Consciousness & Sleep 2

Do you remember your dreams? Recalling Dreams • 37% percipients have reported rarely or never remember their dreams (Moore, 2004) • 80% of individuals can recall dreams if they are awakened during REM (Sicarli et al., 2017) Disrupting Sleep Patterns • Bright light activates the circadian clock • Triggers a portion (suprachiasmatic nucleus) of the hypothalamus to produce the sleep-inducing hormone of melatonin • Being bathed or deprived of light disrupts our 24-hour biological clock Why do we sleep? • Sleep protects (evolutionary principle of staying out of harms’ way at night) • Sleep helps us recuperate • Restore and rebuild our fading memories of the day’s experiences • Sleep consolidates memories by replaying recent learning experiences and strengthening neural connections • Racing anxious thoughts from the previous day only at night? • Feeds creative thinking • Supports growth (i.e., hormones necessary for muscle development) Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Disorders • Sleep loss • Increased hunger-arousing hormone and decreased hunger-suppressing hormone • Increased stress hormone that makes the body make fat • Decreased energy rate • Disrupted gene expression which increases risk for heart disease • Increased limbic brain responses for food and decreased cortical responses that help with impulse control Major Sleep Disorders Major Sleep Disorders Dreams REM Dreams • Often vivid, emotional, and bizarre (Loftus & Ketcham, 1994) • Content of Dreams • • • • Trauma and dreams Musician's dreams Blind people’s dreams Media experiences and dreams Why We Dream • Dreams are manifest content which is the censored symbolic version of tis latent content, the unconscious drives and wishes that would be a threat if expressed directly Other Dream Theories • File away memories • Develop and preserve neural pathways • Make sense of neural static • Cognitive development • Either way, we must have REM Sleep • When deprived of REM, the body re-attempts to enter REM each time known as REM rebound Drugs and Consciousness Psychoactive (Psychotropic) Drugs • Chemical substances that alter a person’s mental state by affecting the brain and nervous system • Depressants • Stimulants • Hallucinogens Depressants • Alcohol • Slowed neural processing • Moderate drinking led by heavy drinking can depress the vomiting response and lead to alcohol poisoning • Memory disruption • Alcohol suppresses REM sleep • Reduced self-awareness • Expectancy effects (just presuming that you are drinking can have an affect) • Barbiturates (tranquilizers) • Impair memory and judgement • Opiates (Heroin, OxyContin, Vicodin) • With repeated use, the brain stops producing endorphins altogether making them highly addictive Stimulants • Excites neural activity and speeds up body functions • Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamine • Addiction often comes from avoidance of the fatigue, headaches, irritability, and depression that comes from going without • Vaping (nicotine) without the cancer-causing tar • Fastest drug use increase on record (Miech et al., 2019) • In 2019, US high school students used e-cigarettes at five times the rate of traditional cigarettes • Cocaine operates on the reuptake portion of neurotransmitters preventing the reuptake of dopamine and serotonin leading to a euphoric rush Hallucinogens • Distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of the sensory input • LSD, MDMA (Molly), Ecstasy • Whether due to drugs, loss of oxygen, or extreme sensory deprivation, the brain hallucinates in the same way • Begins with geometric forms, replay emotional experiences, and separation of self • Produces similar altered states of conscious as to a near-death experience • Marijuana (THC), Mild hallucinogenic • Research indicates it can alleviate chronic pain and chemo-therapy related nausea • Not associated with tobacco-related disease such as lung cancer • Predicts increased risk of traffic accidents, chronic bronchitis, psychosis, social anxiety, and suicidal thoughts • Impaired attention, learning, memory and academic underachievement Biological, Psychological, Social Influences • Genetic predispositions • Variations in neurotransmitters • Lacking sense of purpose • Significant stress • Mental health disorders such as depression • Peer influences • Difficult environment • Cultural acceptance of drug use