What is consciousness? Defining Consciousness • Subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment States of Consciousness Some states occur spontaneously Daydreaming Dreaming Some states are physiologically induced Hallucinations Food or Oxygen Starvation Some states are psychologically induced Hypnosis Meditation Hypnosis • Altered state of consciousness by leveraging restricted attention and involves changes in perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors Artificial Intelligence • Great progress has been made yet, we still are unable to make a conscious robot • Cognitive neuroscience links the brain activity with our mental processes, relating specific brain states to conscious experiences Evidence of awareness? Owen et al., 2017a; 2006 If we can have awareness, then we can have selective attention. Selective Attention • Awareness focuses • Like a flashlight beam on a minute aspect of all that we experience • Our five senses take in 11,000,000 bits of information per second, of which we consciously process about 40 (Wilson, 2002) • However, our mind’s unconscious tracks intuitively makes great use of the other 10,999,960 bits Selective Attention and the Digital Age • 60% of American drivers, read or sent a text message or viewed a phone map while driving in the last month (Gliklich et al., 2016) • Our selective attention shifts more than we realize (Stavrinos et al., 2017) • One study left people in a room for 28 minutes with both internet and television access. • On average people guessed their attention switched 15 times; however, eye tracking software indicated that on average their attention shifted 120 times (Brasel & Gips, 2011) • Rapid toggling between activities is today’s great enemy for sustained focused attention. Selective Attention and the Digital Age • Rapid toggling between activities is today’s great enemy for sustained focused attention • The more we mindlessly check our phone, the more we’re distracted from our everyday tasks (Marty-Dugas et al., 2018) Inattentional Blindness • Blind to all but even a tiny sliver of visual stimuli • Seminal study (Becklen & Cervone, 1983; Neissser 1979) • 1-min video of basketball players with white and black shirts and to focus on the black shirts • Failed to notice a woman carrying an umbrella across the screen • Extends to inattentional numbness • E.g., pickpocketers • Attention is given to one thing at a time Inattentional bias: Change Blindness Dual Processing: The Two-Track Mind • Dual processing: Perception, memory, thinking, language, and attitudes all operate on two independent levels • Conscious: Deliberate “high road” • Unconscious: Automatic “low road” Explain how you merge right? Eagleman, 2011 Dual Processing • Unconscious Parallel processing: Enables your mind to take care of routine business • Faster than conscious sequential processing • Conscious Sequential processing: Best for solving problems which requires our focused attention on one thing at at time • Try it! • Move your right foot in a smooth counterclockwise circle and write the number 3 repeatedly with your right hand OR • Tap a steady beat 3 times with your left hand while tapping 4 times with your right hand Sleep & Dreams Sleep Defined • A condition of body and mind that typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended Test your sleep knowledge (T/F) T/F. When people dream of performing some activity, their limbs often move in concert with the dream T/F. Older adults sleep more than young adults T/F. Sleepwalkers are acting out their dreams T/F. Sleep experts recommend treating insomnia with an occasional sleeping pill. T/F. Some people dream every night; others seldom dream. “Dead to the world” • Even in a deep sleep, your perceptual window is open • You move around your bed but manage to not fall out • The sound of your name can cause your unconscious body to perk up • EEG recordings confirm that the brain’s auditory cortex responds to stimuli (Kutas, 1990) • Similar to when you are awake, you process most information outside your conscious awareness Biological Rhythms and Sleep • Circadian rhythm: Internal biological clock which is roughly synchronized on a 24-hour cycle • Morning: Body temperature rises, peaks during the day • Mid afternoon: Body temperature dips for a time (when most people need naps or caffeinated beverages) • Evening: Body temperature drops again • Thinking and memory improves as we approach our daily peak in circadian arousal • Ever pulled an all night? Get a second wind? Age & Sleep • Most 20-year-olds tend to be evening energized with performance improving across the day • As you age, you energy wanes and you look forward to sleep. • Sleep becomes more fragile and more energy is experienced in the morning • “Night owls” tend to be smart, creative, and hard-working • “Morning types” tend do better in school, take initiative, be punctual, and be less vulnerable to depression (Giampietro & Cavallera, 2007; Schmidt et al., 2009; Preckel et al., 2013; Randler, 2008, 2009; Werner et al., 2015) Sleep Stages • Cycle through distinct sleep stages about every 90 mins • Alpha waves: awake but relaxed state • N1(Non-REM1): slowed breathing and irregular brain waves • Hallucinations (sensory experiences without a sensory stimulus; e.g., sudden sense of falling) • N2: bursts of brain-wave activity that aid memory processing, you could be awakened easily, but clearly asleep (20 min) Hallucinations while sleeping • Hypnagogic experiences: sensations that later become incorporated into your memories • People who claim they were abducted by aliens- often shortly after getting into bed- commonly recall being floated off or pinned down on their beds (Clancy, 2005; McNally, 2012) • N3 (Delta waves): Hard to awaken (may miss storm noises, children most often wet the bed during this stage of sleep) (30 min) • Rapid Eye Movement (REM): Rapid and saw-tooth brain waves, heartrate raises, breathing becomes rapid and irregular, every half-minute or so your closed eyes dart around in bursts of activity • Eye movements indicate onset of dream, usually emotional and story-like • REM sleep tricks your brain into responding as if dreams were real REM Sleep • Brain’s motor cortex is active, but your brainstem blocks its messages • This leaves muscles relaxed so much so that except for an occasional finger, toe, or facial twitch, you are essentially paralyzed • Sleep paralysis: immobility lingering after you have awaken from REM sleep REM as Paradoxical Sleep • Body is internally aroused with walking-like brain activity, yet asleep and externally calm • 600 hours a year experience some 1500 dreams and more than 100,000 dreams over a typical lifetime • Dreams not acted out thanks to REM’s protective paralysis 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

Consciousness & Sleep 1

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