Chapter 7 States of Consciousness Consciousness Personal Awareness

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Chapter 7: States of Consciousness

Chapter 7: States of Consciousness

Consciousness: Personal Awareness § Consciousness is defined as the awareness of our internal and

Consciousness: Personal Awareness § Consciousness is defined as the awareness of our internal and external environment, or in other words, ourselves and the world around us. Two very important psychologists, William James and Sigmund Freud, discussed the idea of consciousness in their theories and writings in the early days of psychology. James’ ideas still spark intellectual debate, . While Freud’s ideas have been widely dismissed § William James came up with the idea that consciousness is a constantly flowing thing, with ideas, feelings, and new information constantly intermixing and diverging. He referred to this fluidly evolving series of perceptions as the “stream of consciousness”.

Biological Rhythms and Sleep § Circadian Rhythms are biological clock cycles where a biological

Biological Rhythms and Sleep § Circadian Rhythms are biological clock cycles where a biological function happens approximately once every 24 hours. Of interest to us in psychology is the sleep/wake cycle, our primary circadian rhythm. The physiological pathway of this cycle is as follows: § Melatonin is a hormone released by the pineal gland that aids our ability to sleep. Low light levels trigger the release of this hormone, while high light levels trigger its reduction. Since the sun rises and sets every 24 hours (and general light levels with it), it conforms to a circadian rhythm. Melatonin supplements are sold in the U. S. as nutritional supplements, but many researchers worry that people are taking too much of this substance, when long-term effects have not been tested. Melatonin is a regulated drug in Canada, Great Britain, and the USA.

Other Biological Rhythms �There are two other biological rhythms you need to know about

Other Biological Rhythms �There are two other biological rhythms you need to know about that interest us in psychology. They are Infradian rhythms and Ultradian rhythms. �Infradian rhythms refer to biological clocks whose function happens less than one time a day. An example of this is the female menstrual cycle (once every 28 days) �Ultradian rhythms refer to biological clocks whose function occurs more than once a day. An example of this is the eating cycle.

Sleep/Wake Cycle Research § Instruments used in sleep studies include: § Electroencephalograph – measures

Sleep/Wake Cycle Research § Instruments used in sleep studies include: § Electroencephalograph – measures the brain’s electrical activity § Electromyograph – measures a person’s muscle activity § Electrooculograph – measures eye movements § Psychologists who conduct sleep research use the above instruments a great deal: the EEG, which records brain electrical activity; the EMG, which records muscle activity and tension; and the EOG, which records eye movements. They may also record heart rate, breathing rate, temperature, etc. , as well as videotape the person sleeping through a window. Believe it or not, people get used to the wires and cameras after only one night.

The Electroencephalograph: A Physiological Index of Consciousness § The Electroencephalograph, or EEG is used

The Electroencephalograph: A Physiological Index of Consciousness § The Electroencephalograph, or EEG is used to measure and/or monitor the brain’s electrical activity. Researchers have identified four different types of brain wave frequency patterns. § A brain-wave’s frequency is equal to the number of cycles per second. Below are the different types of brain waves and it’s respective range of cycles per second. The faster (or more frequent/higher frequency) of a brain wave indicates higher activity. When we are awake, we predominantly display alpha and beta waves. Deeper stages of sleep (stages 3 and 4) are dominated by slower theta and delta waves. REM sleep, paradoxically, is deep sleep that is characterized by high frequency brain wave patterns. § Beta (13 -24 cps) § Alpha (8 -12 cps) § Theta (4 -7 cps) § Delta (less than 4 cps)

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep § Each sleep cycle lasts approximately 90 minutes. The

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep § Each sleep cycle lasts approximately 90 minutes. The lengths of the individual stages will change during the course of the night, but the actual cycle always is 90 minutes. In a normal night’s sleep you will have four or five cycles. There are six components: § Sleep Onset: usually about 15 minutes or less, when you are in between being awake and asleep. Hypnic jerks, brief muscle contractions that occur when one is falling asleep, occur in stage 1 sleep. Myoclonic jerking happens frequently during sleep onset and early stage 1 sleep as a result. § Myoclonic jerks - neural disruption causing one to “jerk” awake suddenly. If this becomes a recurring problem preventing someone from falling or remaining asleep, it is a sleep disorder called “Myoclonis”.

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep Stage 1 is a brief, transitional stage of light

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep Stage 1 is a brief, transitional stage of light sleep that lasts between 1 and 10 minutes. The EEG moves from predominately beta and alpha waves, when the person is just about to fall asleep, to more alpha-theta activity by the time sleep has truly begun. Stage 2 is characterized by more mixed brain wave activity (alpha and theta) with brief bursts of higherfrequency brain waves, called sleep spindles. Stages 3 and 4 are characterized by low frequency theta and mainly delta waves.

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep It takes about 30 minutes to reach stage 4,

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep It takes about 30 minutes to reach stage 4, and usually people stay there for about 30 minutes. Then the cycle reverses. (1 2 3 4 3 2 1). When stage 1 comes around for its second time, something interesting happens. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep begins. Stage 1 REM sleep was accidentally discovered by Nathaniel Kleitman in the spring of 1952. The next two slides describe how REM sleep works.

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep § REM sleep: Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep § REM sleep: Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is paradoxical because it is your deepest level of sleep, yet your brain is every bit as active as when you are awake and engaged. REM sleep periods are when you are sleep paralyzed and dreaming. REM sleep starts after the first sleep cycle concludes (90 minutes after falling asleep, in other words). What would have been the second stage one now becomes REM sleep, and that remains true for the rest of the night. The first REM period is about 10 minutes long, with each successive REM period getting longer. By the end of an 8 hour sleep, the last REM period will be about 45 -60 minutes long. Obviously, as REM gets longer, the other stages must get shorter, as the sleep cycle remains at 90 minutes throughout the night. In fact, by the end of a full night of sleep, stages 3 and 4 are nearly non-existent.

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep REM sleep is characterized by an EEG that looks

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep REM sleep is characterized by an EEG that looks awake and alert. Characterized by rapidly moving eyes behind the lids, an irregular pulse and breathing rate, and loss of muscle tone. When someone is awakened from REM sleep, they report dreaming. Infants spend much more time in REM than do adults. During adulthood, the percentage of slow-wave sleep declines and the percentage of time spent in stage 1 increases. § Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as a result of heightened brain activity, but paralysis occurs in the major voluntary muscle groups. REM is a mixture of brain excitement and muscular immobility. For this reason, it is sometimes called paradoxical sleep.

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep The percentage of REM sleep is highest during childhood.

Sleep Stages: Cycling Through Sleep The percentage of REM sleep is highest during childhood. During adolescence and young adulthood, the percentage of REM sleep begins to decline, as does the amount of time needed for a normal night’s sleep. Infants can spend up to 50% of their sleep in the REM stage of sleep, sleeping as much as 18 -20 hours a day. Adults between 30 -50 spend only about 20% of their sleep time in REM, and require only 6 -8 hours of sleep each night. After 50, the numbers continue to drop, to about 4 -6 hours a night and about 15% in REM.

Why Do We Sleep? § Conservation Theory § Sleep evolved to conserve the organisms’

Why Do We Sleep? § Conservation Theory § Sleep evolved to conserve the organisms’ energy levels § Adaptive Non-responding Theory (evolutionary) § Immobilization during sleep, especially at night, is adaptive because it reduces danger from predators § Restorative Theory § Sleep helps animals to restore energy and other bodily resources depleted during waking hours

Sleep Deprivation Sleep deprivation studies indicate that people can function surprisingly well when sleep

Sleep Deprivation Sleep deprivation studies indicate that people can function surprisingly well when sleep deprived; although effects on mood and performance are present, these are modest. Effects would be more severe, except most people have a hard time going without sleep for more than 3 or 4 days max. Partial deprivation, occurs when people make do with less sleep than normal, and is very common. This can cause negative effects, particularly in performance of long-lasting, difficult, or monotonous tasks. This can be very, very costly too. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and the Exxon Valdez were all ecological disasters caused in part by sleep deprivation on the part of workers. The increasing frequency of movement into REM within the sleep cycle after sleep deprivation occurs is termed REM rebound, and it suggests that the body, for some reason, needs REM. The same rebound effect has been found for slow-wave sleep.

Sleep Loss and Health § Sleep loss can affect physiological processes, including some that

Sleep Loss and Health § Sleep loss can affect physiological processes, including some that adversely affect your organ system § Sleep restriction appears to trigger hormonal changes that increase hunger § Studies have found a link between short sleep duration and increased obesity § Mortality rates are especially high among those who consistently sleep over 10 or under 4 hours a night § Sleep deprivation increases the amount of cortisol, a steroid hormone, or glucocorticoid, produced by the adrenal gland. It is released in response to stress and its primary functions are to increase blood sugar levels, suppress the immune system, and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. It also decreases bone formation.

Sleep Loss and Health In short bursts, cortisol aids us in dealing with stress.

Sleep Loss and Health In short bursts, cortisol aids us in dealing with stress. However, when someone is constantly overproducing it because of a stressful life or sleep deficits (or both!), the long term effects can be disastrous. The following are some of the negative effects of long term overproduction of cortisol: High blood pressure and a much greater risk of heart attacks and strokes Prematurely ages your skin and organ systems Suppresses the immune system, making it more likely that you will contract illnesses, including the worst ones, like Cancer and Diabetes. It also makes it less likely that your body will be able to fight those diseases.

Figure 5. 10. Mortality rates as a function of typical sleep duration.

Figure 5. 10. Mortality rates as a function of typical sleep duration.

Sleep Disorders Insomnia occurs in 3 different patterns…trouble falling asleep, trouble remaining asleep, and

Sleep Disorders Insomnia occurs in 3 different patterns…trouble falling asleep, trouble remaining asleep, and persistent early morning awakening. Difficulty falling asleep is most common among young people, while early morning awakening and trouble staying asleep are more common among middle-aged and elderly people. Estimates of the prevalence of insomnia vary, but it appears that about 34 -35% of adults report problems with insomnia and about 15 -17% have severe or frequent insomnia. The prevalence increases with age and is 50% more common in men than in women. Some people think they have insomnia, when they really have sound patterns of sleep – pseudoinsomnia or sleep state misperception.

Sleep Disorders Narcolepsy occurs when a person falls immediately from an awake state to

Sleep Disorders Narcolepsy occurs when a person falls immediately from an awake state to REM sleep uncontrollably (sleep attacks). Can last for a few seconds or as long as a few minutes. Very disturbing to the sufferer, who goes from wide awake to REM dreaming to wide awake again in the span of a few moments. Very disorienting and potentially dangerous (driving a car, walking down stairs, etc. ) § Sleep Apnea – having your sleep disturbed by reflexive gasping for air. Associated with sinus problems, snoring, obesity, and cardiovascular and pulmonary damage. § Night Terrors (AKA Incubus Attacks)– intense emotional and physiological arousal and panic in NREM in response to a bad dream. The sufferer is not sleep paralyzed and can become somnambulant. Mostly a small children’s issue which they grow out off. § Somnambulism – sleepwalking or sleeptalking. § SIDS – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Figure 5. 12 The vicious cycle of dependence on sleeping pills

Figure 5. 12 The vicious cycle of dependence on sleeping pills

Figure 5. 15 Three theories of dreaming

Figure 5. 15 Three theories of dreaming

Altered States of Consciousness: Hypnosis is a systematic procedure that typically produces a heightened

Altered States of Consciousness: Hypnosis is a systematic procedure that typically produces a heightened state of suggestibility as well as relaxation, narrowed attention, and enhanced fantasy. People differ in how easily they can be hypnotized…this is termed hypnotic susceptibility… 10% of people are especially easy to hypnotize, 10% especially difficult…can be reliably measured with the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. Susceptibility linked to higher levels of absorption in a task and in a person’s imaginativeness…greatly depends on expectations. Research shows that people who are highly susceptible to hypnosis are just as responsive to suggestion without being hypnotized.

Altered States of Consciousness: Hypnosis

Altered States of Consciousness: Hypnosis

Altered States of Consciousness: Hypnosis Phenomena that can be produced through hypnosis are many,

Altered States of Consciousness: Hypnosis Phenomena that can be produced through hypnosis are many, such as anesthesia during medical or dental procedures, disinhibition (doing things you would normally be more inhibited about doing, like barking like a dog in public), and amnesia, all of these are influences of posthypnotic suggestions made during the hypnosis session that impact subjects’ later behavior. Researchers argue about whether hypnosis is really an altered state of awareness or if it is simply people doing what they think they are supposed to do when they are hypnotized (Social influence theory). Divided consciousness theory holds that hypnosis splits consciousness into two streams, one dominant hypnotized stream, and one normal yet subordinate stream.

Altered States of Consciousness: Meditation is an ancient discipline which has recently become an

Altered States of Consciousness: Meditation is an ancient discipline which has recently become an area of growing interest. All methods of meditation are rooted in Eastern religions, however many who meditate do so separately from religious practice. Effects of meditation include decreased heart rate, respiration rate, etc. , and a relaxed EEG, with predominant theta and alpha rhythm patterns. New research using the CT scan to track blood flow in the brain in experienced Tibetan Buddhist meditators shows high activity in the prefrontal cortex (an area important for focused attention) and low activity in parts of the parietal lobe that are known to process information about the body’s location in space. This may explain some of the transcendent experiences reported by many meditators. Meditation results in a potentially beneficial physiological state whereby bodily arousal is suppressed, but it is unclear how meditation differs from other systematic relaxation training procedures which produce very similar effects.

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Psychoactive drugs modify mental, emotional, or behavioral

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Psychoactive drugs modify mental, emotional, or behavioral functioning. There are six categories of drugs that are frequently used recreationally. § Narcotics (opiates) – pain relieving effects, from the opium poppy flower. Highly addictive, many derivatives (codeine, morphine, heroin, opium). Typically referred to as narcotics medically, police and courts now use the term for any hard drug. Examples include oxycontin, percocet, and vicodan. § Sedatives (tranquilizers – sleep inducing, enhances GABA’s ability to decrease neural excitement. New class of drug introduced about 50 years ago called benzodiazepines. Less addictive and less powerful than the previous type used, a class of drug called barbiturates. Today, barbiturates are rarely prescribed for humans and are mainly used with animals. Examples of benzo drugs are Librium, Valium, and Xanax.

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Stimulants – increase CNS activity, maintenance of

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Stimulants – increase CNS activity, maintenance of alertness. High autonomic/physiological arousal. Big crash when drug wears off combined with a desire to consume more to maintain level of arousal. Dangerous and addicting. Stimulants include mild drugs such as caffeine and nicotine, as well as much stronger drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines. Other examples of this category are specific amphetamine drugs such as Adderall, Benzadrine, and Dexedrine. Cocaine and amphetamines have similar effects, except amphetamines last longer. The euphoria created by these drugs is very different from a “who cares, ” very relaxed state - more like an “I can conquer the world, ” very alert state of being. § *Note*MDMA, commonly referred to as Ecstasy, is a drug which is partly amphetamine based. However, the other properties of the drug are more readily felt by a user, and those effects are primarily hallucinogenic. As a result, MDMA, whose last two letters of the acronym stand for Methamphetamine, is grouped in the Hallucinogen class.

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Hallucinogens – distort sensory and perceptual experience,

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Hallucinogens – distort sensory and perceptual experience, mainly visual, auditory, and tactile senses affected, sometimes resulting in confusion between one’s senses. Typically not physiologically addictive, these drugs exert such a powerful effect on users that it is easy to become psychologically addictive. Examples are LSD, MDMA, Peyote (cactus), Mescaline (first synthesized phenothylamine drug), and Psilocybin (mushrooms). MDMA – partly a stimulant and partly a hallucinogen, MDMA produces a warm, friendly euphoria that makes the mood very up and happy. It creates distortions in tactile, visual, and auditory sensation and perception. Highly sexually stimulating mentally and emotionally, but for men, sexual dysfunction is the rule. There tends to be a depression for a couple of days after the experience, as the overactive dopamine and serotonin producing neurons shift to slow motion, under producing those neurochemicals for 24 -48 hours afterward.

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Alcohol – produces relaxed euphoria, decreases inhibitions,

Altered States of Consciousness: Psychoactive Drugs § Alcohol – produces relaxed euphoria, decreases inhibitions, most consumed psychoactive drug in America, as well as the most abused. There are more alcoholics than there addicts of all illegal drugs combined. Slowly wears down organs, especially the liver, bladder, stomach, and of course, the brain. Cannabis – Cannabis is the hemp plant from which marijuana, hashish, and THC are derived. THC, the active chemical ingredient, causes a mild, relaxed euphoria and enhanced sensory awareness. Unintended effects can be anxiety, sluggish mental functioning, and memory impairment. New research shows that long-term marijuana use may impair some aspects of cognitive functioning, even when users are no longer high. Recent studies have reported an unexpected link between cannabis use and severe psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia

Table 5. 3 Psychoactive Drugs: Tolerance, Dependence, Potential for Fatal Overdose, and Health Risks

Table 5. 3 Psychoactive Drugs: Tolerance, Dependence, Potential for Fatal Overdose, and Health Risks