Different States of Consciousness

Consciousness different levels of awareness of ones thoughts and feelings 1. Controlled Process Requires full awareness, alertness and concentration e.g. playing games 2. Automatic Process Activities that require little awareness, minimal attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities. E.g. eating while reading, driving while listening to music

3. Daydreaming Require low level of awareness Fantasize while awake 4. Altered states Result from using a procedure like meditation/yoga, hypnosis, psychoactive drugs

5. Unconscious A mental state according to Sigmund Freud Where our hidden desires are burried 6. Unconsciousness Result in total unawareness to ones environment

7. Sleep Consist of five stages Involves different levels of awareness/consciousness Dreams experience variety of astonishing visual, auditory and tactile images often connected in strange ways and often in color.

Sleep
A. Non-REM Sleep Spend approximately 80% of sleep time Composed of stage 1 to 4 B. REM Sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) 20-40 minutes of sleep time Paradoxical sleep

A. Non-REM Sleep Stage 1 Transition from wakefulness to sleep Lose responsiveness to stimuli; experience drifting thoughts and images Marked by presence of theta waves

Stage 2 Sleep stage Characterize by burst of waves or sleep spindles Decrease of muscle tension, heart rate, respiration and body temperature

Stage 3 and 4 About 30-45 minutes you pass thru stage 3 then stage 4 Heart rate, respiration, temperature and blood flow to the brain are reduced A marked secretion of growth hormone which controls levels of metabolism, physical growth and brain development After a few minutes to an hour, you will back track to stage 3 and 3 then to REM sleep

Brain Waves

B. REM Sleep Characterize by a rapid eye movement Body and brain are in general state of arousal Brain waves are similar to those recorded when a person is wide awake Muscles in neck and limbs are essentially paralyzed

STAGES OF SLEEP
Stages
1 2

REM

REM

REM

3 3 3 3 3 3

Biological Clocks Are internal timing devises that are genetically set to regulate various physiological responses for different periods of time Circadian Rhythm Are biological clocks that are genetically set to regulate physiological responses within 24 hours Regulate sleep-wake cycle and body temperature

Morning Person Rises early temperature rises when active during the day Adrenaline is high during the day

Night Person Gets up later Temperature rises towards the evening Adrenaline is high during night time

Why Do We Sleep?
2 Theories: A. Repair Theory Sleep is primarily a restorative process Activities during the day deplete key factors in our brain and body that are repaired by sleep Secretion of growth hormones Increase production of immune cells

B. Adaptive Theory Sleep evolved because if prevented, early humans and animals are wasting energy and exposing themselves to danger of external predators

Effects of Sleep Deprivation Has minimum effect on heart rate, blood pressure and hormone secretions Weakens our immune system (reduced production of T-cells) Increased vulnerability to bacterial/viral infection Interferes with concentration Causes irritability and moodiness Interferes with performance

Sleep Problems and Treatment

1. Insomnia Difficulties in going to sleep or staying asleep Associated with fatigue, loss of concentration, memory difficulty and lack of well-being Psychological causes: Stress Personal/job-related difficulties Grieving over death/loss of a loved one Coping with mental or health problems

Physiological causes: Change to night-shift work Medical problems Alcohol/sedatives

Non-drug Treatment: Establish a sleep pattern 1. Go to bed when sleepy not by habit 2. Putt off the lights 3. Do not read/watch TV in bed 4. If not asleep within 20 minutes, relax muscles 5. Repeat stage 4 if awake for long 6. Set alarm 7. Do not sleep during the day 8. Follow program rigidly

Drug Treatment: Doctors prescribed benzodiazepines (dalmane, xanax, halcion for 2-3 weeks) Side effects: daytime drowsiness, loss of memory, tolerance and dependency Long term insomnia: doctors suggests nondrug treatment

2. Sleep Apnea Repeated periods during sleep when a person stops breathing for 10 seconds or longer Prone to apnea are: have frequent snooring, overweight, use alcohol, take sedative Treatment Tennis ball-back of pajama- so as not to lie on your back

Devise that blows air into a sealed mask, wears over the nose Severe cases: person wears a devise similar to retainer; undergo surgery to remove tonsils or alter the position of the jaw

3. Narcolepsy/Sleep attack Marked by excessive sleepiness, usually in the form of sleep attacks or short lapses throughout the day Causes: genetic components/problems with neural mechanism that controls sleep-wake cycle

Causes and Symptoms The basic cause of narcolepsy remains unknown. Progress has been made since the late 1990s in identifying two pieces of the puzzle. The first is a connection between narcolepsy and changes in a set of genes on chromosome

6 called the HLA complex. It is thought that changes in these genes may be linked to the loss of cells in the brain that secrete hypocretin, a protein that regulates the sleep/wake cycle. Researchers do not know exactly what causes the loss of the brain cells that make hypocretin/orexin.

Because the HLA complex has been linked to other autoimmune disorders, however, some doctors think that narcolepsy may be an autoimmune disease. No one has been able to prove this theory as of late 2008, however. Other researchers think that the hypocretin-producing cells may be damaged by some type of infection, but this theory has yet to be proved.

4. Sleep Disturbances a. Night terror Occur at stage 2 and 4 Frightening experiences, start with piercing scream followed by sudden waking in fearful state, rapid breathing, increased heart rate No memory after

b. Nightmare Occur at REM Sleep Very frightening and anxiety producing images that occur during dreaming Involved great danger, being attacked or pursued Treatment: use anxiety producing techniques

c. Sleepwalking/somnambulism Occur at stage 3 and 4 Consist of getting up, walking while asleep Have poor coordination, clumsy but can avoid objects and can engage in a very limited conversation Causes: stress, mental problems Treatment: no treatment found yet