Chapter 6: The Aware Mind- Elements of Consciousness- The brain makes a commitment to a choice as much as 10 seconds before we become aware of the decisionWhat Does It Mean to Be Conscious?- Conscious- a state of awareness- Self-awareness- the special understanding of the self as distinct from other stimuli- “Stream of consciousness”- William James; seemingly unbroken flow of conscious awareness- “Consciousness”- Sigmund Freud; aspects of the mind that could be retrieved voluntarily, in contrast to the unconscious parts of the mind that remain hidden to voluntary searches for informationThe Evolution of Consciousness- “consciousness grows the more complex and intense the higher we rise in the animal kingdom” –william james- The self-awareness aspect of consciousness- as exemplified in “I” statements- might be the rarest of all among living thingsConsciousness as Variations in Alertness- Varying states of awareness help repair bodies and conserve energyo Food requirements would be higher if we didn’t sleepo Maximizes safety Sleeping during your worse seeing cycleConsciousness as an Awareness of Ongoing Sensations- Choose responses rather than respond instinctively- The flexibility of choosing increases an animal’s chance of survivalConsciousness as Self-Awareness- Understanding that you’re alive is correlated with a heightened meaningfulness of death- Rouge test- a dot of rouge is placed on a child’s forehead and the child is allowed an opportunity to look in a mirroro Prior to 18 months, children do not show indication that they see themselves in the mirroro After that, they will rub at the spot and turn their bodies to get a better look; demonstrating self-awareness- Animals showing social self-awarenesso Dolphins have special whistles that they seem to use for individuals like nameso Chimps and elephants show grief when someone diesSearching for Consciousness in the Brain- Braino Houses mindo Maintains homeostasis- Mindo Houses consciousnesso Manages unconscious functions such as long term memory- Consciousness is the complex interactions between areas of the cerebral cortex and the thalamuso “enable” consciousness but do not produce content- Lesions of thalamus result in profound unconsciousness typically associated with brain death- Reticular formation of brainstem, raise and lower thresholds of conscious awareness- “Blinding Problem”- how the brain forms a unified whole out of large quantities of information- Sensory information combines with an individual’s past experience to produce expectations for managing a current situationo Part of “stream of consciousness”o Frontal lobes provide space for integrationo Explains consciousness in a developing childo As child gains more experience, consciousness improvesWhat happens to consciousness during wakefulness and sleep?- Sleep- a normal state of consciousness characterized by reduced awareness of external stimuli- Wakefulness- a normal state of consciousness characterized by alertness and awareness of external stimuli- Circadian rhythms- a daily biological rhythmCircadian Rhythms- Biological clock- an internal mechanism that provides an approximate schedule for awide variety of physical processeso Controlled by hypothalamuso Interact with external stimuli, known as zeitgebers Light- natural zeitgeber Eating patterns- Totally blind people experience longer than normal circadian cycles due to their lackof exposure to natural lightModern Challenges for Circadian Rhythms- Invention of artificial light has shaped our contemporary sleep-waking patterns into something different- Between 40 and 80% of graveyard shifters experience “shift maladaption syndrome”o Make more errors and have more accidents- Jet lago Fatigue, irritability, and sleepinesso Flight attendants-have reduced reaction time and make 9% more mistakes onmemory tasks- Daylight savings- When less light is available for setting the body’s internal clocks, 4 to 6% of pop will experience a type of depression Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD- Seasonal Affective Disorder- a mood disorder in which depression occurs regularly at the same time each year, usually during the winter monthso Treated by exposure to bright lights- Artificial light affects sleep by breaking down melatonino Changes in melatonin release have been implicated in a long list of human diseases like cancer and heart diseaseo Obesity and tobacco have a bad effect on melatoninIndividual Variations in Circadian Rhythms- Different circadian rhythm patterns may result from different versions of the genes responsible for the activity of our internal clocksWakefulness- Varying states of awareness can be described using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings which provide a general measure of overall brain activity- During wakefulness we alter between two patterns of activityo Beta wave- a waveform recorded by EEG that usually indicates alert wakefulness Rapid, irregular, low-amplitude waves 15-20 cycles per secondo Alpha wave- a waveform recorded by EEG that usually indicates relaxed wakefulness Slower, larger, and more regular 9-12 cycles per second Just have to close your eyes- Daydreaming/mind wandering- spontaneous, subjective experiences in a no-task, no-stimulus, no-response situation- Certain parts of the brain become more active during times when we are not faced with particular demands for our attentiono Form a default network- medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and cortex located at the junction of the temporal and marietal lobes- When we work on a difficult task requiring our undivided attention, we engage in “executive network”o Includes anterior cingulate corex and dorsolateral prefronal cortexSleep- 1/3 of our livesStages of Sleep- two types of sleepo Rapid Eye movement sleep (REM)- the component of sleep characterized by waveforms resembling wakefulness as measured by EEG accompanied by rapid eye movements, muscular paralysis, and autonomic nervous system activationo Non-rapid eye movement sleep (N-REM)- the components of sleep characterized by thetat and delta wave activity as recorded by EEG and deep physical relaxation Stage1- theta waves 4-7 cycles per second, larger and slower than alpha waves Stage2- person is asleep; reduction in heart rate and muscle tension; shows K-complexes and sleep spindles  Stage3- Stage4-both show delta wave- largest, slowest 1-4 cycles per second; very deeply asleep