variations in consciousness
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Variations in Consciousness
A.P. Psychology
12/18/2009
Drill ~ 12/18/2009
• What is the major difference between the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind?
Circadian Rhythm24 hour biological cycles
Circadian Rhythms
• Especially influential for sleep, but also influence:– Blood pressure– Urine production– Hormonal secretions– Alertness– Short-term memory– Cognitive performance
• CR’s leave us primed to fall asleep most easily at a particular time of the day
• Example:– Body Temperature
fluctuation• Research shows that we
tend to fall asleep as our body temperature begins to drop and awaken when it begins to rise again
Ignoring Circadian Rhythm’s
• If you ignore your biological clock– Quality of sleep suffers– Jet Lag ~ traveling across time zones
• Leads to fatigue, sluggishness, and irritibility• Chronic Jet Lag leads to deficits in cognitive
performance• Readjustment?
– Takes about a day for each time zone traveled through
– Depends on the direction traveled as well (easier to fly westward than eastward) ~ has a significant impact on sports teams
Melatonin & Circadian Rhythm
• a hormone that seems to regulate the human biological clock
• Studies show that Melatonin can reduce the effects of jet lag
• Studies are inconsistent because timing of the dosage is key
• Melatonin may also be used as a mild sedative
• More effective when given in the daytime than at night
• It has also been hailed as a miracle drug for AIDS, Cancer, and sexual enhancement
• There is no research to support this
We spend about 8 hours per day, 56 hours perweek, 240 hours per month
and 2,920 hours per year doing
it...that's right...SLEEPING.
The Sleep & Waking Cycle
• Sleep is very misunderstood
• People think we do “nothing” while we sleep
• In reality, sleepers experience quite a bit of physical & mental activity throughout the night
• How do we know?• Much research has been done in sleep
laboratories, where volunteer subjects spend the night
Recording Devices
• Electroencephalograph• Records brain waves
– Beta (13-24 cps)» Normal waking
thought– Alpha (8-12 cps)
» Deep relaxation, blank mind and meditation
– Theta (4-7cps)» Light sleep
– Delta (less than 4 cps)» Deep sleep
• Electromyograph• Records muscle activity
and tension
• Electrooculograph• Records eye movement
• Other devices monitor heart rate, breathing, pulse rate and body temperature
The Sleep Cycle
• Stages 1 – 4• Stage 1 brief transitional stage of light sleep and lasts
about 1 – 7 minutes. Breathing & heart rate slow» Hypnic Jerks brief muscular contractions that occur
as people fall asleep
• Stages 2 – 4 respiration rate, heart rate, muscle tension, and body temperature continue to decline
– Stage 2 10 – 25 minutes
» Sleep Spindles brief bursts of higher frequency brain waves
– Stage 3 & 4 Slow Wave Sleep
» High amplitude, low frequency delta waves become prominent
REM & NREM Sleep
• REM Sleep– Rapid eye movement
• Irregular breathing & pulse rate
– Relatively deep sleep marked by eye movement, high-frequency, low-amplitude brain waves and vivid dreaming
– Sometimes called “Paradoxical Sleep”
• NREM Sleep– Stages 1 – 4 where
eye movement is absent
– Relatively little dreaming takes place here
– EEG activity is varied
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