Altered States of Consciousness 1.Sleep Deprivation 2.Sleep Disorders 3.Dreams

Sleep Deficit Scoring 4 or less—Adequate sleep 5 or 6—Most days adequate sleep. This may mean that performance is less than 100 percent on certain activities. 7 or 8—Evidence of a sleep debt that may cause a noticeable reduction in work efficiency, errors in work. 9 to 11—Large sleep debt. Likely to suffer from large, random errors; small errors may be missed even if work is reviewed a second time. 12 to 14—The person’s general quality of life suffers. Perhaps the person is less interested in things formerly found fascinating and less inclined to spend time socializing, may also be a bit accident-prone and subject to temporary memory defects. 15 and above—Sleep debt is a major problem.

Sleep Deprivation Most adults need 7.5 – 9 hours of nightly sleep. 4/5 teens wish for more sleep on week nights. After a succession of 5-hour nights, we accumulate a “sleep debt.” Sleep debt need not be entirely made up, but cannot be made up in one long sleep.

Sleep Deprivation Sleep deprivation has consequences: – Depression – Difficulty studying – Diminished productivity – Weight gain – Slows reaction time – Irritability – Fatigue – Immunity deficiency

Major Sleep Disorders

Insomnia – recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. Narcolepsy - a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.

Major Sleep Disorders Sleep Apnea – a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings. CPAP machine makes for sounder sleeping and better quality of life. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure

Major Sleep Disorders Night Terrors– a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and the appearance of being terrified. – Not a nightmare – Occurs in first few hours of NREM-3 – Mostly children – May sit up/walk around – Seldom wake up during episode – Seldom recall episode

Major Sleep Disorders Sleep Walking – somnambulism moving around or walking in one’s sleep. – Also occurs in first few hours of NREM-3 – Mostly in children – 20% of 3-12 year-olds – May sit up/walk around – Seldom wake up during episode – Seldom recall episode – A few homicide cases blamed on sleepwalking.

Dreams “Hallucinations of the sleeping mind” Hallucinations – false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.

What We Dream Common themes: – Failing in an attempt to do something, being rejected, pursued or embarrassed – Some sort of story line from the previous day’s experiences

What We Dream Two-track mind monitors our environment while we sleep – odors or sounds may be incorporated into dreams We don’t remember recorded sounds while asleep – can’t listen to lectures or books on tape and remember them

Why We Dream To satisfy our wishes – Freud and other psychoanalysts believed dreams to be symbolic of inner conflicts. – A psychic safety-valve to discharge unacceptable feelings

Why We Dream To file away memories – Brain scans link REM sleep and memory – Dreams help sift, sort and fix experiences into memory – Students who study and sleep perform significantly better than those who pull all-nighters – “If you don’t get good sleep, and enough sleep after learning new stuff, you won’t integrate it effectively into your memories.”

Why We Dream To develop and preserve neural pathways – Infants, whose neural networks are fast developing, spend a lot of time in REM.

Why We Dream

To make sense of neural static – Dreams are the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural activity. – Internal stimuli activate brain areas that process visual images and the emotion area of the amygdala. – However, frontal lobe areas of reason and behavioral inhibition are idle. – Add together = dreams.

Why We Dream To reflect cognitive development – Dreams are a part of brain maturation – Prior to age 9, dreams like a slide show – Dreams overlap our waking cognition, drawing on our knowledge & concepts – They simulate reality