CHAPTER 5: STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS, SLEEPING, Sleep is also influenced by ambient light.

The ganglion
AND DREAMING cells in the retina send signals to a brain area above the
thalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is
Consciousness is defined as our subjective awareness of the body’s primary circadian “pacemaker.” The
ourselves and our environment (Koch, 2004). The suprachiasmatic nucleus analyzes the strength and
experience of consciousness is fundamental to human duration of the light stimulus and sends signals to the
nature. We all know what it means to be conscious, and pineal gland when the ambient light level is low or its
we assume (although we can never be sure) that other duration is short. In response, the pineal gland secretes
human beings experience their consciousness similarly melatonin, a powerful hormone that facilitates the
to how we experience ours. onset of sleep.

The study of consciousness has long been important to Sleep Stages: Moving Through the Night
psychologists and plays a role in many important
psychological theories. For instance, Sigmund Freud’s Although we lose consciousness as we sleep, the brain
personality theories differentiated between the nevertheless remains active. The patterns of sleep have
unconscious and the conscious aspects of behavior, and been tracked in thousands of research participants who
present-day psychologists distinguish between have spent nights sleeping in research labs while their
automatic (unconscious) and controlled (conscious) brain waves were recorded by monitors, such as an
behaviors and between implicit (unconscious) and electroencephalogram, or EEG.
explicit (conscious) memory (Petty, Wegener, Chaiken,
& Trope, 1999; Shanks, Sleep researchers have found that sleeping people
2005). undergo a fairly consistent pattern of sleep stages, each
lasting about 90 minutes. these stages are of two major
Sleeping and Dreaming Revitalize Us for Action types: Rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye
movement (non-REM) sleep.
Biological Rhythms
This is the regularly occurring cycles of behaviors in Rapid eye movement (REM) Sleep
which the lives of all organisms, including humans, are It is a sleep stage characterized by the presence of quick
influenced. fast eye movements and dreaming. REM sleep accounts
for about 25% of our total sleep time.
Circadian Rhythm
Perhaps the strongest and most important biorhythm is During REM sleep, our awareness of external events is
the daily circadian rhythm (from the dramatically reduced, and consciousness is dominated
Latin circa, meaning “about” or “approximately,” and primarily by internally generated images and a lack of
dian, meaning “daily”) that guides the daily waking and overt thinking (Hobson, 2004). During this sleep stage
sleeping cycle in many animals. our muscles shut down, and this is probably a good
thing as it protects us from hurting ourselves or trying to
Many biological rhythms are coordinated by changes in act out the scenes that are playing in our dreams.
the level and duration of ambient light, for instance, as
winter turns into summer and as night turns into day. Non-rapid Eye Movement (non-REM) Sleep
In some animals, such as birds, the pineal gland in the It is a deep sleep, characterized by very slow brain
brain is directly sensitive to light and its activation waves, that is further subdivided into three stages: N1,
influences behavior, such as mating and annual N2, and N3. Each of the sleep stages has its own distinct
migrations. pattern of brain activity (Dement & Kleitman, 1957).

Light also has a profound effect on humans. We are

more likely to experience depression during the dark
winter months than during the lighter summer months,
an experience known as seasonal affective disorder
(SAD), and exposure to bright lights can help reduce this
depression (McGinnis,
2007).
When we are awake, our brain activity is characterized Normally we will go through several cycles of REM and
by the presence of very fast beta waves. non-REM sleep each night. The length of the REM
When we first begin to fall asleep, the waves get longer portion of the cycle tends to increase through the night,
(alpha waves), and as we move into stage N1 sleep, from about 5 to 10 minutes early in the night to 15 to
which is characterized by the experience of drowsiness, 20 minutes shortly before awakening in the morning.
the brain begins to produce even slower theta waves. Dreams also tend to become more elaborate and vivid
During stage N1 sleep, some muscle tone is lost, as well as the night goes on. Eventually, as the sleep cycle
as most awareness of the environment. Some people finishes, the brain resumes its faster alpha and beta
may experience sudden jerks or twitches and even vivid waves and we awake, normally refreshed.
hallucinations during this initial stage of sleep.
Sleep Disorders: Problems in Sleeping
INSOMIA

it is defined as persistent difficulty falling or staying

asleep. Most cases of insomnia are temporary, lasting
from a few days to several weeks, but in some cases
insomnia can last for years.
Normally, if we are allowed to keep sleeping, we will Insomnia can result from physical disorders such as pain
move from stage N1 to stage N2 sleep. During stage N2, due to injury or illness, or from psychological problems
muscular activity is further decreased and conscious such as stress, financial worries, or relationship
awareness of the environment is lost. This stage difficulties. Changes in sleep patterns, such as jet lag,
typically represents about half of the total sleep time in changes in work shift, or even the movement to or from
normal adults. Stage N2 sleep is characterized by theta daylight savings time can produce insomnia.
waves interspersed with bursts of rapid brain activity
known as sleep spindles. The sleep they get is disturbed and nonrestorative, and
the lack of quality sleep produces impairment of
Stage N3, also known as slow wave sleep, is the functioning during the day.
deepest level of sleep, characterized by an increased The problem may be compounded by people’s anxiety
proportion of very slow delta waves. This is the stage in over insomnia itself: Their fear of being unable to sleep
which most sleep abnormalities, such as sleepwalking, may wind up keeping them awake. Some people may
sleeptalking, nightmares, and bed-wetting occur. also develop a conditioned anxiety to the bedroom or
the bed.
Some skeletal muscle tone remains, making it possible
for affected individuals to rise from their beds and People who have difficulty sleeping may turn to drugs to
engage in sometimes very complex behaviors, but help them sleep. Barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and
consciousness is distant. Even in the deepest sleep, other sedatives are frequently marketed and prescribed
however, we are still aware of the external world. as sleep aids, but they may interrupt the natural stages
If smoke enters the room or if we hear the cry of a baby of the sleep cycle, and in the end are likely to do more
we are likely to react, even though we are sound asleep. harm than good.
These occurrences again demonstrate the extent to
which we process information outside consciousness.
Sleep Apnea
People who are awakened during REM sleep almost
always report that they were dreaming, while those A sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing
awakened in other stages of sleep report dreams much that last at least 10 seconds during sleep.
less often. In addition to preventing restorative sleep, sleep apnea
can also cause high blood pressure and may raise the
REM sleep is also emotional sleep. Activity in the limbic risk of stroke and heart attack.
system, including the amygdala, is increased during
REM sleep, and the genitals become aroused, even if
the content of the dreams we are having is not sexual. Narcolepsy
It is a disorder characterized by extreme daytime
sleepiness with frequent episodes of “nodding off.”
The syndrome may also be accompanied by attacks of Dreams and Dreaming
cataplexy, in which the individual loses muscle tone,
resulting in a partial or complete collapse. Dreams are the succession of images, thoughts, sounds,
and emotions that passes through our minds while
sleeping. When people are awakened from REM sleep,
Somnambulism (sleepwalking) they normally report that they have been dreaming,
suggesting that people normally dream several times a
A disorder in which the person leaves the bed and night but that most dreams are forgotten on awakening.
moves around while still asleep. Sleepwalking is more The content of our dreams generally relates to our
common in childhood, with the most frequent everyday experiences and concerns, and frequently
occurrences around the age of 12 years. About 4% of our fears and failures.
adults experience somnambulism.

Sleep Terrors Freud's Dream Analysis

It is a disruptive sleep disorder, most frequently Freud used dream analysis to transform the manifest
experienced in childhood, that may involve loud content of dreams to the more important latent
screams and intense panic. The sufferer cannot wake content.
from sleep even though he or she is trying to. In
extreme cases, sleep terrors may result in bodily harm The manifest content of a dream is the surface meaning
or property damage as the sufferer moves about or the conscious description given by the dreamer,
abruptly. Up to 3% of adults suffer from sleep terrors, whereas the latent content refers to its unconscious
which typically occur in sleep stage N3. material.

The basic assumption of Freud’s dream analysis is that

Bruxism nearly all dreams are wish fulfillments. Some wishes are
obvious and are expressed through the manifest
This is when a person grinds his teeth during sleep; content, as when a person goes to sleep hungry and
restless legs syndrome, in which the sufferer reports an dreams of eating large quantities of delicious food.
itching, burning, or otherwise uncomfortable feeling in
his legs, usually exacerbated when resting or asleep;
and periodic limb movement disorder, which involves
sudden involuntary movement of limbs. The latter can
cause sleep disruption and injury for both the sufferer
and bed partner.