Unit 5

States of
Consciousness
 Consciousness is…
▪ alertness; being awake
vs. being unconscious In the text, consciousness
is defined as:
▪ self-awareness; the
ability to think about “our awareness of
self ourselves and our
environment.”
▪ having free will; being
able to make a
“conscious” decision
▪ a person’s mental Aren’t animals aware of their
content, thoughts, and environment?
imaginings If so, is our awareness different?...
To explore the nature of Possibly…because we have
consciousness, it helps to (uniquely?) a narrative experience
first choose a definition. of that awareness.
 States of Consciousness
According to Freud, there are three levels of consciousness:

Conscious: this is the part of the mind that holds what you’re
aware of. You can verbalize about your conscious experience
and you can think about it in a logical fashion.

Preconscious: ordinary memory. So although things stored

here are not in the conscious, they can be readily brought into
the consciousness.

Unconscious: the part of the mind is not directly accessible to

awareness.
 Freud’s Views
• Freud said that the unconscious mind had an
especially important role in our relationships.

• He said we chose mates who are, on an

unconscious level, just substitutes for our
fathers and mothers.
Forms of Consciousness
 Daydreaming
• Daydreaming: A common (and quite normal) variation of
consciousness in which attention shifts to memories,
expectations, desires or fantasies and away from the
immediate situation.
• Most people daydream everyday, however, it is much more
common amongst younger adults.
• Daydreams serve valuable functions such as planning and
problem solving.

Brain scans of a
wondering mind
Sleep and
Biological
Rhythms

▪ 24 hour biological
“clock”
▪ 90 minute sleep
cycle
Sleep as a State of Consciousness
When sleeping, are we fully
unconscious and “dead to How Do We Learn About
the world”? Sleep and Dreams?
Or is the window to ▪ We can monitor EEG/brain
consciousness open? waves and muscle
movements during sleep.
Consider that: ▪ We can expose the
▪ we move around, but how do sleeping person to noise
we stop ourselves from falling and words, and then
out of bed? examine the effects on the
▪ we sometimes incorporate brain (waves) and mind
real-world noises into our (memory).
dreams. ▪ We can wake people and
▪ some noises (our own baby’s see which mental state
cry) wake us more easily than (e.g. dreaming) goes with
others. which brain/body state.
 3 Main Biological Rhythms
• Circadian Rhythms: Occur once during a 24
hour period.
– Ex. The sleep-wake cycle.

• Ultradian Rhythms: Occur more than once a

day.
– Ex. The various stages of sleep each night.

• Infradian Rhythms: Occur once a month or a

season.
– Ex. Bears hibernating.
 Daily Rhythms and Sleep
The circadian (“about a “Larks” and “Owls”
day”) rhythm refers to the Daily rhythms vary from
body’s natural 24-hour cycle, person to person and with
roughly matched to the age.
day/night cycle of light and General peaks in alertness:
dark. ▪ evening peak—20-year
old “owls”
▪ morning peak—50-year
old “larks”
What changes during the 24
hours?
Over the 24 hour cycle, the
following factors vary, rising
and falling over the course of
the day and night:
▪ body temperature
▪ arousal/energy
▪ mental sharpness
Sleep Stages and Sleep Cycles:
What is Measured?
 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.
• Sleep spindles - short bursts of brain activity that characterize
stage 2 NREM sleep.
• K complex - single but large high-voltage spike of brain activity
that characterizes stage 2 NREM sleep.
Stages and Cycles of Sleep

Sleep stages refer to distinct patterns There

are
of brain waves and muscle activity that four
are associated with different types of types
consciousness and sleep. of
sleep.

Sleep cycles refer to

the patterns of shifting
through all the sleep
stages over the course
of the night. We
“cycle” through all the
sleep stages in about
90 minutes on
average.
Brain Waves During Sleep
Falling asleep
▪ Yawning creates a brief boost in
alertness as your brain metabolism is
slowing down.
▪ Your breathing slows down.
▪ Brain waves become slower and
irregular.
▪ You may have hypnagogic (while
falling asleep) hallucinations.
▪ Your brain waves change from alpha
waves to NREM-1.
Biological Rhythms and Sleep
Typical Nights Sleep
Biological Rhythms and Sleep
Typical Nights Sleep
Biological Rhythms and Sleep
Typical Nights Sleep
The length of
REM sleep
increases the
longer you
remain asleep.
With age, there
are more
awakenings and
less deep sleep.
 Stages of Sleep
• The sleep-wake cycle itself is circadian but we
have ultradian cycles during our night’s sleep.

• As you relax and try to go to sleep, your brain

waves cycle more and more slowly.

• Once you fall asleep, you will go through 4

stages of relatively quiet sleep before you go to
the more active dreaming stage.
 Stage 1 NREM
• You will not know the exact moment when you enter Stage 1
of sleep.

• It lasts only 5-10 minutes.

• You are easily awaken from this stage and will probably insist
that you were never asleep.

• You may report dreamlike sensations of falling upon being

waken up.
 Stage 2 NREM
• Your brain waves slow down even more.

• Little brain wave-bursts called spindles are common during

this stage.

• The first time you enter this stage it will last about 20
minutes.

• Over the course of the night, you will spend ½ of your sleep in
this stage.
 Stages 3 and 4 NREM
• After about 30 minutes of sleep, your brainwaves slow down a
lot.

• Your brainwave cycles are less than 1 cycle per second,

compared to 15 cycles per second when you first fall asleep.

• This stage is called slow-wave sleep.

• The first time you are in these rejuvenation stages, it will last
about 30 minutes.
 REM Sleep
• The previous 4 stages have been part of N-
rem, or non-rapid-eye-movement sleep.

• After you reach Stage 4, your brain waves will

begin to pick up a little more speed and
strength. You will move back up through
Stages 3, 2, and 1 and then enter your first
period of Rem Sleep.
 REM Sleep
• REM sleep: A reoccurring sleep stage during
which vivid dreams commonly occur.

– It is also called paradoxical sleep because the

muscles of the body are relaxed, but the other
body systems are active.

Notice the increased activity of the

brain, represented by the red areas
 REM Sleep What happens during
REM sleep?
Eugene ▪ Heart rate rises and
Aserinsky’s breathing becomes rapid.
discovery
(1953): ▪ “Sleep paralysis” occurs
dreams when the brainstem blocks
occurred the motor cortex’s
during messages and the muscles
periods of don’t move.
wild brain ▪ This is sometimes known
activity and as “paradoxical sleep”; the
rapid eye brain is active but the body
movements is immobile.
[REM sleep]. ▪ Genitals are aroused (not
caused by dream content)
and stay this way after REM
is over.
Stages of Sleep
Why do we sleep?
What determines the quantity and rhythm of sleep?
The amount and ▪ Age: in general, newborns need 16 hours of
pattern of sleep sleep, while adults need 8 hours or less
is affected by ▪ Individual (genetic) variation: some people
biology, age, function best with 6 hours of sleep, others with
culture, and 9 hours or more
individual ▪ Culture: North Americans sleep less than
variation. others, and less than they used to, perhaps
because of the use of light bulbs
Light and the ▪ The circadian rhythm is hard to shift (jet lag).
brain regulate ▪ This rhythm can be affected by light, which
sleep. suppresses the relaxing hormone melatonin.
Why do we sleep?
What does sleep do for us?
1. Sleep protected our ancestors from
predators.
2. Sleep restores and repairs the brain and
body.
3. Sleep builds and strengthens memories.
4. Sleep facilitates creative problem
solving.
5. Sleep is the time when growth
hormones are active.
 Effects of
Sleep Loss/
Deprivation
Research shows that
inadequate sleep can
make you more likely
to:
▪ lose brainpower.
▪ gain weight.
▪ get sick.
▪ be irritable.
▪ feel old.
Sleep Hygiene
How to Sleep Well
1. Turn the lights low and
turn all screens off.
2. Eat earlier, and drink
less alcohol and
caffeine.
3. Get up at the same time
every day.
4. Exercise (late afternoon
is best).
5. Don’t check the clock;
just let it happen.
6. Get counseling for
anxiety and depression.
Sleep Disorders Are these people
dreaming?
▪ Night terrors refer to
• Insomnia: persistent inability sudden scared-looking
to fall asleep or stay asleep behavior, with rapid
heartbeat and
• Narcolepsy (“numb seizure”): breathing.
sleep attacks, even a collapse
into REM/paralyzed sleep, at ▪ Sleepwalking and
inopportune times sleeptalking run in
• Sleep apnea (“with no families, so there is a
breath”): repeated awakening possible genetic basis.
after breathing stops; time in These behaviors,
bed is not restorative sleep mostly affect
children, and occur in
NONREM-3 sleep.
They are not
considered dreaming.
Sleep Disorders

Insomnia (the most common sleep disorder): is a disorder

where an individual has persistent problems getting to sleep
or staying asleep.

Treatment: Reduce intake of caffeine and other stimulants,

exercise, maintain a consist sleep pattern, and sleeping aids.
Narcolepsy: Individuals suffer from periods of intense
sleepiness and may fall asleep at unpredictable and
inappropriate times.

Treatment: Medication and changing sleep patterns to include

naps at certain times of the day.
Sleep Apnea: Apnea causes a person to stop breathing for
short periods of time during the night; the person then wakes
up, gasping for air, and then goes back to sleep, possibly
without even noticing.

The person may not be able to have sustained deep sleep

(delta wave/REM) and this can interfere with memory
consolidation.
Sleep Apnea can be treated with a respiration machine that
provides air for the person as he or she sleeps.
Night terrors are nightmares where the individual wakes up
in a panic.

Somnambulism is sleep walking. Occurs more commonly in

children and occurs during the first few hours of the night in
stage four sleep.

Night terrors and somnambulism usually fade with age.

Dreams the stream of images, actions, and
feelings, experienced while in REM sleep

What We Dream About

▪ Dreams often include
some negative event or
emotion, especially
failure dreams (being
pursued, attacked,
rejected, or having bad
luck).
▪ Dreams do NOT often
include sexuality.
▪ We may incorporate real-
world sounds and other
stimuli into dreams. What We Dream About:
▪ Dreams also include
(Psychoanalytic Theory)
Sigmund Freud believed there was
images from recent, often a hidden “latent content”
traumatic, or frequent (conflicts, worries, and urges)
experiences. underneath the symbolic “manifest
content” (the plot, actions, and
images recalled) of dreams.
 Theories of Dreaming
Freud’s Wish-Fulfillment Theory
Dreams are an attempt to satisfy sexual and
aggressive impulses that we cannot satisfy
when we are awake.
Manifest Content is the literal content of our
dreams; if you dream about showing up at
school naked, the manifest content is your
nudity.
Latent Content the unconscious meaning of
a dream.
 Dream Interpretation: Freud

Sigmund Freud proposed that the mind uses a process called

“dream work” to censor or disguise the latent content of a
dream. The latent content, which represents our unconscious
wishes and desires, is often disturbing or socially unacceptable.

The purpose of dreamwork is to transform the forbidden wish

into a non-threatening form, thus reducing anxiety and allowing
us to continue sleeping.
 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
 Dream Interpretation: Freud

These mechanisms work together to transform the latent

content into the manifest content, allowing the dreamer to
remain asleep and unaware of the disturbing or unacceptable
thoughts and desires expressed in the dream.

However, through techniques like free association and dream

analysis, Freud believed that it was possible to uncover the
latent content and gain insight into the unconscious mind.
 Carl Jung: Neo-Freudian
• Every character in
your dreams
is an aspect of
yourself.
• Characters can be
facets or "aspects" of
the self
 Example:
• I was dress shopping with my mom and she was talking on the
phone, we bought a red dress and didn't try it on for some
reason, then we went home and the night i needed to wear it
it didn't fit, and my dad had to take me back to the dress
shop, but that wasn't a problem because it was near where he
lived, and we got there and couldn't find a dress and then i
woke up.

Shopping represents our search for something we feel we want our

need. In this case you were shopping for a red dress. The color red is
symbolic of vigor strength, energy, and life, but the dress does not fit.
This could mean that while you want to be strong you often feel insecure
about your abilities.

44
 Example:
I had a dream that i was sleeping and i woke up from hearing
something knocking on my window and i looked outside and
there was a car that sped away from the front of my house. I
stayed up on my computer and started hearing the knocking
again and i opened my blinds and someone was trying to climb
into my window. I went to go wake up my mom and i came back
and my window was broken and we started searching the house
for whoever tried to break into my window. I was running around
the house looking for him and i opened my closet and then i
woke up.
 Modern Theories
• Information Processing: An important memory-related
function of sorting and shifting through the day’s experiences.

• Physiological function: Neural activity during Rem sleep which

provides necessary brain stimulation and growth.

• Activation-synthesis: Our brain’s attempt to make sense of

random neural firings in various parts of our brain.

• Cognitive Theory: Dream are the embodiment of thoughts.

– a dream is a pictorial representation of the dreamer's conceptions.
 Theories about Functions of Dreams
Theory Explanation
Dreams provide a “psychic safety Lacks any
valve”; they often express scientific
Wish fulfillment support;
(psycho- otherwise unacceptable feelings, dreams may be
analytic theory) and contain both manifest interpreted in
(remembered) content and a latent many different
content (hidden meaning). But whyways.do we
Information- Dreams help us sort out the day’s sometimes
processing events and consolidate our dream about
memories. This may
things be
we have
true,notbut it
Physiological Regular brain stimulation from REM experienced?
does not
function sleep may help develop and explain Thewhy we
preserve neural pathways. individual’s
experience
brain is
meaningful
REM sleep triggers impulses that weaving
dreams. the
Activation- evoke random visual memories, stories, which
synthesis which our sleeping brain weaves still tells us
into stories. something
Dream content reflects the Does not
about the
Cognitive- dreamers’ cognitive address
dreamer. the
developmental development—his or her neuroscience of
theory knowledge and understanding. dreams.
 What do we Dream?
1. Negative Emotional Content: 8 out of 10 dreams have
negative emotional content.
2. Failure Dreams: People commonly dream about
failure, being attacked, pursued, rejected, or struck
with misfortune.
3. Sexual Dreams: Contrary to our thinking, sexual
dreams are sparse. Sexual dreams in men are 1 in 10;
and in women 1 in 30.
4. Dreams of Gender: Women dream of men and
women equally. Men dream more about women than
men.

48
Another Possible State of Consciousness:
HYPNOSIS “Your arm
Text definition: Hypnosis is a social may soon
interaction in which one person (the feel so
hypnotist) suggests to another (the light that it
subject) that certain perceptions, rises…”
feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will
spontaneously occur.
Alternate definition: Hypnosis is
a cooperative social action in
which one person is in a state of
being likely to respond to
suggestions from another person.
▪ This state has been called
heightened suggestibility as
well as a trance.
▪ Controversy: does this social
interaction really require an
altered state of consciousness?
Types of Hypnotic Suggestions

The subject perceptions

may be led into (“The headache is fading away.”)
changes in:

behavior
(“Your arm might rise by itself.”)
emotions
(“You are feeling more relaxed and confident.”)

attitudes
(“I get nutrition from food, and get comfort from friends.”)
memory
(“You got lost in a mall as a child.”)
 Theories Explaining Hypnosis
Divided Consciousness Theory Social Influence Theory
Hypnosis is a special state of Hypnotic subjects may simply
dissociated (divided) be imaginative people who go
consciousness of our dual-track along with the “subject” role
mind. they have agreed to play.
 Benefits of What Hypnosis
Hypnosis for Cannot Do:
Some People:
▪ work when people
refuse to
▪ blocking awareness cooperate
of pain, even enough
for surgery without ▪ bestow
anesthesia ‘superhuman’
abilities or
▪ reducing obesity, strength
anxiety, and
hypertension ▪ accurately boost
recall of forgotten
▪ improving events (it is more
concentration and likely to implant
performance false recall)
 Can Hypnosis Alleviate Pain?
• Hypnosis can actually alleviate pain
• This happens because of disassociation
– A split between levels of consciousness, hypnosis
disassociates the physical stimulus of pain from
the emotional suffering that defines our
experience of pain
• Called hypnotic analgesia

• Selective attention we get caught up in the moment and do

not feel the pain until later
– Essentially distracting people from feeling pain
Altering Consciousness
Drugs
Dependence/Addiction
Psychoactive drugs are ▪ Many psychoactive
chemicals introduced drugs can be harmful
into the body which alter to the body.
perceptions, mood, and ▪ Psychoactive drugs
other elements of are particularly
conscious experience. dangerous when a
person develops an
addiction or becomes
dependent on the
substance.
▪ Factors related to
addiction:
▪ tolerance
▪ withdrawal
▪ impact on daily life
of substance use
▪ physical and
psychological
dependence
Tolerance
Tolerance of a
drug refers to
the diminished
psychoactive
effects after
repeated use.
Tolerance feeds
addiction
because users
take increasing
amounts of a
drug to get the
desired effect.
Withdrawal
▪ After the benefits of a
substance wear off,
especially after tolerance
has developed, drug
users may experience
withdrawal (painful
symptoms of the body
readjusting to the
absence of the drug).
▪ Withdrawal worsens
addiction because users
want to resume taking
the drug to end
withdrawal symptoms.
Dependence

In physical In psychological
dependence, dependence,
the body has been a person’s resources
altered in ways for coping with
that create daily life wither as
cravings for the a drug becomes
drug (e.g. to end “needed” to
withdrawal relax, socialize,
symptoms). or sleep.
 Dependence
on a substance (or activity?)

▪ Tolerance: the need to use more to receive the

desired effect
▪ Withdrawal: the distress experienced when the
“high” subsides
▪ Using more than intended
▪ Persistent, failed attempts to regulate use
▪ Much time spent preoccupied with the
substance, obtaining it, and recovering
▪ Important activities reduced because of use
▪ Continued use despite aversive consequences
 Psychoactive Drugs
▪ Depressants
▪ Drugs that reduce neural activity
▪ Slow body functions
▪ Stimulants
▪ Drugs that excite neural activity
▪ Speed up body functions
▪ Hallucinogens
▪ Psychedelic (mind-manifesting) drugs that distort
perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of
sensory input
Depressants Depressants are chemicals
that reduce neural activity
and other body functions.

Examples:
▪ alcohol
▪ barbiturates
▪ opiates
Effects of Alcohol Use Chronic Use:
Impact on functioning Brain damage
▪ Slow neural processing,
reduced sympathetic
nervous system activity, and
slower thought and physical
reaction
▪ Reduced memory
formation caused by
disrupted REM sleep and
reduced synapse formation
▪ Impaired self-control,
impaired judgment, self-
monitoring, and inhibition;
increased accidents and
aggression
 Barbiturates
Barbiturates are
tranquilizers--drugs that
depress central nervous
system activity.
▪ Examples: Nembutal,
Seconal, Amytal
▪ Effects: reducing
anxiety and inducing
sleep
▪ Problems: reducing
memory, judgment,
and concentration; can
lead to death if
combined with alcohol
 Opiates:
Highly Addictive Depressants
▪ Opiates depress
nervous system
activity; this Opiates are
reduces anxiety, chemicals such
and especially as morphine
reduces pain. and heroin that
▪ High doses of are made from
opiates produce the opium
euphoria. poppy.
▪ Opiates work at
receptor sites for
the body’s natural
pain reducers
(endorphins).
 Stimulants Stimulants are drugs which
intensify neural activity
and bodily functions.

Some physical effects of stimulants:

dilated pupils, increased breathing and
heart rate, increased blood sugar,
decreased appetite

Examples of stimulants:
▪ Caffeine
▪ Nicotine
▪ Amphetamines,
Methamphetamine
▪ Cocaine
▪ Ecstasy
 Caffeine
▪ adds energy
▪ disrupts sleep for 3-4
hours
▪ can lead to withdrawal
symptoms if used daily:
▪ headaches
▪ irritability
▪ fatigue
▪ difficulty
concentrating
▪ depression
 What happens
next?
Cocaine ▪ Euphoria crashes
into a state
▪ Cocaine blocks reuptake (and thus increases worse than
levels at the synapse of: before taking the
drug, with
▪ dopamine (feels rewarding). agitation,
depression, and
▪ serotonin (lifts mood). pain.
▪ norepinephrine (provides energy). ▪ Users develop
▪ Effect on consciousness: Euphoria!!! At tolerance; over
least for 45 minutes… time, withdrawal
symptoms of
cocaine use get
worse, and users
take more just to
feel normal.
▪ Cycles of
overdose and
withdrawal can
sometimes bring
convulsions,
violence, heart
attack, and
death.
 Methamphetamine
▪ Methamphetamine triggers the sustained release of
dopamine, sometimes leading to eight hours of euphoria and
energy.
▪ What happens next: irritability, insomnia, seizures,
hypertension, violence, depression
▪ “Meth” addiction can become all-consuming.
From 1998 to 2002: Extreme Makeover, Meth Edition
 Ecstasy/MDMA
(MethyleneDioxyMethAmphetamine)
▪ Ecstasy is a synthetic stimulant that
increases dopamine and greatly
increases serotonin.
▪ Effects on consciousness: euphoria,
CNS stimulation, hallucinations, and
artificial feeling of social connectedness
and intimacy

What Happens Next?

▪ In the short run, regretted behavior, dehydration, overheating, and
high blood pressure.
▪ Make it past that, and you might have:
▪ damaged serotonin-producing neurons, causing permanently
depressed mood
▪ disrupted sleep and circadian rhythm
▪ impaired memory and slowed thinking
▪ suppressed immune system
Hallucinogens
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
▪ LSD and similar drugs interfere with Marijuana/THC:
serotonin transmission. What Happens Next?
▪ This causes hallucinations--images
and other “sensations” that didn’t ▪ Impaired motor
come in through the senses. coordination,
Marijuana/THC (delta-9- perceptual ability, and
TetraHydroCannabinol) reaction time
▪ Marijuana binds with brain ▪ THC accumulates in the
cannabinoid receptors. body, increasing the
effects of next use
▪ Effect on consciousness: ▪ Over time, the brain
▪ amplifies sensations shrinks in areas
processing memory and
▪ disinhibits impulses emotion
▪ euphoric mood ▪ Smoke inhalation
damage
▪ lack of ability to sense satiety
Summary: Desired Effects of Drugs
Summary: Aversive Effects of Drugs