Levels of Consciousn

ess Unit 5

• Levels of Consciousness - Focused Awareness

- State of heightened awareness of the task at hand - Typically you will shut out all of the other

“stuff” going on around you- Drifting Consciousness

- Your mind will begin to wander to other things outside of what it is that you were focusing on

- Daydreaming: A wakeful state where your mind wanders to dreamy thoughts or fantasies

Consciousness: A state of awareness of ourselves and of the world around

us

- Divided Consciousness “Multi-tasking”- You can perform two or more tasks at the same time.

As if your mind has been divided- “How did I get here” when you’re driving and

talking at the same time- Unconsciousness: Lack of ones awareness of what is

going on around you- Examples: Sleep, dreams, coma, head trauma,

anesthesia, death

Altered Levels of Consciousness - Awake, but not fully awake, somewhere in

between- Daydreaming- Drugs- Meditation- Hypnosis- Repetitive activity

Stages of SleepImportance of getting your

zzzzsss….• Stage 1 (about 2-5 minutes)- Brain waves become small and

irregular- Easily awakened• Stage 2 (about 20 minutes)- Bursts of brain activity: sleep

spindles- Deeper sleep but still easily

awakened- Spend about half of your time

in each sleep cycle in this stage

Stages of SleepImportance of getting your

zzzzsss….• Stage 3 & 4 (about 30 minutes)- “Delta Sleep” deepest stage of sleep- Brain waves very slow. Difficult to awaken• REM (30-45 minutes)- Eyes dart about under closed eyelids- When we typically dream- Brain activity increases- Also called Paradoxical sleep: increased brain

activity but muscle activity is nearly gone- Amount of time spent in REM sleep increases

with each sleep cycle• Sleep Cycles typically are 90 minutes long

Influence of Drugs

Drug dependence: A sever drug-related problem, sense that you need the drugs in your body to function

Physiological dependence: Repeated use changes the chemical make-up of the body

Withdrawal: Symptoms associated with abrupt end of drug usage

Tolerance: Repeated use requires increased amount of drugs to achieve the same results

Drug Addiction: Dependence on a drug – physical and psychological

Drugs and Consciousness

Drugs and Consciousness • Stimulants: heighten action of central nervous

system (CNS)- Amphetamines- Cocaine- MDMA (Ecstasy)- Nicotine- Caffeine – Most addictive drug

• Depressants: slows the central nervous system (CNS)

- Alcohol- Barbiturates- Tranquilizers- Opiates

Drugs and Consciousness

• Hallucinogens – alter your sensory perceptions and distort your visual, auditory and sensory abilities

• -LSD “acid”• -PCP• -Marijuana

The Theories of Dreaming• Cognitive Theory of

Dreaming– Apply logic to analyze

meaning of dreams– Proposes that we

think, create memories in the same manor as we would if we were awake

– Problem is that dream brain activity isn’t the same as wakeful brain activity…that’s ignored

• Activation-Synthesis Theory– Dreaming is the result

of your brain trying to make sense of the random firings of neurons as you sleep

– It creates a story to connect the memories

- In ancient times, dreams were believed to be messages sent from the Gods-Why do we dream? No one really knows for sure

-Possibly to sort out issues and find solutions-Attempt to make sense of the random firing

of neurons while we sleep: activation-synthesis hypothesis

-Way to deal with the socially unacceptable urges and desires we have

1. Manifest content: Events that occur in your dreams

2. Latent content: Underlying messages in

your dreams, what the manifest content represents

- Lucid Dreams: dreamer is aware that they are dreaming

Sleep Issues-Insomnia: difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

-slows reaction time- impairs memory and concentration- health issues: more apt to become ill- Most common sleep disorder

Narcolepsy: “Sleep attacks”: sudden unexplainable sleeping Sleep Apnea: Temporarily stop breathing while sleeping

- Can be life threatening - Commonly snore loudly- Most common in middle-aged overweight

men

Nightmare disorder: Pattern of frequent disturbing nightmares

- Nightmares usually happen in REM sleep; stressed, high fevers, or sleep deprived

Sleep Terror disorder: Repeated episodes of intense fear during sleep causing physical reactions: talking, sudden sitting up or yelling, sweating, crying, thrashing ect…

- Usually happen during stages 3 and 4 of sleep, not REM