States of Consciousness

Levels of Consciousness

We know that various levels exists beyond the conscious level.

• Mere-exposure effect• Priming• Blind sight

Levels of Consciousness

• Conscious Level• Nonconscious Level• Preconscious Level• Subconscious Level• Unconscious Level

Conscious

preconscious

Unconscious

Why do we daydream?

• They can help us prepare for future events.

•They can nourish our social development.

•Can substitute for impulsive behavior.

Sleep• Sleep is a state of

consciousness.• We are less aware of our

surroundings.• Biological clock controlled

by the Hypothalamus • Circadian Rhythm

Circadian Rhythm

• Our 24 hour biological clock.• Our body temperature and awareness

changes throughout the day.• It is best to take a test or study during your

circadian peaks.

How can the circadian rhythm help explain jet lag?

Knee pad light exposure experiment

Sunday night insomnia

What is melatonin?

• A hormone produced by pineal gland at night to help you sleep. Sunlight tells your body to stop producing it.

• Helps regulate circadian rhythms

Sleep Cycle

• Use an EEG machine to measure stages of sleep.

• When you are the onset of sleep you experience alpha waves.

• Hypnagogic state• Produces mild

hallucinations, like a feeling of falling.

Click dude for alphaWaves.

Click to see an awake brain.

Sleep Stages

• There are 5 identified stages of sleep.• It takes about 90-100 minutes to pass through

the 5 stages.• The brain’s waves will change according to the

sleep stage you are in.• The first four stages are know as NREM sleep..• The fifth stage is called REM sleep.

Stage 1

• Kind of awake and kind of asleep.

• Only lasts a few minutes, and you usually only experience it once a night.

• Your brain produces Theta Waves.

Click the couple to see Theta Waves

Stage 2

• More Theta Waves that get progressively slower.

• Begin to show sleep spindles…short bursts of rapid brain waves.Click image to see Stage Two of sleep.

Stages 3 and 4

• Slow wave sleep.• You produce Delta

waves.• If awoken you will

be very groggy.• Vital for restoring

body’s growth hormones and good overall health.

Click boys to see deep sleep.

From stage 4, your brain begins to speed up and you go to stage 3, then 2….then ……

Stage Three and Four (continued) • Contrary to popular belief, it is delta sleep that is the

"deepest" stage of sleep (not REM) and the most restorative.

• It is delta sleep that a sleep-deprived person's brain craves the first and foremost.

• In children, delta sleep can occupy up to 40% of all sleep time and this is what makes children unawake able or "dead asleep" during most of the night.

Sleep walking duringThis stage.

REM Sleep• Rapid Eye Movement• Often called paradoxical

sleep.• Brain is very active.

(nightmares)• Dreams usually occur in

REM.• Body is essentially

paralyzed.• REM Rebound• Newborns spend more time

than adults

Click boy dreaming to see REM sleep.

REM Rebound• The tendency for REM sleep to increase

following REM sleep deprivation.• 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.

Why do we need sleep?(Two theories)

1. Ecological Niche: back in the day, darkness meant death, those that slept did not go out, thus did not die. Sleep protects us.

Sleep helps us recuperate and restores the breakdown of our body.

Sleep Disorders

Insomnia

• Persistent problems falling asleep

• Effects 10% of the population

• Primary versus Secondary Insomnia

Another problem with sleep meds is they cause you to spend too much time in Stage 4 but not enough time in REM

Narcolepsy

• Suffer from sleeplessness and may fall asleep at unpredictable or inappropriate times.

• Directly into REM sleep

• Less than .001 % of population.

Click above to see Skeeter the narcoleptic dog.

Sleep Apnea• A person stops

breathing during their sleep.

• Wake up momentarily, gasps for air, then falls back asleep.

• Very common, especially in heavy males.

• Can be fatal.

Night Terrors• Wake up

screaming and have no idea why.

• Not a nightmare.• Most common in

children (boys) between ages 2-8.

• Stage 4

Somnambulism

• Sleep Walking• Most often occurs

during the first few hours of sleeping and in stage 4 (deep sleep).

• If you have had night terrors, you are more likely to sleep walk when older.

Dreams

Freud’s Theory of Dreams

• Dreams are a roadway into our unconscious.

• Manifest Content (storyline)

• Latent Content (underlying meaning)

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• Our Cerebral Cortex is trying to interpret random electrical activity we have while sleeping.

• That is why dreams sometimes make no sense.

• Biological Theory.

Information-Processing Theory

• Dreams are a way to deal with the stresses of everyday life.

• We tend to dream more when we are more stressed.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis

• Altered state of consciousness?

• Posthypnotic suggestion

• Posthypnotic amnesia

Hypnotic Theories

Role Theory• Hypnosis is NOT an

altered state of consciousness.

• Different people have various state of hypnotic suggestibility.

• A social phenomenon where people want to believe.

• Work better on people with richer fantasy lives.

State Theory• Hypnosis is an altered

state of consciousness.

• Dramatic health benefits

• It works for pain best.

Dissociation Theory

• Theory by Ernest Hilgard.

• We voluntarily divide our consciousness up.

• Ice Water Experiment.

• We have a hidden observer, a level of us that is always aware.

Drugs

Drugs• Our brain is

protected by a layer of capillaries called the blood-brain barrier.

• The drugs that are small enough to pass through are called psychoactive drugs.

Drugs are either….

• Agonists• Antagonists• Reuptake inhibitorsIf a drug is used often, a

tolerance is created for the drug.

Thus you need more of the drug to feel the same effect.

If you stop using a drug you can develop withdrawal symptoms.

Stimulants• Speed up body

processes.• More powerful ones

(like cocaine) give people feelings of invincibility.

Depressants

• Slows down body processes.

• Alcohol• Anxiolytics

(barbiturates and tranquilizers)

Alcohol

• More than 86 billion dollars are spent annually on alcoholic beverages.

• Alcohol is involved in 60% of ALL crimes.

• Alcohol is involved in over 70% of sexually related crimes.

• Is it worth the cost?

Hallucinogens

• Psychedelics• Causes changes in

perceptions of reality

• LSD, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana.

• Reverse tolerance or synergistic effect

Opiates

• Has depressive and hallucinogenic qualities.

• Agonist for endorphins. • Derived from poppy

plant.• Morphine, heroin,

methadone and codeine.

• All these drugs cross the placental barrier….teratogens.