CONSCIOUSNESS

Consciousness is your awareness of

everything that is going on around you and In simple terms:
inside your own head at any given moment, consciousness is a
which you use to organize your behavior person’s
(Farthing, 1992), including your thoughts, awareness of
sensations, and feelings. In a cognitive everything that is
neuroscience view, consciousness is going on around
generated by a set of action potentials in the him or
communication among neurons just sufficient her at any given
to produce a specific perception, memory, or moment, which is
experience in our awareness (Crick & Koch, used to
1990, 2003; Koch & Mormann, 2010). In organize behavior.
other words, your eyes see a dog, the neurons
along the optic pathway to the occipital lobe’s
visual cortex are activated, and the visual
association cortex is activated
An altered state of consciousness occurs In simple terms:
when there is a shift in the quality or pattern altered states of
of your mental activity. Thoughts may consciousness
become fuzzy and disorganized and you may occur when there
feel less alert, or your thoughts may take is
bizarre turns, as they so often do in dreams. a shift in the
Some- quality or pattern
times being in an altered state may mean of mental activity
being in a state of increased alertness, as as
when under the influence of a stimulant. You compared to
may also divide your conscious awareness, as waking
when you drive to work or school and then consciousness;
wonder how you got there—one level of alertness,
conscious awareness was driving, while the thought content,
other was thinking about the day ahead, and focus can vary
perhaps. greatly
 Altered states:
sleep, dreams,
hypnosis, and drugs
Have you ever wondered why people have to
sleep? They could get so much more work
done if they didn’t have to sleep, and they
would have more time to play and do creative
things.
THE BIOLOGY OF SLEEP
Why do people need to sleep, and how does
sleep work?
Sleep was once referred to as “the gentle
tyrant” (Webb, 1992). People can try to stay
awake, and sometimes they may go for a
while without sleep, but eventually they must
sleep. One reason for this fact is that sleep is
one of the human body’s biological rhythms,
natural cycles of activity that the body must
go through.
THE ROLE OF THE
HYPOTHALAMUS: THE
MIGHTY MITE A lot of people
were buying supplements of
melatonin (a hormone normally
secreted by the pineal gland)
several years ago, hoping to sleep
better and perhaps even slow the
effects of aging (Folkard et al.,
1993; Herxheimer & Petrie, 2001;
Young, 1996). The release of
melatonin is influenced by a
structure deep within the
hypothalamus in an area called the
suprachiasmatic (SOO-prahki-AS-
ma-tik) nucleus, the internal clock
that tells people when to wake up
and when to fall asleep (Quintero
et al., 2003; Yamaguchi et al.,
2003; Zisapel, 2001).
Hypothalamus contains the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN):

-SCN(superchiasmatic nucleus) is sensitive to light—influences pineal gland’s

secretion of melatonin (high melatonin= high sleepiness).
-light through eyes relayed to SCN; SCN signals pineal gland to stop producing
melatonin (low melatonin= high alertness/low sleepiness).
-SCN also influences body temperature (low temperature=high sleepiness)

people can live without sleep for a while, can’t live without it altogether.
-sleep deprivation can lead to serious changes in body and mental functioning
-amount of sleep needed ranges from 4–10 hours; most people need 7–9 hours
every 24 hours
-adaptive theory of sleep suggests sleep is a product of evolution; sleep has
evolved to avoid the active time of predators
-restorative theory of sleep suggests sleep is vital to the physical health of the
body; body growth and repair occur during the deepest stages of sleep
FREUD’S INTERPRETATION:
DREAMS AS WISH
FULFILLMENT
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
believed that the problems of his
patients stemmed from conflicts and
events that had been buried in their
unconscious minds since childhood.
These early traumas were seen as the
cause of behavior problems in
adulthood, in which his patients
suffered from symptoms such as a
type of paralysis that had no physical
basis or repetitive, ritualistic* hand
washing.
Altered states: Dream
Why do we dream?
Dreams have long been a
source of curiosity.
People of ancient times
tried to find meaning in
dreams. Some viewed
dreams as prophecy, some
as messages from the
spirits. But the real
inquiry into the process of
dreaming began with the
publication of Freud’s
The Interpretation of
Dreams (1900).
 activation-synthesis hypothesis
Freud’s interpretation: -premise that states that dreams are
wish fulfillment— created by the higher centers of the
conflicts, events, and cortex to explain the activation by
the brain stem of cortical cells during
desires represented in REM sleep periods.
symbolic form in dream.
dreams are product of random
signals (activation), with brain
manifest content: actual forming explanation of signals based
dream itself on memories and other information
(synthesis)

latent content: hidden or activation-information-mode model

(AIM) suggests that information
symbolic meaning of access during waking hours can
dream influence the synthesis of dreams
 -typically about
What do events that occur in
people everyday life; most
dream in color; content
influenced by
about? gender and culture.
 -can be assessed by scale of hypnotic
susceptibility
Altered States: The
Effects of Hypnosis -induction typically involves relaxed focus and
“permission to let go”; person being
Hypnosis is a state of hypnotized is in control and cannot be
hypnotized against his or her will
consciousness in which a
person is especially -can be used in therapy—helps people deal
susceptible to suggestion. with pain, anxiety, or cravings (e.g., food,
Although a lot of drug)
misunderstandings exist
about hypnosis, it can be Theories
dissociation: one part of the mind is aware of
a useful tool when actions/activities taking place, while the
properly managed. “hypnotized” part is not.
social-cognitive theory suggests that people
assume roles based on expectations for a given
situation
Altered States: The Why do some people continue
Influence of to use or become addicted to
Psychoactive Drugs psychoactive drugs?
-They use
psychoactive drugs Physical dependence: user’s
that alter thinking, body needs a drug to function;
perception, memory, drug tolerance and withdrawal
or some combination are warning signs/symptoms.
of those abilities.
Psychological dependence: user
believes drug is needed to
function.
Types of Psychoactive drugs:
Stimulants
Stimulants are a class of drugs that cause either the sympathetic
division or the central nervous system (or both) to increase levels
of functioning, at least temporarily. In simple terms, stimulants
“speed up” the nervous system—the heart may beat faster or the
brain may work faster, for example. Many of these drugs are
called “uppers” for this reason.

Depressants
drugs that slow the central nervous system.
Types
Narcotics
of Psychoactive drugs:
Narcotics are a class of drugs that suppress the sensation of pain by binding to and
stimulating the nervous system’s natural receptor sites for endorphins, the
neurotransmitters that naturally deaden pain sensations (Olin, 1993). Because they also
slow down the action of the nervous system, drug interactions with alcohol and other
depressants are possible—and deadly. All narcotics are a derivative of a particular plant-
based substance—opium.

Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens actually cause the brain to alter its interpretation of sensations (Olin,
1993) and can produce sensory distortions very similar to synesthesia ( to Chapter Three:
Sensation and Perception, p. 88), in which sensations cross over each other—colors have
sound, sounds have smells, and so on. False sensory perceptions, called hallucinations,
are often experienced, especially with the more powerful hallucinogens. There are two
basic types—those that are created in a laboratory and those that are from natural
sources.
Types
Narcotics
of Psychoactive drugs:
Narcotics are a class of drugs that suppress the sensation of pain by binding to and
stimulating the nervous system’s natural receptor sites for endorphins, the
neurotransmitters that naturally deaden pain sensations (Olin, 1993). Because they also
slow down the action of the nervous system, drug interactions with alcohol and other
depressants are possible—and deadly. All narcotics are a derivative of a particular plant-
based substance—opium.

Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens actually cause the brain to alter its interpretation of sensations (Olin,
1993) and can produce sensory distortions very similar to synesthesia ( to Chapter Three:
Sensation and Perception, p. 88), in which sensations cross over each other—colors have
sound, sounds have smells, and so on. False sensory perceptions, called hallucinations,
are often experienced, especially with the more powerful hallucinogens. There are two
basic types—those that are created in a laboratory and those that are from natural
sources.
Types of Psychoactive drugs:
Stimulants increase functioning narcotics euphoria-producing and pain-relieving drugs
of nervous system derived from opium
amphetamines -morphine
-heroin
-cocaine -methadone does not produce euphoria; used to treat heroin
-nicotine addiction
-caffeine
Hallucinogens alter brain’s interpretation of sensations
depressants have sedative effect -manufactured
-barbiturates major tranquilizers 1. LSD
-benzodiazepines minor 2. PCP
3. MDMA (Ectasy)
tranquilizers—Valium, Xanax, -nonmanufactured
Halcion, Ativan, Librium, 1. mescaline
Rohypnol 2. psilocybin
-alcohol 3.marijuana
THE END