Sleep and Dreams

Physical, Mental, and Behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour schedule

• responds to light and dark affects most living things (animals, plants, microbes, etc.)

What is the correlation between a person's age and the # of hours they need to sleep?

What are some symptoms of sleep deprivation?

• stage between being awake and asleep

• sleep is light and easily interrupted

• slow-down in brain/muscle activity

• some people experience falling sensation with sudden muscle jerks

• first stage of true sleep, but still light

• slow-down in heart rate/breathing

• More slow-down in brain wave activity

• Unaware of surroundings

• sudden, rapid bursts of brain activity called "Sleep Spindles" (muscles become relaxed)

• IMPORTANT: Stage of tissue regeneration and release of Growth Hormones

• Deep Sleep

• Slow brain waves "Delta Waves" interspersed w/smaller, faster waves

• More slow-down of heart rate/breathing

• Decrease in blood pressure

• Muscles relax

• If awakened, groggy/disoriented

• IMPORTANT: Stage of Dreaming and Memory Consolidation (processing and integrating new info)

• Limbs paralyzed, eyes move back and forth behind eyelids

• Increase in blood pressure

• Speed-up of heart rate/breathing

• INTENSE brain activity (fast and irregular)

REM is called ______ because it involves seemingly contradictory states of an ACTIVE mind and a ~sleeping~ body.

a phenomenon in which a person temporarily receives longer and more intense REM sleep than usual. Often triggered by sleep deprivation.

A theory to explain sleep: "NREM = physiological restoration REM = mental restoration"

Evidence:

• REM duration increase after sleep deprivation and physical activity

• Rate of cell division and protein synthesis increases during sleep

• brain flushes out waste toxins through glymphatic system during sleep

A theory to explain sleep: "Periods of activity/inactivity evolved as a means of conserving energy and sleeping during dangerous times"

Evidence:

• animals w/few predators sleep 12-15 hrs

• animals w/many predators sleep 4-5 hrs

A theory to explain sleep: "people sleep in order to process info that has been acquired during day and to prep for next day"

Evidence:

• sleep helps cement new info into long-term memory

• sleep deprivation = decreased ability to recall/remember info

A theory to explain dreams: "dreams provide safety valve to discharge unconscious wants and desires"

In the Wish Fulfillment Theory:

___ = the storyline you actually remember

In the Wish Fulfillment Theory:

___ = the underlying meaning of the dream

A theory to explain dreams: "Dreams may help sift, sort and fix the day's experiences in our memories"

A theory to explain dreams: "Dreams provide sleeping brain with periodic stimulation to develop and preserve neural pathways"

A theory to explain dreams: "Brain engages in a lot of RANDOM neural activity. Dreams make sense of this random activity" (AKA dreams are the brain's interpretations of its own random activity)

A theory to explain dreams: "Dreams are a part of brain maturation and cognitive development"

Evidence:

• when deprived of REM, REM rebound occurs when finally get to sleep

NREM 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM

difficulty falling/staying asleep

• slow energy

• difficulty concentrating

• fatigue

• could stem from depression, anxiety, stress, or pain

irregular sleep-wake cycles

• sleepiness

• cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle control when awake and fully conscious. triggered by strong emotions like joy, anger ==> knees buckling, jaw drops, falling, twitching)

• Sleep Attacks

• insomnia

breathing starts and stops

3 types:

1. obstructive

• throat muscles relax --> airway closes and breathing cut off temporarily

2. central

• brain doesn't send proper signals to breathing muscles during sleep

3. complex

• combination of both 1 and 2 types

sleep walking (eating, dressing, or urinating while asleep)

• occurs during NREM 4

moving or acting out dreams

• people with this disorder should, but don't, have their limbs paralyzed during REM

• that's why they are able to kick, punch, fight while dreaming (REM)

• treatment: sedatives, melatonin

screaming, fear, flailing while in deep sleep

• unable to recall upon waking

• able to flail around and show terror (occurs during NREM 3 so limbs aren't paralyzed)

Symptoms: fatigue, mood changes, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations __ = when someone doesn't get enough sleep

the difference between the amount of sleep one needs (owes their body) and the amount one gets as debt builds, brain/body function deteriorates

unintentional sleeping during the day

• person is UNAWARE of it

• dangerous because can happen anytime (when driving, or operating machinery)

• cause: drowsiness symptoms resulting from other disorders like apnea and narcolepsy

= a state of relaxation

• focused attention

• increased imagination

“hypnosis is a result of divided consciousness"“

• separation of the subject’s experience from their awareness

• ex. holding hand in ice bucket, they’re aware of the pain, but just no experiencing it in this state of hypnosis

suggestion during hypnosis → person does it after hypnotic trance

What can Hypnosis DO?

= when subjects are made to forget the hypnotic session afterwards

What can Hypnosis NOT DO?