SLEEPING

Sleep stages:
Stage 1- Hallucinations
Stage 2- Sleep spindles
Stage 3- Transitional sleep
Stage 4- Deep sleep
SLEEP CYCLE
There is a five stage cycle
Repeats every 90 minutes
REM sleep
REM increases as night progresses
SLEEP NEEDS AND
DEPRIVATION
Sleep needs in age groups:
Newborns will sleep 6 to 8 times in a 24 hour period (more than 16
hours per day
6 year old child needs up to 11 or 12 hours of sleep per night
As the child grows up they need less and less sleep until they are an
adult only needing 7-7.5 hours of sleep per night (they may need
even less as they get older.
During a whole lifetime we need about 1 hour of sleep to every 2
hours we are awake.

SLEEP AND MEMORY
When learning a difficult perceptual task and are kept up all night
after finishing practicing the task, the learning is wiped out
Sleep after learning is essential for memory consolidation
The memory normally deteriorates unless sleep occurs.
**Pulling an all nighter to study for an exam is not the best option
because the information being learned will not stick in your
memory*** EXTREME SLEEP LOSS CAN BE FATAL!!



SLEEP DEPRIVATION
Sleep deprivation can have a detrimental effect even on the
healthiest of young people; it can cause an increase in irritability,
reduce acuity and reaction time, and increase depression. People who
do not get enough sleep are also more prone to accident and injury.

REM SLEEP AND ITS
IMPORTANCE
Memory problems and excessive aggression are observed in both
humans and rats when awakened whenever the REM activity starts.

SLEEP DISORDERS
Medication: People use sleep medication to help with Insomnia
but this is not always a benefit
Most sleeping pills are addictive
Sedatives can interfere with the normal sleep cycle
Reduce the proportions of time spent in REM and slow-wave sleep
Grogginess and irritability during the day
Stopping the treatment to abruptly can cause insomnia worse than
before.

DISORDERS
Insomnia: Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep
About 15% of adults suffer from severe insomnia
About 15% of adults suffer from a mild case of insomnia
Causes for insomnia include anxiety associated with stressful life
events.
Sleep Paralysis: The experience of waking up unable to move
Associated with narcolepsy
Only lasts a few moments and can cause pressure on the chest
DISORDERS CONT.
Sleep Apnea: Disorder in which the person stops breathing for
brief periods while asleep.
Occurs most often in middle-aged, overweight men
Snoring and noisy gasping for air are some signs of sleep apnea
Usually this disorder goes undiagnosed because it is easy for the
sleeper to not notice.
Sleep may seek treatment because of excessive sleepiness during the
day.
Some treatment include weight loss, drugs, or external breathing aids

DISORDERS CONT.
Somnambulism (Sleepwalking): Person arises and walks around
while asleep. Common in children around the age of 11 or 12
25% of children experience at least one episode
Sleepwalking happens early in the night usually during slow-wave
sleep, and sleepwalkers may awaken during their walk or return to
their bed without waking.
Sleepwalker will usually not remember the sleep walk the following
morning
The eyes of the sleepwalker are usually open and glossed over when
walking occurs.
The only problem is the physical harm that can come to the
sleepwalker by tripping over objects or falling down stairs.
It is safe to wake a sleepwalker or lead them back to their bed if
necessary.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQAb_AoXRj4
THE LAST OF DISORDERS
Narcolepsy: A disorder in which sudden sleep attacks occur in the
middle of waking activities.
Attacks can last from 30 seconds to 30 minutes depending on the
individual
Is hereditary and runs in families and can be treated effectively by
medication
Night terrors (Sleep terrors): Abrupt awakenings with panic and
intense emotional arousal. Usually occurs in boys ages 3-7
Occur during NREM or at the beginning of sleep cycle and dreams
are not associated with night terrors

DREAMING
Dreaming permits each and every one of us to
be quietly and safely insane every night of our
lives.-William C. Dement (1959)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA

5 MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS
1. We feel emotion
2. Dream thought is illogical
3. Sensation is formed and is meaningful
4. Dreaming occurs with uncritical acceptance
5. Difficulty remembering the dream after it is over

DREAM THEORIES
Sigmund Freud
Dreams are confusing and obscure. Dynamic unconscious creates
them to be confusing and obscure.
They represent wishes and some are unacceptable, taboo and anxiety
producing
-Problem: infinite number of interpretations of any dream
-BUT evidence that dreams do feature the return of suppressed
thoughts.
DREAM THEORIES CONT.
Hobson and McCarley 1977
Activation-synthesis model: dreams are produced when the mind
attempts to make sense of random neural activity that occurs in the
brain during sleep.
In the dream state mind does not have access to external sensations.
The information is from neural activations without perception of
reality.
The interpretive mechanisms of the brain can run free!

DREAMING BRAIN
Different brain areas show activation during REM sleep.
Brain area responsible for fear or emotion work overtime in
dreams. For example the amygdala (responses of stressed or
threatening events) is quite active during REM
Areas responsible for visual perception are NOT activated, but
visual association in the occipital lobe is activated
THE BRAIN CONT.
During REM sleep:
Prefrontal cortex shows less activity
The eyes move rapidly but the body is very still, so motor cortex
activated but spinal neurons inhibit expression of motor activation








TEST QUESTION
What is one of the 5 signs of REM sleep?
Possible answers: 1. pulse quickens
2. blood pressure rises
3. old tale of sexual arousal
4. very little muscle movement, the sleeper is very still
5. rapid side-to-side eye movement