Understanding Sleep: Biological Rhythms, Stages, and Disorders, Study notes of Psychology

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Learning Objectives Chapter 3: Consciousness (Note: Required material from this chapter has been shortened and will be covered in 1 lecture only; The textbook content that you are required to know is limited to pgs. 91-103) -What are biological rhythms? Most importantly, what is a “circadian rhythm”?

• Biological rhythms are periods of time when our bodies and mind fluctuate.
• Circadian cycle is the body’s 24-hour cycle -How do cues from the environment influence our sleep/wake cycle?
• Light activates retinal proteins that then trigger signals to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus causing the brain’s pineal gland to decrease its production of melatonin (sleep- inducing hormone) -Is sleep important? What are the effects of sleep deprivation?
• Sleep is important to awake refreshed, sustain better moods, and perform more efficient and accurate work
• Some effects of sleep deprivation are poor performance in work and school, weight gain, lower ability to learn, weakened immune system, increase in disease and sickness, memory loss, and fatal highway accidents. -What are the current theories regarding why we need sleep?
• We need sleep to protect us from danger at night, to help us recuperate and restore brain tissue, to make memories, to feed creative thinking, and to grow. -What are the various stages of sleep and what does each stage involve? How do the sleep stages cycle over the course of a night?
• Awake: alpha waves, pre-sleep when your eyes are closed
• Stage 1: slowed breathing and irregular brain waves, hallucinations, hypnagogic sensations (feeling like you’re falling)
• Stage 2: Sleep spindles (bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity)
• Stage 3: Beginning of delta waves, transition into stage 4
• Stage 4: Large, slow delta waves lasting for about 30 minutes, hard to wake, deep sleep
• REM: rapid, saw-toothed brain waves, raised heart rate, rapid and irregular breathing, rapid eye movements, aroused genitals, relaxed muscles
• Cycle: Awake, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM -What’s wrong with using sleeping pills or alcohol to facilitate sleep?
• People become dependent on either and the insomnia worsens when those elements are removed or discontinued. -Describe the major sleep disorders mentioned in the textbook.
• Insomnia: Persistent problems in falling or staying asleep.

• Narcolepsy: Uncontrollable sleep attacks, sufferers temporarily lapsing into REM sleep; Relative absence of orexin, a neurotransmitter linked to alertness.
• Sleep apnea: Temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and momentary awakenings; Blood oxygen arouses them after a minute of no air, resulting in a “snort” of breath; Linked with fatigue, depression, and obesity.
• Night terrors: Mostly targeted to children. Doubling of heart and breathing rates, fleeting, frightening images occurring during stage 4, also including sleep walking and talking.