Psych Reading for February 4th Pages 164 174 Consciousness Expanding the boundaries of psychological inquiry Sleep Paralysis A strange experience of being unable to move just after falling asleep or immediately upon awakening Consciousness Our subjective experience of the world and ourselves The Biology of Sleep consciousness We spend as much as one third or more of our lives in one specific state of Circadian Rhythm A fancy term for changes that occur on a roughly 24 hour basis in many of our biological processes Biological Clock Neurons located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus make us feel drowsy at different times of the day and night Jet Lag The result of a disruption in our body s circadian rhythms Melatonin Triggers feelings of sleepiness increase after dark Most people need 10 hours of sleep Newborns need 16 hours of sleep Pass through five stages of sleep every night each lasts about 90 seconds and each stage is clearly distinguishable from awake states o Stage 1 Sleep Light stage of sleep lasts for five to 10 minutes brain activity powers down by 50 or more producing theta waves which occur four to seven times per second Beta Waves Occur 13 or more times per second produced Alpha Waves Occur 8 12 times per second when we re quiet during active alert states and relaxed Hypnagogic Imagery Scrambled bizarre and dreamlike images that flit in and out of consciousness o Stage 2 Sleep Brain waves slow down even more 65 of sleep in this stage K Complexes Sleep Spindles to feel fully rested o Stage 3 and 4 Sleep Deeper slow wave sleep need to experience this Delta Waves Slow as one to two cycles a second o Stage 5 Sleep REM sleep hyped brain waves increased heart rate and blood pressure as well as rapid and irregular breathing 20 25 of our nights sleep REM Rebound The amount and intensity of REM sleep increases when humans are deprived of REM for a few nights Lucid Dreaming Dreaming and knowing that you re dreaming Sleep Disorders o Insomnia Having trouble falling asleep Waking too early in the morning Waking up during the night and having trouble returning to sleep o Narcolepsy A dramatic disorder in which people experience episodes of sudden sleep lasting anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes and as long as an hour o Sleep Apnea Blockage of the airway during sleep o Night Terrors Harmless events that occur almost exclusively in o Sleepwalking Walking while fully asleep usually occurs during non children REM Pages 186 195 Drugs and Consciousness Psychoactive Drugs Contain chemicals similar to those found naturally in our brains and that their molecules alter consciousness by changing chemical processes Mental Set Beliefs and expectancies about the effects of drugs account for people s responses to them Drugs are substances that change the way we think feel or act Depressants Decreased activity of the central nervous system o Sedative Calming o Hypnotic Sleep inducing o Alcohol o Sedative Hypnotics Barbiturates Nonbarbiturates Bnzodiazepines o Nicotine o Cocaine o Amphetamines Meth Heroin o Marijuana o LSD o Mescaline o PCP o Ecstasy Stimulants Increased activity of the central nervous system o Narcotics Relieve pain and induce sleep Opiates Hallucinogenic Sense of euphoria decreased pain Psychedelics Dramatically altered perception mood and thoughts Substance Abuse Experience recurrent problems associated with a drug Substance Dependence More serious patter leading to clinically significant impairment distress or both o Tolerance Key feature of dependence and occurs when people need to consume an increased amount of drug to achieve intoxication o Withdrawal Symptoms vary with drugs occurs ewhen people cut o Physical Dependence Continue to take it to avoid withdrawal o Psychological Dependence Continued use of a drug is motivated by down or stop use symptoms intense cravings
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