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Modules 7

Consciousness and Attention

Consciousness

Our awareness of ourselves and our environments.

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Dual Processing

Our perceptual neural pathways have two routes. The newer cortex routes (i.e., to Primary Visual cortex) produce conscious “seeing”. An older brain stem route responds to reflex like the orienting reflex (directing your attention towards something important).

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Blindsight(Nova 16:02 – 23:59)

In the absence of a working visual cortex pathway (V1), a person’s dorsal pathway can identify some qualities (i.e., movement, emotion) in the absence of the conscious experience of seeing.

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Unconscious pathway is faster

Conscious processing is

more skilled

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Selective Attention

The ability to select some aspects of our sensory input to attend to while tuning other aspects out.

Cocktail Party Phenomenon

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Selective Attention and Multitasking

Our attention can shift from one task to another and back (time sharing attentional recourses).

If two tasks compete for attentional resources performance in one or both will be impaired.

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Driving and ConversingBrain activities in areas vital to driving decreased 37% while attending to a conversation.

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Cell phone users 4X higher risk of accidents.

Selective Inattention

Count the passes.

Failure to notice some stimulus that is in plain sight. This stimulus is usually unexpected but fully visible. People can falsely believe that they do not experience inattentional blindness. This is due to the fact that they are unaware that they are missing things.

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Module 8

Sleep and Dreams

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Circadian RhythmsAlertness patterns over the day

•governed by suprachiasmatic nucleus•body temperature fluctuations•clock reset by light (keeps it to 24 hours)

No light cues 25 hour cycle

Morning People and Night People

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Melatonin - hormone released by pineal gland. Sedative effect.

Light suppresses melatonin releaseDarkness increases melatonin release

Will Taking Melatonin help you sleep?

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Stages of Sleep Electroencephalograph (EEG) - measures electrical activity of

brain areas.

Beta Waves - Wakefulness - choppy short waves.

Hypnagogic Hallucinations

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Alpha Waves

Waves become larger and more rhythmic.

Neurons fire in synchronized pattern.

Slow Wave Stages (1, 2, 3, & 4 SWS)

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REM (Rapid Eye Movement Stage)-Beta waves return (like wakefulness)-Paradoxical Sleep Visual cortex and frontal lobe activity

- Brain Stem blocks Motor messages thus muscle activity suppressed.- Dreams occur.

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Over the sleep period- cycle through stages

REM periods become longer. Stage 4 periods become shorter.

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What function does sleep serve?

1)Protective Function

Night Time is moreDangerous!

2) Sleep Supports healing & growth

Pituitary releases Growth Hormone

Facilitates healing!

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Can we get by with less sleep?

Yes, but reduce slowly (15 mins. less per week).

What Happens when sleep reduced? Become more efficient sleeper- fall asleep faster.- Same amount of time in REM and Stage 4 as with 8 hours sleep.

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Sleep Deprivation- circadian rhythms govern alertness- sleep does not need to be fully replaced-REM rebound-NREM Rebound

Peter Tripp – 201 hours of Sleep deprivation(3:37 – 5:56)

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Cognitive functions- Loss of NREM has little effect- Loss of REM - impaired concentration - moodiness - health problems

How can I increase Sleep?

Getting up earlier is often difficult and trying to go to sleep when not tired is near impossible. Add sleep by going to bed about 15 minutes earlier for a week, then add another 15 mins. Etc.

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Benefits of Getting Enough Sleep

• Lowered risk of depression

• Decreased risk for Obesity

- decreased ghrelin (hunger arousing hormone), and increased Leptin (hunger suppresser).

- increased cortisol (stress hormone) leads to storage of fat.

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• Lower risk of viral infections and cancer.

• Longer life expectancy

• Increased attention and vigilance

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Dreams (R.E.M.)

Everyone dreams (some don’t remember)

What Happens during dreaming.1) Thoughts come into consciousness.2) Try to make sense of them.

Functions of REM SLEEP

3) Sleep helps restore and rebuild fading memories of the day’s experiences.

- memory consolidation

4) Creative Problem Solving and Thinking

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Do Dreams have meaning?

3 views.1) Activation-Synthesis Theory - random firing of neurons - produce random thoughts - we try to make sense of themEvidence: dreams can be bizarre!

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2) Cognitive ViewThoughts involve current experiences and concerns “day baggage”

- evidence We can solve problems in our sleep. Content often related to our current experiences.

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3) Psychoanalytic View. Symbolic messages from repressed areas of our minds.

Dream Interpretation -Psychoanalytic symbols. Manifest content vs. latent content

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Common Dreams Scared and can’t move.Anxiety Dreams

Dreams have personal meaning!

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Major Sleep Disorders

Insomnia – inability to sleep or to stay asleepHypersomnia – inability to stay awake

Sleep Apnea – intermittent stoppage of breathing

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Somnambulism - (Sleep walking) - failure of the muscle suppression mechanism to fully activate.

Narcolepsy - associated with upset or excitement. - may be inappropriate muscle suppression

Module 9 Hypnosis

When you're under hypnosis:

•  increase in absorption.

• focused attention.

• disattention to extraneous stimuli.

• reduction in spontaneous thought.

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Social-Influence Theory of Hypnosis•Theory that powerful social influences produce a state of hypnosis.• Physiological state does not change under hypnosis.

Is Hypnosis just a placebo effect?Eich (1989) when subjects led to believe they were hypnotized when they were not they acted then same as when hypnotized.

Divided Consciousness View

Dissociation – a split between different levels of consciousness (i.e., blocking neural input from conscious awareness).

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Stroop Effect

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Raz (2005) selected highly hypnotizable subjects and a control group of 'resistant' subjects. They were given the post hypnotic suggestion that when they entered a brain scanner (fMRI) and heard his voice some days later, the words they saw before them would appear as nonsense and they were only to report on the colors of the words.

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Resistant showed Stroop, hypnotized did not.

Hypnotized reported that the words did indeed appear to be gibberish.

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Comparing brain scans, Raz found that in the first group, the area of the brain responsible for decoding written words was suppressed as was the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex one of whose functions is conflict resolution.

This did not occur in the “resistant” group.

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Hypnotic Pain Relief

Pain Relief - Two componentsPhysical (parietal) response –no changeEmotional (frontal) response –decreased