the same dream appeared again. What does this dream mean?

– Interpretation: Your dream shows that you are afraid of something. If you are young, you may think that you want to run away from the protection of your parents and want to live independently. If you have grown up, you may want to break some social customs and want to have your own style of living. However, you are afraid of the constraints that brought up by the society. The Chinese dead body is the reflection of your fearfulness

Neuroscience Theory:Why We Dream?

Information Processing: Dreams may help sift, sort, and fix a day’s experiences in our memories. Dreams act to sort out and understand the memories that you experience that day. REM sleep does increase after stressful events.

Cognitive Development: Some researchers argue that we dream as a part of brain maturation and cognitive development.

Remembering your Dreams1. Place a pen and pad next to your bed before retiring.

2. Make sure the light switch can be easily reached or place a flashlight by your bedside

3. Before you fall asleep tell yourself several times, “I’m going to wake up after a dream.”

4. When you do awaken, keep your eyes closed and run through the dream until it is fixed in your mind.

5. Gently sit up, turn on the light, and record your dream. Include whatever info you can remember about the:

1. Setting

2. Characters

3. Nature of interaction (friendly, aggressive, sexual)

4. Activities

5. Outcomes

6. Emotions

7. Relationship of the dreams to the previous day’s events or to the next day’s planned activities

6. If telling yourself to wake up after a dream fails to improve recall, you may want to try the alarm-clock method. Set a relatively quiet alarm for 2 hours after you usually fall asleep and for every 2 hours thereafter. You are likely to catch at least two dreams this way. Or, set the alarm for 15 minutes before you normally get up. Since dreams often occur then, there’s a good chance you will recall one.

Creativity and Inventions that Came from Dreams

1. Kekule, the German chemist who discovered the structure of the benzene molecule, had worked endlessly to figure it out. Then, in a dream, he saw snakes forming circles with their tails in their mouths. When he awoke, he realized that the benzene molecule, unlike all other known organic compounds, had a circular structure rather than a linear one.

2. The inventor of the sewing machine, Elias Howe, had struggled in 1884 to figure out how the needle could work in a machine for sewing. In a dream, he found himself surrounded by native tribesmen with spears that had a hole in the pint. When he woke up, he realized that a needle with a hole in the point would solve his problem.

3. Mary Shelly, author of “Frankenstein,” got the idea for the story from a dream.

4. Many musicians, including Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and Beethoven, have found inspiration for their music from their dreams. Some hear musical arrangements in their dreams, while others hear lyrics.

5. Golfer Jack Nicklaus found a new way to hold his golf club in a dream, which he credits as significantly improving his golf game

Hypnosis

You are getting sleepy…

Hypnosis

You are getting sleepy…

What is it?A state of apparently heightened suggestibility in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that

certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.

Explaining the Hypnotized State1.Divided

Consciousness Theory: Hypnosis is a special state of dissociated (divided) consciousness (Hilgard)

2. Social Influence Theory: Hypnotic subjects may simply be imaginative actors playing a social role. (See Clip!)

Facts and Falsehood Those who practice hypnosis agree that its power resides in the subject’s openness to suggestion.

Can anyone experience hypnosis? Yes, to some extent.

Can hypnosis enhance recall of forgotten events?

No.

Can hypnosis be therapeutic?Yes. Self-suggestion

can heal too.

Can hypnosis alleviate pain?Yes. Lamaze can do

that too.

Can hypnosis force people to act against their will?

No.

Flap Your Arms and Cluck Like A Chicken

“Can I Be Forced to ActAgainst My Will? NO

Experimental Groupvs

Control Group- Both are equally likely to

perform acts seeminglyagainst their will

Experimental Groupvs

Control Group- Both are equally likely to

perform acts seeminglyagainst their will

Hypnosis As Therapy

Post-Hypnotic Suggestions - Useful?Suggestions to be carried out after hypnosis

Post-Hypnotic Suggestions - Useful?Suggestions to be carried out after hypnosis

Stop Smoking & Nail Biting?NO more successful than positive thinking.

Stop or Alleviate Pain?YES Just ask your Dentist!

Dissociation or Selective AttentionDissociation or Selective Attention

Age RegressionAbility to relive childhood experiences, but research disputes ability!

Age RegressionAbility to relive childhood experiences, but research disputes ability!

Near-Death Experiences

Are people experiencing theafter-life, or the last sensationsof an oxygen-deprived brain?

Near-death & hallucinogenic experiencesmay be somewhat similar.

Biological Evidence?

Near-Death & PhilosophyCan the mind exist separate from the body?

Dualists Mind & Body interact butare distinct

Mind is Non-PhysicalBody is Physical

Monists Mind & Body are differentaspects of the same thing

Mind is what the Brain does