Altered States: Sleep

• Sleep is a circadian rhythm, lasting 24 hours, and is a product of the activity of the hypothalamus, the hormone melatonin, the neurotransmitter serotonin, and body temperature

• Adaptive theory states that sleep evolved as a way to conserve energy and keep animals safe from predators that hunt at night

• Restorative theory states that sleep provides the body with an opportunity to restore chemicals that have been depleted during the day as well as the growth and repair of cell tissue

• The average amount of sleep needed by most adults is about 7 to 9 hours within each 24 - hour period

• Stage One sleep is light sleep

• Stage Two sleep is indicated by the presence of sleep spindles, bursts of activity on the EEG

• Stage Three is highlighted by the first appearance of delta waves, the slowest and largest waves, whereas

• Stage Four is predominantly delta waves and the body is at its lowest level of functioning

• Sleepwalking and sleeptalking occur in Stage Four sleep -Night terrors are attacks of extreme fear that the victim has while sound asleep

• REM sleep occurs four or five times a night, replacing Stage One sleep in the sleep-wake cycle, and is accompanied by paralysis of the voluntary muscles

• Nightmares are bad or unpleasant dreams that occur during REM sleep

• REM behavior disorder is a rare condition in which REM paralysis fails and the person moves violently while dreaming, often acting out the elements of the dream

Psychology in the News: Murder While Sleepwalking

• Sleepwalking has been used as a defense in numerous cases of murder. In many of these cases, the defendant has been acquitted because of the sleepwalking defense

• Insomnia is an inability to get to sleep, stay asleep, or get enough sleep. Sleep apnea occurs when a person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more, followed by gasping for breath

• Narcolepsy is a genetic disorder in which the person suddenly and without warning collapses into REM sleep

Dreams

• Manifest content of a dream is the actual dream and its events. The latent content of a dream is the symbolic content, according to Freud

• Without outside sensory information to explain the activation of the brain cells in the cortex by the pons area, the association areas of the cortex synthesize a story, or dream, to explain that activation in the activation-synthesis hypothesis

• A revision of activation-synthesis theory, the activation-information mode model ( AIM ) states that information experienced during waking hours can influence the synthesis of dreams

Altered States: Hypnosis

• Hypnosis is a state of consciousness in which a person is especially susceptible to suggestion

• The hypnotist will tell the person to relax and feel tired, to focus on what is being said, to let go of inhibitions and accept suggestions, and to use vivid imagination

• Hypnosis cannot give increased strength, reliably enhance memory, or regress people to an earlier age or an earlier life, but it can produce amnesia, reduce pain, and alter sensory impressions

• Hilgard believed that a person under hypnosis is in a state of dissociation, in which one part of consciousness is hypnotized and susceptible to suggestion, while another part is aware of everything that occurs

• Other theorists believe that the hypnotized subject is merely playing a social role - that of the hypnotized person. This is called the social cognitive theory of hypnosis

Altered States: Psychoactive Drugs

• Drugs that are physically addictive cause the user's body to crave the drug. When deprived of the drug, the user will go through physical withdrawal

• Drug tolerance occurs as the user's body becomes conditioned to the level of the drug. After a time, the user must take more and more of the drug to get the same effect

• In psychological dependence, the user believes that he or she needs the drug to function well and maintain a sense of well-being. Any drug can produce psychological dependence

• Stimulants are drugs that increase the activity of the nervous system, particularly the sympathetic division and the central nervous system

• Amphetamines are synthetic drugs such as Benzedrine or Dexedrine. They help people stay awake and reduce appetite but are highly physically addictive

• Cocaine is highly addictive and can cause convulsions and death in some first-time users

• Nicotine is a mild stimulant and is very physically addictive

• Caffeine is the most commonly used stimulant, found in coffee, tea, chocolate, and many sodas

• Barbiturates, also known as major tranquilizers, have a sedative effect and are used as sleeping pills

• The minor tranquilizers are benzodiazepines such as Valium or Xanax

• Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused depressant

• Alcohol can interact with other depressants

• Excessive use of alcohol can lead to alcoholism, health problems, loss of control, and death

• Narcotics are pain-relieving drugs of the depressant class that are derived from the opium poppy

• Opium is the earliest form of this drug and is highly addictive because it directly stimulates receptor sites for endorphins. This causes natural production of endorphins to decrease

• Morphine is a more refined version of opium but is highly addictive

• Heroin was believed to be a purer form of morphine and, therefore, less addictive but in fact is even more powerfully addictive

• Methadone has the ability to control the symptoms of heroin or morphine withdrawal without the euphoria, or " high, " of heroin or morphine

• Hallucinogens are stimulants that alter the brain's interpretation of sensations, creating hallucinations

• Three synthetically created hallucinogens are LSD, PCP, and MDMA

• Three naturally occurring hallucinogens are mescaline, psilocybin, and marijuana

• Marijuana is a mild hallucinogen, producing a mild euphoria and feelings of relaxation in its users. Larger doses can lead to hallucinations and paranoia. It contains substances that are carcinogenic and impairs learning and memory

Applying Psychology to Everyday Life: Are You Sleep Deprived?

• Sleep deprivation is a serious disorder responsible for a large portion of traffic accidents and fatalities as well as increased stress, depression, anxiety, reduced productivity, and risk-taking behavior

• Causes of sleep deprivation include sleep disorders such as apnea and narcolepsy, failure of people to go to sleep or stay asleep for an adequate amount of time, worrying, and the influence of some drugs

Vocab:

• Adaptive theory: theory of sleep proposing that animals and humans evolved sleep patterns to avoid predators by sleeping when predators are most active

• Restorative theory: theory of sleep proposes that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage

• Alpha waves: brain waves that indicate a state of relaxation or light sleep

• Theta waves: brain waves indicating the early stages of sleep

• Consciousness: a person's awareness of everything that is going on around him or her at any given moment, which is used to organize behavior

• Waking consciousness: state in which thoughts, feelings, and sensations are clear, and organized, and the person feels alert

• Altered state of consciousness: state in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to waking consciousness

• Microsleeps: brief sidesteps into sleep lasting only a few seconds

• Sleep deprivation: any significant loss of sleep, resulting in problems in concentration and irritability

• Delta waves: long, slow waves that indicate the deepest stage of sleep

• REM paralysis: the inability of the voluntary muscles to move during REM sleep

• REM rebound: increased amounts of REM sleep after being deprived of REM sleep on earlier nights

• Circadian rhythm: a cycle of bodily rhythm that occurs over a 24-hour period

• Rapid eye movement (REM): stage of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly under the eyelids and the person is typically experiencing a dream

• Non-REM (NREM) sleep: any of the stages of sleep that do not include REM

• Hypnosis: state of consciousness in which the person is especially susceptible to suggestion

• Activation-synthesis hypothesis: explanation that states that dreams are created by the higher centers of the cortex to explain the activation by the brain stem of cortical cells during REM sleep periods

• Activation-information-mode model (AIM): revised version of the activation-synthesis explanation of dreams in which information that is accessed during waking hours can have an influence on the synthesis of dreams

• Stimulants: drugs that increase the functioning of the nervous system

• Depressants: drugs that decrease the functioning of the nervous system -narcotics: a class of opium-related drugs that suppress the sensation of pain by binding to and stimulating the nervous system's natural receptor sites for endorphins

• Hallucinogenics: drugs including hallucinogens and marijuana that produce hallucinations or increased feelings of relaxation and intoxication

• Amphetamines: stimulants that are synthesized (made) in laboratories rather than being found in nature

• Cocaine: a natural drug derived from the leaves of the coca plant

• Insomnia: the inability to get to sleep, stay asleep, or get a good quality of sleep

• Sleep apnea: disorder in which the person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more

• Narcolepsy: sleep disorder in which a person falls immediately into REM sleep during the day without warning

• Physical dependence: condition occurring when a person's body becomes unable to function normally without a particular drug

• Withdrawal: physical symptoms that can include nausea, pain, tremors, crankiness, and high blood pressure, resulting from a lack of an addictive drug in the body systems

• Psychological dependence: the feeling that a drug is needed to continue a feeling of emotional or psychological well-being

• Social-cognitive theory of hypnosis: theory that assumes that people who are hypnotized are not in an altered state but are merely playing the role expected of them in the situation

• Psychoactive drugs: drugs that alter thinking, perception, and memory

• Benzodiazepines: drugs that lower anxiety and reduce stress

• Alcohol: the chemical resulting from fermentation or distillation of various kinds of vegetable matter

• MDMA (Ecstasy or X): designer drug that can have both stimulant and hallucinatory effects

• Stimulatory Hallucinogenics: drugs that produce a mixture of psychomotor stimulant and hallucinogenic effects

• Mescaline: natural hallucinogen derived from the peyote cactus buttons

• Psilocybin: natural hallucinogen found in certain mushrooms

• Marijuana: mild hallucinogen (also known as pot or weed) derived from the leaves and flowers of a particular type of hemp plant

• Nicotine: the active ingredient in tobacco

• Opium: substance derived from the opium poppy from which all narcotic drugs are derived

• Morphine: narcotic drug derived from opium, used to treat severe pain

• Heroin: a narcotic drug derived from opium that is extremely addictive

• Hallucinogens: drugs that cause false sensory messages , altering the perception of reality

• LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide): powerful synthetic hallucinogen

• PCP: synthesized drug now used as an animal tranquilizer that can cause stimulant, depressant, narcotic, or hallucinogenic effects