Chapter 5 States of Consciousness

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Chapter 5States of Consciousness
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Some Early Definitions

• Consciousness All the sensations, perceptions,
  memories, and feelings you are aware of in any
  instant
• Waking Consciousness Normal, clear, organized,
  alert awareness
• Altered State of Consciousness (ASC) Awareness
  that is distinctly different in quality or
  pattern from waking consciousness
• Consciousness is NOT an all-or-nothing
  phenomenonit exists on a continuum

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Sleep

• Definition Innate, biological rhythm
• Why do we sleep?
• What is happening in the brain during the various
  stages of sleep?

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Figure 5.2
FIGURE 5.2 Sleep rhythms. Bars show periods of
sleep during the fourth, fifth, and sixth weeks
of an experiment with a human subject. During
unscheduled periods, the subject was allowed to
select times of sleep and lighting. The result
was a sleep rhythm of about 25 hours. Notice how
this free-running rhythm began to advance around
the clock as they fell asleep later each day.
When periods of darkness (shaded area) were
imposed during the fifth week, the rhythm
quickly resynchronized with 24-hour days.
(Adapted from Czeisler, 1981.)
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Figure 5.3
FIGURE 5.3 Development of sleep patterns. Short
cycles of sleep and waking gradually become the
night-day cycle of an adult. While most adults
dont take naps, midafternoon sleepiness is a
natural part of the sleep cycle.
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Measuring Sleep Changes

• Electroencephalograph (EEG) Brain-wave machine
  amplifies and records electrical activity in the
  brain
• Beta Waves Small fast waves associated with
  alertness and being awake
• Alpha Waves Larger, slower waves associated with
  relaxation and just before falling asleep
• Delta waves Very large and slow waves associated
  with a move to deeper sleep and a further loss of
  consciousness.

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Stages of Sleep

• Stage 1 Small, irregular waves produced in light
  sleep (people may or may not say they were
  asleep)
• Hypnic Jerk Reflex muscle twitch throughout body
  that may occur in Stage 1
• Stage 2 Deeper sleep sleep spindles (bursts of
  distinctive brain-wave activity) appear
• Stage 3 Deeper sleep Delta waves appear very
  large and slow
• Stage 4 Deepest level of normal sleep almost
  purely Delta waves

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States of Sleep

• Rapid Eye Movements (REM) Associated with
  dreaming sleep is very light.
• Body is very still during REM sleep.
• Lack of muscle paralysis during REM sleep is
  called REM Behavioral Disorder.
• Non-REM (NREM) Sleep Occurs during stages 1, 2,
  3, and 4 no rapid eye movement occurs.
• Seems to help us recover from daily fatigue.

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Figure 5.6
FIGURE 5.6 (a) Average proportion of time adults
spend daily in REM sleep and NREM sleep. REM
periods add up to about 20 percent of total sleep
time. (b) Typical changes in stages of sleep
during the night. Notice that dreams mostly
coincide with REM periods.
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Sleep Disturbances

• Insomnia Difficulty in getting to sleep or
  staying asleep, or waking early
• Temporary Insomnia Brief period of sleeplessness
  caused by worry, stress, and excitement.
• Avoid fighting it and read a book, for example,
  until youre struggling to stay awake.
• Chronic Insomnia Exists if sleeping troubles
  last for more than three weeks.
• Adopt regular schedule go to bed at the same
  time each night, for example.

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Types and Causes of Insomnia

• Temporary Insomnia Brief period of sleeplessness
  caused by worry, stress, and excitement.
• Avoid fighting it and read a book, for example,
  until youre struggling to stay awake.
• Chronic Insomnia Exists if sleeping troubles
  last for more than three weeks.
• Adopt regular schedule go to bed at the same
  time each night, for example.
• Tryptophan Amino acid (chemical) that produces
  sleep.

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More Sleep Disturbances

• Sleepwalking (Somnambulism) Occurs in NREM sleep
  during Stages 3 and 4
• Sleeptalking Speaking while asleep occurs in
  NREM sleep

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Nightmares vs. Night terrors

• Nightmares Bad dreams
• Occur during REM sleep
• May occur once or twice a month brief and easily
  (unfortunately) remembered
• Imagery Rehearsal Mentally rehearse the changed
  dream before you go to sleep again may help to
  eliminate nightmares
• Night Terrors Total panic and hallucinations may
  occur
• Occurs during Stage 4 sleep
• Most common in childhood may occur in adults

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Physiological Sleep Problems

• Sleep Apnea Interrupted breathing during sleep
  cause of very loud snoring
• Hypersomnia Extreme daytime sleepiness
• Apnea can be treated by
• Surgery
• Weight loss
• Breathing mask
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS Crib Death)
  Sudden, unexplained death of healthy infant
  (infants should sleep on back or on side to try
  to prevent)

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Dreams

• REM Rebound Extra rapid eye movement sleep
  following REM sleep deprivation
• Psychodynamic (Freudian) Theory Emphasizes
  internal conflicts, motives, and unconscious
  forces
• Wish Fulfillment Freudian belief that many
  dreams are expressions of unconscious desires
• Manifest content vs. Latent content
• Dream Symbols Images that have a deeper symbolic
  meaning
• Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis Dream content
  may be affected by motor commands in the brain
  (that occur during sleep) that are not carried out

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Dream Interpretation Freud

• Four dream processes (mental filters) that hide
  true purposes of dreams
• Condensation Combining several people, objects,
  or events into a single dream image
• Displacement Directing emotions or actions
  toward safe or unimportant dream images
• Symbolization Expressing feelings or ideas
  symbolically in dreams not literal expression
• Secondary Elaboration Making a dream more
  logical and adding details while remembering it

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Dreams Perls

• Most dreams are a special message about what is
  missing in our lives, what we avoid doing when
  awake, or feelings that we need to re-own

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Lucid Dreaming

• Person feels fully awake within the dream and
  feels capable of normal thought and action

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Hypnosis

• Altered state of consciousness characterized by
  intensely narrowed attention and increased
  openness to suggestion
• Mesmer Believed he could cure diseases by
  passing magnets over body true animal
  magnetism (mesmerize means to hypnotize)
• Must cooperate to become hypnotized
• Hypnotic Susceptibility How easily a person can
  be hypnotizedthis is a stable, measurable trait

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Hypnosis Cans and Cannots

• Hypnosis CAN
• Help people relax
• Reduce pain
• Get people to make better progress in therapy
• Hypnosis CANNOT
• Produce acts of superhuman strength
• Produce age regression
• Force you to do things against your will

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Stage Hypnosis

• Simulation of hypnotic effects.
• Tricks of the Trade
• Waking Suggestibility People on stage do not
  want to spoil the act, so they will follow any
  instruction.
• Selection of Responsive Subjects Any volunteer
  who does not get hypnotized in the stage group
  and does not follow instructions is voted off.
• The Hypnosis Label Disinhibits On stage, once
  you are in a hypnotic trance, your
  responsibility for actions is removed you can do
  whatever you want!

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More Stage Hypnosis Tricks of the Trade

• Hypnotist as Director Once they are in a trance,
  the volunteers are suddenly the shows stars,
  and they will act like it. The hypnotists only
  need to direct them.
• Stage Hypnotists Use Tricks Stage hypnosis is
  50 deception and 50 taking advantage of the
  situation

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Meditation

• Mental exercise designed to produce relaxation or
  heightened awareness
• Concentrative Meditation Attention is paid to a
  single focal point (i.e., object, thought, etc.)
• Produces relaxation response and thus works to
  reduce stress
• Receptive Meditation Based on widening attention
  span to become aware of everything experienced at
  a given moment
• Mantra Word(s) or sound(s) repeated silently
  during concentrative meditation
• Relaxation Response Occurs at time of
  relaxation internal response that prevents
  activation of adrenal glands

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Sensory Deprivation (SD)

• Any major reduction in amount or variety of
  sensory stimulation
• Benefits
• Sensory enhancement
• Relaxation
• Changing habits
• REST Restricted Environmental Stimulation
  Theory Makes it easier to change bad habits

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Figure 5.10
FIGURE 5.10 A sensory isolation chamber. Small
flotation tanks like the one pictured have been
used by psychologists to study the effects of
mild sensory deprivation. Subjects float in
darkness and silence. The shallow
body-temperature water contains hundreds of
pounds of Epsom salts, so that subjects float
near the surface. Mild sensory deprivation
produces deep relaxation.
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Drugs and Altered States of Consciousness

• Psychoactive Drug Substance capable of altering
  attention, judgment, memory, time sense,
  self-control, emotion, or perception
• Stimulant Substance that increases activity in
  body and nervous system
• Depressant Substance that decreases activity in
  body and nervous system

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Figure 5.11
FIGURE 5.11 Spectrum and continuum of drug
action. Many drugs can be rated on a
stimulation-depression scale according to their
effects on the central nervous system. Although
LSD, mescaline, and marijuana are listed here,
the stimulation depression scale is less
relevant to these drugs. The principal
characteristic of such hallucinogens is their
mind-altering quality.
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Physical Dependence

• Physical Dependence Addiction based on drug
  tolerance and withdrawal symptoms
• Drug Tolerance Reduction in bodys response to a
  drug
• Withdrawal Symptoms Physical illness following
  withdrawal of the drug

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Psychological Dependence

• Psychological Dependence Drug dependence based
  on psychological or emotional needs
• Usually crave drug
• Can be as powerful as physiological addiction

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Stimulants (Uppers)

• Amphetamine Synthetic stimulants that excite
  nervous system
• Dexedrine and Methamphetamine are two types of
  stimulants
• Amphetamine Psychosis Loss of contact with
  reality because of amphetamine use user tends to
  have paranoid delusions

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Cocaine

• Central Nervous System stimulant derived from
  leaves of coca plant also used as local
  anesthetic
• From 1886-1906, Coca-Cola did indeed have cocaine
  in it!
• Highly addictive drug
• Anhedonia (Inability to Feel Pleasure) Common
  after cocaine withdrawal

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Designer Drugs

• Chemically engineered version of an existing
  drug made to skirt drug laws
• MDMA (Ecstasy) Chemically similar to
  amphetamine created by small variations in a
  drugs structure
• Risks of using MDMA are unclear
• May cause severe liver damage
• Repeated use damages serotonergic brain cells

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Caffeine

• Most frequently used psychoactive drug in North
  America present in colas, chocolate, coffee, tea
• Causes hand tremors, sweating, talkativeness,
  tinnitus, suppresses fatigue or sleepiness,
  increases alertness
• May be hazardous to pregnant women if used
  excessively
• Caffeinism Physiological dependence on caffeine
• Symptoms Insomnia, irritability, loss of
  appetite, chills, racing heart, elevated body
  temperature

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Nicotine

• Natural stimulant found mainly in tobacco known
  carcinogen
• May cause stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea,
  confusion, tremors
• Addictive
• Responsible for 97 of lung cancer deaths in men,
  74 in women
• Sum DONT SMOKE SMOKING KILLS (SO DOES CHEWING
  TOBACCO)

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Sedatives Barbiturates

• Barbiturates Sedative drugs that depress brain
  activity
• Seconal and Amytal are two types

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Sedatives Tranquilizers

• Tranquilizers Lower anxiety and reduce tension
• Valium, Xanax, and Librium are three types
• Rohypnol Related to Valium lowers inhibitions
  and produces relaxation or intoxication. Larger
  doses can induce short-term amnesia and sleep
• Date rape drug because its odorless and
  tasteless
• Drug Interaction One drug increases the effect
  of another

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GHB

• GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate) Central Nervous
  System (CNS) depressant that relaxes and sedates
  combination of degreasing solvent and drain
  cleaner
• Sedative effects may result in nausea, loss of
  muscle control, and either sleep or a loss of
  consciousness
• Inhibits gag reflex, so some choke to death on
  their own vomit
• Addictive and deadly

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Alcohol

• Ethyl Alcohol Intoxicating element in fermented
  and distilled liquors
• NOT a stimulant but DOES lower inhibitions
• Depressant
• Binge Drinking Consuming five or more drinks in
  a short time four or more for women
• Serious sign of alcohol abuse

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Figure 5.12
FIGURE 5.12 The behavioral effects of alcohol
are related to blood alcohol content and the
resulting suppression of higher mental function.
Arrows indicate the typical threshold for legal
intoxication in the United States.
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How a Drinking Problem May Develop (Jellinek,
1960)

• Initial Phase Social drinker turns to alcohol to
  relieve tension or feel good
• Crucial Phase Person begins to lose control over
  drinking
• Chronic Phase Person is now alcohol dependent

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Treatment for Alcohol Abuse and Dependence

• Detoxification Withdrawal of the person from
  alcohol occurs in a medical setting and is
  tightly controlled often necessary before
  long-term treatment begins

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Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Worldwide self-help
  organization composed of recovering alcoholics
  emphasizes admitting powerlessness over alcohol
  usage and wanting to recover.
• Spiritual component
• Free around for over 70 years!

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Some Hallucinogens

• Hallucinogen Substance that alters or distorts
  sensory perceptions
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Hallucinogen
  that can produce hallucinations and other
  psychotic symptoms
• Mescaline (Peyote) and Psilocybin (Magic
  Mushrooms)
• PCP (Angel Dust) Initially can have
  hallucinogenic effects also an anesthetic and
  has stimulant and depressant effects

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Marijuana

• Cannabis Sativa (Marijuana Pot) Leaves and
  flowers of the hemp plant
• Active chemical THC
• Effects Relaxation, time distortion, perceptual
  distortions
• Psychologically, NOT physiologically, addictive

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Some Health Risks of Using Marijuana

• Causes precancerous changes in lung cells.
• Can suppress immune system, perhaps increasing
  risk of disease.
• Activity levels in the cerebellum are lower than
  normal in pot users.
• Pot may damage some of the brains memory
  centers.