Levels of ConsciousnessConsciousness and Sleep

Types of Awareness• Types of awareness that make up our

consciousness:– External Sensory perception• Awareness of the sights, sounds tastes,

smells and touch sensations around us.• “The Spring flowers are really beautiful, and

they smell so good.”

– Internal Sensory Perception• The ability to internally experience sensory

information from something you remember or things you imagine• John, “I remember when I broke my leg. I

can still feel the terrible pain.” Tom, “I have never broken any bones, but it hurts just thinking of it

Types of Awareness• Types cont’d– Abstract Awareness• Thoughts, ideas or emotions about which we

are conscious, but are not sensory perceptions.• “The yellow ribbons on the cars remind me

that people are fighting in Iraq, and they need our support.”

– Awareness of Self• You are aware of yourself as an individual,

different from other people and objects.• “Even though all my siblings love going to

the movies, I would rather stay home and read a good history book.”

Chronobiology• Chronobiology– The Study of the effects of time on life

processes• Biological clock– A tiny piece of brain tissue located near the

intersection of the optic nerves from each eye that programs activities in the body to occur at different times during the daily cycle.

– The part of the body that causes you to get tired at a certain time, awake at a certain time, get hungry at a certain time

– Jet lag, shift work and college life are examples of things that will “throw off” your biological clock

– Almost always linked to some type of light sensing cells, why?

Chronobiology• Circadian Rhythms– The body’s cycle of natural functions

such as:• Sleeping • Waking• Temperature• Blood pressure

– The natural cycle is at 25 hours, but we force our bodies to fit the 24 hour cycle of light and darkness

• Entrainment– Altering a natural cycle to fit a different

rhythm

Sleep• Quiet Sleep NREM (non REM)– 4 stages take up 75% of sleep time

1. Pulse slows, muscles relax, breathing uneven, brain waves irregular (about 10 min)

2. Eyes roll slowly from side to side (about 30 min)

3. Large amplitude delta waves sweep brain every second or so.

4. Deepest sleep, “state of oblivion.” • May talk out loud, sleepwalk, bed-wet, night

terrors• Important to your physical and psychological

well-being

Sleep• Active Sleep:– REM sleep – About 10 min the first time• Pulse rate and breathing irregular• Adrenal and sexual hormone levels in blood

rise• Face and fingers may twitch• Large muscles in arms and legs are

paralyzed• Brain waves like those when awake• Almost all dreams take place in this stage

• Cycle repeats about every 90 minutes• Each time length of stage 4 gets

shorter and REM increases

Why Do We Dream?• Physiological reasons

– We dream in order to exercise the synapses• When we are awake our brain is in constant motion –

synapses constantly fire• When we sleep our dreams maintain that function

• Psychological reasons– Dreams deal with immediate concerns in our life

• Unfinished business from the day• Concerns we are incapable of dealing with during the day

– Dreams can actually teach us something about ourselves that we are unaware of

• Some say that it is a culmination of all your thoughts and feelings from the day

• Some say it is to relieve us from the stress of the day so we can wake up stress free and relaxed

• Dreams have no function what-so-ever