Chapter 4

Consciousness
LECTURE OUTLINE
• Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythm
• Dreaming
• Sleep Disorders
• Hypnosis
• Meditation & Mindfulness
• Psychoactive Drugs
What is consciousness?

• Our moment-to-moment awareness of our self and our

environment
• The extent to which we are aware of our thoughts, feelings,
aroused states, and our surroundings
• Different levels of consciousness
Sleep, Dreaming, and
Circadian Rhythm
Functions of Sleep
• If we don’t sleep for long enough, we may start to experience
involuntary microsleeps
• Functions of sleep
• Restoration of body tissue and promoting growth
• Helping increase our immune functioning
• Keeping the mind alert
• Enhancing mood
• Promoting advances in cognition, learning, and memory
Variations in How Much Sleep We Need

• Different factors influence

amount of sleep each person
needs
• Age
• Lifestyle (environment)
• Genetics: night owl or morning
lark?
Circadian Rhythms

• Schedule that body follows naturally for basic

functions like sleep, waking, and eating.
• Body tends to operate on rotating 24- to 25-hour
cycle called circadian rhythm
• Controlled by suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of
hypothalamus (like body’s internal alarm clock).
• Amount of light around us affects how SCN
triggers release of hormone called melatonin.
• Without natural light people’s natural cycles run a
bit longer than 24-25 hours.
• Light is needed to “re-set” the clock each day.
The Stages of Sleep

• EEG patterns
• Non-REM and REM activity
• Possible functions
 Stages of Sleep: Waking

• Three types of brain activity:

• Beta: truly wakeful state
• Alpha: awake but relaxed state
• Gamma: processing sensory input
 Alert Wakefulness: Beta Waves

Alpha waves Beta waves

• Observed mainly in people who are awake and

alert
• Probably show active brain handling sensory
processing and active, conscious thinking.
Relaxed Wakefulness: Alpha Waves

Alpha waves Beta waves

• Observed in people who are awake, but relaxed

and perhaps a bit drowsy or understimulated
• Alpha waves reflect a decrease in stimulation
and associated brain activity
Stage 1 Sleep: Theta Waves

Theta waves

• Muscles relax
• Less responsive to stimuli in environment
• Appear to be asleep but may be in intermediate
state sometimes called “twilight” sleep
• If wakened may say they were not asleep at all
Stage 2 Sleep: K-Complexes and Sleep Spindles

Sleep spindle K-complex

• Slow, regular theta waves but interrupted by disturbances,

called K-complexes and sleep spindles
• May reflect brain’s attempt to monitor environment while still
allowing one to fall asleep
• Most likely to talk in sleep during this stage
Stages 3-4 Sleep: Delta Waves

• Combination of theta and delta waves

• Muscles fully relaxed, heart rate slows
Delta waves
dramatically
• People mostly unresponsive to their
surroundings
• By stage 4 of sleep EEG signal is mostly delta
Delta waves
waves.
• Deeply asleep; very difficult waking up; may
sleepwalk
• Stages 3 and 4 especially important for
healing and repairing body, as joint and
muscle damage is fixed and immune system
activation peaks.
 REM Sleep

Beta waves

• Mix of sleep and waking:

• Appears asleep but brain activity same as wide awake (beta waves)
• Dreaming occurs only during REM sleep
• Eyes move back/forth as though person were looking around
• Heart rate & blood pressure increase
• Major muscles paralyzed
• REM sleep esp. important for brain development and memory
consolidation
• REM rebound: When people
• lose REM sleep they make up for it by spending more time in REM
sleep on subsequent nights.
Brain Wave Activity and Sleep

Hours of sleep
Features of Wakefulness and Sleep
 Dreams

• Freud’s wish fulfillment theory:

• Dreams help us explore urges or resolve conflicts in safe, no-consequence setting
• Dreams have two levels of content, manifest, latent
• Dreams can be interpreted for their unconscious messages
• Continuity hypothesis:
• Dreams help us deal with the daily problems and issues of life
• Memory theory:
• During sleep, dreams help consolidate memories from our waking hours
• Activation synthesis model:
• Dreams have no deeply held symbolic meeting
• Just by-product of electrical activity that happens in the brain while we sleep
• Threat simulation theory (TST):
• Dreams let us practice our responses to dangerous situations in risk-free environment
 Sleep Disorders

In sleep disorders the cycles of consciousness become dysregulated

Insomnia

• Unable to get the sleep you need, despite trying to do so.

• Onset insomnia:
• Trouble falling asleep
• Often related to stress and anxiety.
• Maintenance insomnia:
• Trouble staying asleep
• May be caused by substance abuse or some psychological disorders as well as stress.
 Narcolepsy and Cataplexy

• Narcolepsy and cataplexy involve elements of sleep that intrude into waking
• Narcolepsy:
• People suddenly go to REM sleep directly from wakefulness
• Cataplexy:
• Muscle paralysis that accompanies REM sleep; occurs suddenly, although the person is still fully
alert.
• Both narcolepsy and cataplexy can be triggered by strong emotion, including sexual activity.
Sleep Apnea

• Breathing can stop for minute or more before body’s alarms wake sleeper
• People who are very overweight and/or who snore heavily may unknowingly move
into position that blocks airway
• Some sleep apnea patients have problems with brainstem neurons that maintain
breathing during sleep
 Night Terrors

• Night terrors are not nightmares

• Night terrors occur during transition from Stage 4 sleep to REM sleep
• Person is not dreaming and is not yet paralyzed
• Night terrors involve intense fear and distressed behaviour without dream content
of nightmares
Restless Leg Syndrome
(RLS)
• Neurological movement disorder occurring
primarily at night
• Person has unpleasant sensations (tingling,
aching, etc.) in legs and irresistible urge to
move them to relieve the discomfort
• May include periodic limb movement (PLMS)
• Involuntary leg twitches or jerking
movements, occurring roughly every 15
to 40 seconds, sometimes throughout
night
• Symptoms severely disrupt sleep.
Sleepwalking (somnambulism)
• Occurs during non-REM slow-wave sleep
• Sleeper gets up, walks around during deep sleep
• Sometimes performs actions that make them appear to be awake,
e.g., cook, eat, open doors, have conversation
Enuresis (bedwetting)
• Diagnosed when child who is at least 5 years old wets their bed or pajamas
at least twice a week over a 3-month period
• Perhaps heritable; also occurs during times of stress, change
• Most children outgrow bedwetting
 Hypnosis

• State of heightened suggestibility and relaxation

• Willingness to follow instructions
• Not everyone can be hypnotized
Theories of Hypnosis
Two main theories of how hypnosis works:
• Neodissociation theory (Hilgard):
• There are two states occurring at the same
time:
• “Self” in hypnotic state
• Hidden observer who can see everything that is
going on
• Could be extension of normal dissociation
periods (e.g., daydreaming).
• Response Set theory:
• We are not really in altered state but rather
are behaving in way we think we should
when hypnotized—acting out a role
Meditation
• Try to enhance positive emotions by letting go of conscious thought
• Meditation techniques include focusing on one’s breathing, focusing on specific
object, sound, or word, focusing on feelings of love and kindness toward others
• Mindfulness:
• Form of meditation that involves being focused and aware of present moment
• Practice meditation activities
• EEG recordings suggest meditation produces state like relaxed wakefulness, with
increased alpha-wave activity
• Very practiced meditators may show some theta waves, similar to Stage 1 sleep
Psychoactive Drugs
Substances that influence brain and
thereby person’s behaviours
Psychoactive Drugs, Tolerance and Substance Use
Disorder
• Tolerance:
• When a person requires more of drug to get same effect
• Margin of safety:
• Difference between safe dose and potentially harmful dose becomes smaller as tolerance develops
• Drug’s too-high, toxic dose differs little from its too-low, ineffectual dose (easier to overdose)
• Withdrawal symptoms:
• Negative physical and behavioural effects when drug use stops
• Substance use disorder:
• When person cannot control their drug use and continues to use drug despite negative social,
occupational, health consequences, risky use, and there’s evidence of tolerance
• Addiction:
• Physical or psychological dependence on drug that has become problematic enough to rise to a
diagnostic level
Hallucinogens
• Class of drugs that produce hallucinations, or false perceptions
• LSD/“acid”, mushrooms, mescaline
• Marijuana
• Causes distorted sense of time and place as well as mild euphoria
• Some medicinal effects when taken in small dosages
• Can produce hallucinations at high doses
Stimulants
• Change consciousness by increasing energy and alertness
• Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, amphetamines (prescription drugs), tik
(crystal meth)
• MDMA (a.k.a. ecstasy or molly) has both hallucinogenic and stimulant properties
• Moderate doses of these drugs produce alertness, energy, and confidence
• Higher doses can lead to hallucinations and delusions like those in schizophrenia
• Because these drugs act directly on reward circuits of the brain, they are highly addictive
 Depressants
• Drugs that inhibit or slow down normal neural functioning
• Most widely used is alcohol
• Can lead to disastrous (even fatal) consequences if consumed in large quantities.
• Adults: can cause Korsakoff’s syndrome
• Developing fetuses: can cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Opiates
• Drugs derived from the seed pods of poppies
• Reduce pain signals
• E.g., morphine, codeine, heroin, opium, nyaope (Whoonga)
• Imitate endorphins, neurotransmitters that act as the brain’s natural painkillers
• At low doses, opiates have effects similar to those of depressants, as well as pain relief
• At higher doses opiates produce sense of euphoria
• Because these drugs slow breathing, overdoses can be deadly
• Both prescription and illegal opiates are highly addictive