CONSCIOUSNESS Biological Clocks
FREE RUNNING CYCLES Cycles set up by biological clocks that are under their own control ignore the environment Example: The kidney processes toxins all the time and gets rid of poisonous materials at regular intervals in order to protect us. Dogs and cats are free running tend to quiet down at night because we do.
ENTRAINMENT Adjusting the free-running cycle to fit a different rhythm Example: babies are born free-running and keep everyone up at night wanting to eat and play takes about 20 weeks for parents to get them trained to fit adult cycle Example: humans are on a 25 hour free running cycle but train for 24 hours of light/dark cycle No problem for body to adjust one hour, but getting more than a couple of hours on the weekend can wreak havoc for the rest of the week (think school after summer break)
CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS Circadian = about a day Human circadian clock is based on entrained 24 hour cycle Lowest point (low temperature, low blood pressure, weakness, etc ) is between 3 and 5 am. Low points can change but takes months to do and if your work schedule keeps changing, impossible for your body to keep up Example: pilots, swing shift
SLEEP STAGES Stage one: brief transition when you re falling asleep brain waves slow down breathing deepens, heartbeat slows and blood pressure drops Stages 2-4 are deeper stages of true sleep 90 minutes cycles Go through sleep cycle 4-5 times a night
SLEEP STAGES REM sleep (rapid eye movement): go from 10 minutes in first cycle to almost an hour by last cycle Brain active as if you were awake Most dreaming done here We need our REM sleep
WHY CAN T I SLEEP When do you have trouble falling asleep? Why do you think that is? Anxiety or depression Environmental disturbances Exercise too close to bedtime Use of stimulants prior to bedtime Changes in work shifts Physical illness or discomfort
AMOUNT OF SLEEP Average Sleep Needs Age Hours Newborns (0-2 months) 12-18 Infants (3 months to 1 year) 14-15 Toddlers (1 to 3 years) 12-14 Preschoolers (3 to 5 years) 11-13 School-aged children (5 to 12 years) 10-11 Teens and preteens (12 to 18 years) 8.5-10 Adults (18+) 7.5-9
GIVING UP SLEEP People tend to go a little nuts if they go without long enough hallucinate All people need sleep awakened right before dreaming, feel like they never slept at all All creatures, except one species of bird, has dream periods Friends Rachel and the Rooster Think of a time when you didn t get enough sleep what did that look like? What happens to you?
SLEEP DISORDERS What is the biggest problem you have with sleep? Why do you think that happens? 1. Insomnia: daytime fatigue because of trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night 2. Narcolepsy: daytime abruptly enter REM sleep directly from the waking state usually as they are laughing narcoleptic dog CNN narcolepsy 3. Sleep apnea: briefly stop breathing hundreds of times each night waking long enough to resume breathing feel tired
SLEEP DISORDERS SIDS: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome sleeping infants stop breathing and die Sleepwalking: non-rem sleep Nightmares: frightening REM dreams Night terrors: horrific dream images during stage 4 of sleep
THE PURPOSE OF DREAMING Hypothesis 1: dreams are used to get the brain reorganized after a day s work of thinking and dealing with problems. Hypothesis 2: dreams are designed to help work out unsolved problems left over from the day sleep on it Hypothesis 3: the brain is trying to make sense of the bits and pieces of information that are appearing while we are cleaning out the material, so it makes up a story to fit them can put odd stuff together
ALTERED STATES Amy Winehouse interview (Age 20) Amy Winehouse booed off stage Amy Winehouse OD What do you see as the reason for the altered state?
DIFFERENT STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS DOA experience Nurse near death experience near death experience meets God What are your thoughts on the above interviews? What role can drugs play on altered states of consciousness? Mice on Drugs