States of Consciousness Psychology 12 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

States of Consciousness

Psychology 12Slide2

Sleep Journal

Researchers are still exploring the reason for sleep and dreaming. Consider what would be lost and gained if the need for sleep were eliminated.

Over the next five days you will be keeping a sleep journalSlide3

What is Consciousness?

Consciousness: an organism’s subjective awareness of internal and external events in its environment

Attention:

internal processes that set priorities for mental functioningSlide4

Awareness

Levels of awareness:

HIGH:

Controlled processes that require attention (and interfere with other functions-studying, reading…)

MIDDLE

: Automatic processes requiring minimal attention (such as riding your bike)

LOWEST:

Minimal or no awareness of the environmentSlide5

Sleep

Sleep is a behavior AND an altered state of consciousness

We spend about a third of our lives in sleep.Slide6

Facts about Sleep

Most adults need seven or eight hours' sleep a night

Famous figures like, Margaret Thatcher, Napoleon and Florence Nightingale only needed four

A cat sleeps for an average of 12 hours a day

Most of our dreams occur during rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep. We have around three to five REM episodes a night

Narcolepsy is a medical disorder that impacts 1 in approximately 2,000 people in the USA--narcolepsy a condition that causes them repeatedly to fall asleep in the middle of a meal, at the wheel of a car or in mid-conversation

An adult sleeping for eight hours will burn approximately 50 calories

A giraffe sleeps for an average of 1.9 hours a day

Almost two thirds of the population claim they do not get enough sleep Slide7

Are You Sleep Deprived?

Task: Set up a small mirror next star and see if you can copy the star using your non-dominant hand while watching your hand in the mirror…the task is difficult, and sleep deprived people typically make more mistakes/errors than non-sleep deprived.Slide8

In your Dreams: The Mysteries of Sleep

Why do we sleep?

More than 80 years after the world's first sleep laboratory opened in Los Angeles…

In spite of intensive investigations of the sleeping brain, we still do not know the answer.

Sleeping and dreaming remain among the greatest mysteries of the human organism essential to life, yet inexplicable and frustratingly unproductive. Slide9

In your Dreams: The Mysteries of Sleep

Why do we sleep?

While the exact function of sleep is unknown, but according to the

evolutionary theory

, sleep evolved to conserve energy and protect us from predators.

According to the

repair/restoration theory,

sleep is thought to be necessary for restorative value, both physically and psychologically.Slide10

In your Dreams: The Mysteries of Sleep

Why do we sleep?

Need for sleep varies among individuals, but ranges from 20 hours for infants to 6 hours for adults in their 70sSlide11

In your Dreams: The Mysteries of Sleep

Loss of Sleep…

 suppressed immune system

impaired creativity and concentration

slowed performance and misperceptions on monotonous tasks.Slide12

In your Dreams: The Mysteries of Sleep

Benefits of Sleep…

restoration of energy

repairing of brain and body tissue

release of growth hormonesSlide13

What is the nature of sleep?

Most people think of sleep as a state of

unconsciousness

, punctuated by brief periods of dreaming.

Sleep is actually a state of

altered consciousness

, characterized by certain patterns of brain activity and inactivity

.Slide14

Stages of Sleep

Each night, we go through

four to five cycles of distinct sleep stages

. And each stage has its own rhythm and corresponding changes in brain activity and behaviour. Slide15

Stages of Sleep

A sleeper progresses through Stages 1 through 4, then climbs back from Stage 4 to Stage 1 or 2, then experiences REM sleep.Slide16

Stages of Sleep

 Forty to 50 percent of sleep takes place in Stage 2, which dominates the transition phase after the first two-three sleep cycles.Slide17

Stages of Sleep

The average person progresses through the stages of sleep 4 to 6 times per night.Slide18

Brain Waves

EEG (Electroencephalograph-

electro-en-

cef

-lo-graph)

An

 instrument for measuring and recording the electric

 activity of the brain Slide19

Stages of Sleep

Stages of sleep: Quiet Sleep and Active SleepSlide20

Stages of Sleep

 Stage 0:

A person is relaxed with eyes closed

a.

 EEG (

Electroencephalograph-

electro-en-

cef-lo-graph: an instrument for measuring and recording the electric activity of the brain)

shows alpha wavesb. This period of falling asleep is also called the hypnagogic state.

(hip-na-gog-

ic

)

c.

 The "waking" period between being asleep and wakefulness is called the

hypnopompic

state.

(

hip-no-

pom

-

pic

)Slide21

Stages of Sleep:

Early Stages of Sleep:

As you begin to fall asleep, your body temperature decreases, your pulse rate drops, and your breathing becomes slow and even.

Gradually your eyes close and your brain briefly emits alpha waves which are associated with absence of concentrated thought and with relaxation.

Your body may twitch and your eyes roll, and brief visual images flash across your mind (although your eyelids are shut). Slide22

EEG Activity During Sleep

Stage 1

: Light Sleep – Alpha Waves

Stage 2

: Eye movements & brain waves slow; sleep spindlesSlide23

Stages of Sleep:

Quiet Sleep-Stage 1

and is characterized by sensory images and slow rolling eye movements and recognized by the appearance of theta waves on an EEG. Gradually your eyes close and your brain briefly emits alpha waves which are associated with absence of concentrated thought and with relaxation.

Your body may twitch and your eyes roll, and brief visual images flash across your mind (although your eyelids are shut)Slide24

Stages of Sleep: Early Stages

In Stage I

:

This stage is characterized by sensory images and slow rolling eye movements and recognized by the appearance of theta waves on an EEG-- lower in amplitude and frequency than alpha waves.

Your pulse slows a bit more and your muscles relax,

Breathing becomes uneven and your brain waves grow irregular. If you were awakened during this stage, you would report that you were “just drifting.”

Lasts from 30 seconds to about 10

mins

.Slide25

Stages of Sleep: Early Stages

In Stage II

Brain waves shift from low-frequency waves to high frequency waves—a pattern that indicates you have entered

Stage II

sleep.

Your eyes roll slowly from side to side. Slide26

EEG Activity During Sleep

Stage 3

: very slow waves - delta waves appear

Stage 4

: almost all delta waves

Very hard to wake during this stageSlide27

Stages of Sleep: Early Stages

In Stage III

Some 30 minutes later, you drift down into a deeper level of

Stage III

sleep, and larger-amplitude

delta waves

begin to sweep your brain every second or so.Slide28

Stages of Sleep: Later Stages

Stage IV

Deepest sleep of all, and it is often difficult to wake at this stage.

Large, regular Delta waves occurring more than 50% of the time indicate you are in a state of deep sleep.

If you are awakened by a loud noise, you may feel

disorientated

.

Talking out loud, sleepwalking, and bed-wetting—all of which may occur at this stage—leave no trace on the memory.Slide29

Stages of Sleep: Later Stages

Stage IV

Deep sleep is important to your physical and psychological well-being

On average a person spends 75% of sleep time in Stages I—IV. Slide30

EEG Activity During Sleep

REM stage

: rapid, irregular and shallow breathing, eyes jerk rapidly, both wake and sleep waves (

sawtooth

pattern)Slide31

Stages of Sleep--REM

Once in Stage IV, something curious happens, while your muscles are even more relaxed than before, your

eyes begin to move rapidly

.

This is called

REM

sleep (Rapid Eye Movement)

Your

pulse rate becomes irregular and the

levels of adrenal and sexual hormones in your blood rise—as if you were in the middle of an intensely emotional and physically demanding activity. Often your

face or fingers twitch and the large muscles in your arms and legs are paralyzed.

Your brain shows waves that closely resemble those of a person fully awake. For this reason, REM sleep is called

active sleep

. Slide32

Stages of Sleep--REM

Stages I-IV are called

NREM (non-REM)

or

quiet sleep

.

It is during

REM

sleep that almost all dreaming normally takes place.REM sleep lasts about 15-45 minutes after which you retrace the descent to State IV.

You go through this cycle every 90 minutes. Each time the length of Stage IV sleep decreases

and REM sleep increases, until you eventually wake up. Slide33

Stages of Sleep--REM

REM sleep is also often referred to as “paradoxical sleep”—your brain and body are giving signs of active arousal, yet your musculature is deeply relaxed and unresponsive (paralysis)…contradictory responses

How would paradoxical sleep or REM sleep serve an important adaptive function?

Think about the problems and dangers that would ensue if we were to “act out” our dreams while sleeping!Slide34

Stages of Sleep--REM

At no point does your brain become totally inactive

REM sleep seems to serve psychological functions such as

building efficient learning and memory processes

.Slide35

Stages of Sleep--REM

The Sleep Cycle in Cats:

During NREM sleep , cats often sleep in an upright position. With the onset of REM sleep, cats normally lie down.

Can you explain why?

During REM sleep large muscles are temporarily paralyzed, which causes the cat to lose motor control and lie down.Slide36

The Mysteries of Sleep

We spend

one-third

of our lives asleep. Imagine the possibilities if we could do without it. It would be the equivalent of adding 25 or 30 years to the average life-span an enormous gain, at the expense of nothing more than the loss of slumber. Slide37

A World without Sle

ep

The modern 24-hour society, with its round-the-clock provision of services, has radically changed our sleep habits.

Instead of our biological clocks, the sleep of modern workers is regulated by alarm clocks, electric light and artificial stimulants.

Power napping is an essential tool for top executives, especially in Japan, where

inemuri

, as it's called, is widely practiced and accepted as a sign of hard work. The powerful, like the powerless, doze when they can.

Regular adequate sleep six to eight hours, in a comfy bed has become a luxury for many, something of which they can only dream. Slide38

A World without Sleep

Some Japanese people suffer so much from work-related stress that they can't get to sleep even at home; instead, they spend up to $75 to attend a concert that is aimed specifically at sending them to sleep. Slide39

Sleeplessness & Disasters

Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska

. When the tanker ran aground on 24 March 1989 and discharged 260,000 barrels of crude oil into the sea, it triggered one of the worst ecological disasters in history, which cost an estimated $2bn to clear up. The official inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that

overtiredness of the crew

was a key cause. Slide40

Sleeplessness & Disasters

Lack of sleep has similarly been blamed for the

Chernobyl

nuclear reactor disaster in what is now Ukraine

Three Mile Island

nuclear reactor breakdown in the US

the

Challenger

space shuttle accident that claimed the lives of its seven astronauts.

The ferry accident on the Queen of the North (the Inside Passage Ferry disaster ), which took two lives. Slide41

Sleeplessness & Disasters

At a more mundane but no less important level, tiredness is known to be a key cause of

car accidents

.

Scientific films made of subjects driving a simulator show the terrifying consequences of sleep deprivation. As their blinking speeds up and their eyes start to close, the vehicles they are nominally in charge of slew across

the motorways,

ending up, in one case, in the middle of a field. Slide42

Sleeplessness & Disasters

Even these virtual motorway accidents are not as disturbing as the story of

Michael

Corke

, a music teacher in Chicago, who died of sleeplessness in 1993. A grainy amateur video shows him at his last school concert, walking unsteadily to the conductor's podium and raising his baton, as if he were 90 years old. At that point, he had gone two months without sleep.

Soon after, he was admitted to the University of Chicago hospital. Doctors initially diagnosed multiple sclerosis. Doctors administered sedatives in a dose sufficient to induce coma in any normal human being, but

Corke

was unaffected. He was finally diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder of

fatal familial insomnia

, for which there is no treatment and no cure. He died, aged 42, after six months without sleep. The condition has so far been identified in just 25 families worldwideSlide43

Sleep Deprivation

Prolonged sleeplessness, however, is crippling

. Anyone who has gone for two nights without sleep will know what this means as the siren call of slumber beckons irresistibly.

Peter Tripp

, a New York disc jockey, was among the first to discover its cost and he did so in public. He took part in a "

wakeathon

" in January 1959 to raise funds for polio research, during which he went 201 hours without sleep while continuing to broadcast from a glass booth in Times Square.

As the hours passed he became aggressive, started hallucinating and began to suspect his support group of a conspiracy against him. Yet he managed to broadcast for three hours a day throughout, though not without the help of (unidentified) stimulants.

He survived the experiment, and his symptoms of irritation and paranoia became recognized as classically linked to extreme sleep deprivation. Slide44

Sleep Deprivation

Losing Sleep—Exploring Psychology

In 1959 New York disk jockey Peter Tripp stayed awake for 200 hours it raise money for charity…

After about 50 hours, he started having mild hallucinations, seeing cobwebs in his shoes when there were none there and thinking that specks of dirt were bugs

By 100 hours, he became delirious and saw a doctor’s tweed suit as a tangle of furry worms; at 120 he needed a stimulant to keep him awake.

After 150 hours, he was disorientated, not knowing who or where he was, and he became paranoid—he backed against a wall, letting no one pass behind him

By 200 hours, his hallucinations had taken a sinister turn, and he thought a doctor trying to examine him was an undertaker come to bury him.Slide45

Sleep Deprivation

Five years later, Randy Gardner broke the record with a stint of 11 days awake in January 1964.

He also experienced hallucinations and became increasingly grumpy with those around him, though he reportedly did without the stimulants. Instead, his friends took him on walks at night and forced him to do push-ups when he showed signs of drowsiness.

On completion of his feat, when asked at a press conference how he had done it, he replied: "It's just mind over matter." Then he curled up in bed and slept for 15 hours.

Gardner's record was authenticated by a sleep researcher and professor of psychiatry at the Stanford School of Medicine, on the basis of direct observations and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings of Gardner's brain. Slide46

Sleep Disorders

While sleep is essential to life, most of us feel we do not get enough of it.

We are a nation of insomniacs, with two-thirds of the population complaining they cannot sleep.

Insomnia is so common that doctors say the preoccupation with it is now itself a medical problem.

The greatest enemy of sleep is worry about not getting enough of it.

Most people who lose sleep will be able to recover it the next night, and will be able to cope in the meantime. Slide47

Sleep Disorders: When Sleep Becomes a Problem

Are you one of those lucky people who takes sleep for granted? If so you may be surprised to discover the following facts:

An estimated two-thirds of adults suffer from sleep problems and about 25 percent of children under age 5 have a sleep disturbance

One in five adults is so sleepy during the day that sleepiness interferes with their daily activities. Each year [Americans] spend more than $98 million on over-the-counter sleep aids and another $50 million on coffee to keep them awake during the day.

Twenty percent of all automobile drivers have fallen asleep for a few seconds (

microsleep

) at the wheelSlide48

Sleep Disorders: Dyssomnia & Parasomnia

Psychologists divide sleep disorders into two major diagnostic categories:

1)

Dyssomnias

:

involve problems in the amount, timing, and quality of sleep

2)

Parasomnia

: which include abnormal disturbances occurring during sleepSlide49

Sleep

Disorders:

Dyssomnia

Insomnia

:

The term literally means “lack of sleep.” People with insomnia

have persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, or they wake up too early

. As much as 10% of the population genuinely suffers from insomnia, and nearly everyone occasionally experiences unwanted sleeplessness.

A telltale complaint of insomnia is that the person feels poorly rested the next day. Most people with serious insomnia have other medical or psychological disorders as well, such as alcohol and other drug abuse, anxiety disorders, and depression

Unfortunately, the most popular treatment for insomnia is drugs—either over the counter pills or prescription tranquillizers and barbiturates (which decrease Stage 4 and REM sleep therefore affect the quality of sleep)Slide50

Sleep Disorders: Dyssomnia

Sleep Apnea: (Apnea literally means “no breathing”) Repeated interruption of breathing during sleep because air passages to the lungs are physically blocked or the brain stops activating the diaphragm

If you snore loudly or have repeated awakenings followed by gasps for breath, you may be suffering from sleep apnea.

Research shows that sleep apnea may kill neurons in your brain that are critical for learning and memory. It can also lead to high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, and accidents. Slide51

Sleep Disorders: Dyssomnia

Narcolepsy

:

A serious sleep disorder that is somewhat the opposite of insomnia—it is the sudden and irresistible onset of sleep during normal waking hours.

It afflicts one person in 2000 and generally runs in families.

During an attack, REM-like sleep suddenly intrudes into the waking state of consciousness. Victims experience sudden attacks of

muscle weakness or paralysis (cataplexy).

Such people may fall asleep while walking, taking or driving a car.

Long daily naps and stimulant or antidepressants may help reduce the frequency of narcolepsy attacks.Slide52

Sleep Disorders:

Parasomnias

Nightmares

:

Anxiety-arousing dreams generally occurring near the end of the sleep cycle, during REM sleep

Night Terrors

: Abrupt awakenings from NREM (non-rapid-eye-movement) sleep accompanied by intense psychological arousal and feeling panic

Sleep walking

: Which tends to accompany night terrors also occurs during NREM sleep.

Sleep talking

occurs with about equal probability in REM and NREM sleep. It is even possible to engage some sleep talkers in a limited conversationThese events are more common in children, but they can also occur in adults, usually during times of stress or major life events.Slide53

Help with Sleep Disorders

During the Day

:

Exercise—it works away tension

Avoid Stimulants—coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate

Avoid Late Meals & Heavy Drinking

Stop Worrying—focus on problems at a set time earlier in the day

Use

Presleep Rituals—follow the same routine every nightIn Bed:

Use progressive muscle relaxation-tense and relax muscle groupsApply yoga—gentle exercises to help relaxationUse fantasies—imagine yourself in a tranquil settingUse deep breathing

Try a warm bath—this can induce drowsinessSlide54

Sleep Journal #2

Have you ever had a reoccurring dream? If so, what is the nature of it? What do you think it means?Slide55

Why do we dream?

Is there special meaning and information in our dreams?

Why do we have bad dreams?

Why do we dream at all?

These questions have fascinated writers, poets, as well as psychologists.Slide56

How art has opened the door to dreams…

Sleep and dreams feature heavily in Shakespeare

.

"We are such stuff/As dreams are made on; and our little life/Is rounded with a sleep," says Prospero in

The Tempest

.

"To sleep: perchance to dream ay, there's the rub. For in that sleep what dreams may come?" ponders an anguished

Hamlet

while wrestling with his dead father's advice.

Slumber is suggested in the very title of

A Midsummer Night's Dream, wherein the Queen of the Fairies, awakes from her sleep only to fall in love with the grotesque Bottom. In

Macbeth

, the title character has “murdered sleep,” and is no longer able to sleep as a result of his overwhelming guilt.

Artists have long been influenced and inspired by their nocturnal musesSlide57

Sleep & Inspiration

Dreaming, which occurs during REM sleep, is the one event during the hours of slumber that turns out to be more productive than it appears. Paul McCartney claimed to have woken from a dream with the theme for The Beatles' hit "Yesterday" in his head.

Robert Louis Stevenson said the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came to him while asleep

Dmitri Mendeleev reported that he "saw" a chart of all the elements ranged in front of him while dozing at his desk on 17 February 1869. Two weeks later, he published what has become the Periodic Table of the Elements. Slide58

History of Sleep

Efforts to understand the causes and role of sleep begin with Aristotle, the first person to consider sleep in a methodical way.

He argued that it was

caused by the heart cooling down

.

Other Greek philosophers and physicians said its

cause lay in the isolation of the body from its senses

but they mistook the heart rather than the brain to be the centre of the body's sensory perception. Slide59

History of Sleep

Not until 2,000 years later did it become possible to study the sleeping brain directly.

Nathaniel

Kleitman

opened the first

sleep laboratory

at the University of Los Angeles in 1925. His team were the first to discover that sleep consisted of

different stages, with REM (rapid eye movement) sleep alternating with deeper sleep every 90 minutes. Kleitman's

work laid the foundation for modern sleep research. Slide60

Theories of Sleep

Repair/Restoration

Sleep allows for recuperation from physical, emotional, and intellectual fatigue

Survival Value

Sleep evolved to conserve energy and protect our ancestors from predatorsSlide61

Three Major Theories of Dreams

1) Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic View—One of the oldest and most controversial explanations for why we dream is Freud’s psychoanalytic view

2) Biological View

3) Cognitive ViewSlide62

The Interpretation of Dreams

After Sigmund

Freud's

The Interpretation of Dreams

in 1899 that the study of sleep and dreams really began to seize the imagination of artists.

Freud's work was a huge influence on the surrealists, and particularly Salvador Dali, who was inspired by the psychoanalyst Slide63

The Interpretation of Dreams:

Wish Fulfillment

A.K.A.

Psychoanalytic theory

: Dreams represent disguised symbols of

repressed desires and anxieties

Manifest Content

: symbols used to disguise true meaning of dream

Latent Content

: true unconscious meaning of a dream

“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

- Freud, on the

meaning of dreamsSlide64

The

Interpretation of Dreams

Freud:

Among his best-known cases was that of the Wolf Man, a rich young Russian called Sergei

Pankejeff

who had a nervous breakdown at the age of 17 that left him incapable of leading a normal life.

His therapy focused on a nightmare he had at the age of four, when he dreamed that he opened a window to see half a dozen wolves sitting motionless in a tree.

Freud concluded that this reflected a "primal scene", witnessed by

Pankejeff

, of his parents having sex. Slide65

The Interpretation of Dreams

Although the account strikes a modern audience as dated and contrived, Freud's theory that the "

manifest content"

of a dream (what appears to the dreamer) is

created by the unconscious desires

that give rise to it has stood the test of time.

By analyzing the manifest content, Freud claimed it was possible to trace the desires underlying the dream that were too painful or distressing for the dreamer to acknowledge directly.

Dreams became the "royal road to the unconscious".Slide66

The Interpretation

of Dreams

It is fashionable to dismiss Freud's theories today as misguided. But, in an essay by Professor Mark

Solms

, a neurosurgeon at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine, writes that research over the last 100 years confirms Freud's view.

Neuroscientific

evidence gives every reason to take seriously the radical hypothesis first set out in Freud's book that dreams are

motivated phenomena driven by our wishes...

In fact, aspects of Freud's account of the dreaming mind are so consistent with the currently available

neuroscientific

data that I personally think we would be well advised to use Freud's model as a guide for the next phase of our neuroscientific investigations." Slide67

Why do we dream?

Activation-synthesis hypothesis

:

Dreams represent random activation of brain cells during REM sleep (biological)

Problem Solving

Dreams focus on the problems we have in an attempt to find a solution/information processing

Threat simulation

Dreams evolved to help us practice skills we need to avoid threats. Slide68

Why do we dream?

Theories--Cognitive View

Dreams are simply another type of information processing—that is our dreams help us sift and sort out our everyday experiences and thoughts. And the brain periodically shouts out sensory input so that it can process, assimilate and update information.

It is supported by the fact that REM sleep increases following stress and intense learning periods.

For example, college students often report “examination-anxiety” dreams. You can’t find your classroom, you’re running out of time, your pen doesn’t work, or you’ve completely forgotten to study.Slide69

Gender and Cultural Diversity

Do men and women dream about different things?

Are there differences between cultures in dream content?

In reference to gender, research shows that men and women tend to share many common dream themes. But women are more likely to dream of children, family, and familiar people, household objects, and indoor events

Men more often dream about strangers, violence, weapons, sexual activity, achievement, an outdoor events.

Interestingly, other evidence suggests that as gender differences and stereotypes lessen, segregation of dream content by gender becomes less distinct.Slide70

Gender and Cultural Diversity

Are there differences between cultures in dream content?Across cultures, research has found

both similarities

and differences in dream content. Dreams involving basic human needs and fears (like sex, aggression, and death) seem to be found in all cultures.

And children around the world dream of falling, being chased, and being unable to do something they need to do.

In addition, dreams around the world typically include more misfortune than good fortune, and the dreamer is more often the victim of aggression than the cause of it.Slide71

Drugs and ConsciousnessSlide72

Drugs and Consciousness

Psychoactive DrugsDo you (or does someone you know) use caffeine (in coffee, tea, chocolate, cola) or nicotine as a pick-me-up?

How about alcohol as a way to relax and lessen inhibitions?

All three—caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol—are psychoactive drugs.

How it differs from abuse, and how chemical alterations in consciousness affect a person psychologically and physically, are important topics in psychology.Slide73

Drugs and Consciousness

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2010/downsideofhigh/Documentary about the relationship between teenagers who start smoking marijuana (before the age of sixteen) and the increased chances of becoming schizophrenic (four times more likely). Slide74

Drugs and Consciousness

A Letter to ParentsMarijuana is the illegal drug most often used in this country. Since 1991, lifetime marijuana use has doubled among 8

th

and 10

th

grade students, and increased by a third among high school seniors. Our research shows that accompanying this upward pattern of use is a significant erosion in antidrug perception and knowledge among young people today. As the number of young people who use marijuana has increased, the number who view the drug as harmful has decreased. Among high school seniors surveyed in 1997, current marijuana used has increased about 72 percent since 1991. The proportion of those seniors who believe regular use of marijuana is harmful has dropped by about 26 percent since 1991.

--From “Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know” by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1998Slide75

Drugs and Consciousness

What factors do you think have influenced the trend toward increased use of marijuana?Slide76

Drugs and Consciousness

Description of Marijuana use written by J.R. Tinkleman (1975):

Initial effects of cannabis use at low doses using includes euphoria, heightening of subjective sensory experiences, alterations in time sense, and the [feeling]…of a relaxed…passivity. With time…these effects are intensified with impaired memory function, disturbed thought patterns, lapses of attention and a…feeling of unfamiliarity.

What are some of the emotional and psychological effects of that dependency? Slide77

Drugs and Consciousness

How Drugs Work

Psychoactive drugs influence the

nervous system

(and our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours) in a variety of ways.

Like hormones, drugs are carried by the blood and taken up in a target tissue in various parts of the body. When a drug is introduced into the body it comes into contact with capillaries (smallest blood vessel). From there it is

gradually absorbed into the blood.

Then drug molecules

act like neurotransmitters

and hook onto the ends of nerve cells (neurons) and send out their own chemical messages. Slide78

Drugs and Consciousness

How Drugs Work

For example

, alcohol molecules tell a nerve cell

not to fire

—as more cells cease firing, the alcohol user becomes slower and may eventually lose consciousness. LSD molecules may cause circuits in different areas of the brain

to start firing together

instead of separately resulting in hallucinations.Slide79

Drugs and Consciousness

Classification of Psychoactive Drugs

There are

four major categories

which include,

hallucinogens, opiates, depressants, and stimulantsSlide80

Drugs and Consciousness

I) Hallucinogens

These drugs produce intriguing

alterations of consciousness

from hallucinogens, including visual, auditory, or kinesthetic hallucinations.

According to some reports,

colours

are

brighter and more luminous

, patterns seem to pulsate and

rotate, and senses seem to fuse—that is colours are “heard” or sounds “tasted.”

Hallucinogens are referred to as

psychedelics

(from the Greek “mind manifesting”) They include

mescaline

(from peyote cactus),

mushrooms, LSD, and marijuana

.Slide81

Drugs and Consciousness

Hallucinations

Perceptions that have no direct external cause

—seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or feeling things that do not exist—are hallucinations. Slide82

Drugs and Consciousness

Experiencing hallucinations

:

Hypnosis, meditation, certain drugs, withdrawal from an addictive drug and psychological breakdown may cause hallucinations

People hallucinate when they are dreaming, day-dreaming and when they are deprived of sleep

Periods of high emotion, concentration or fatigue

Hallucinations are very much alike from one person to the next—the reactions are similar because of the way drugs affect the brain—portions of the brain that respond to incoming stimuli become disorganized, while the entire central nervous system is arousedSlide83

Drugs and Consciousness

Marijuana

Generally

classified as a hallucinogen

, even though it has the same properties as a

depressant

(including drowsiness and lethargy) and a

narcotic

(acting as a weak painkiller)—in low doses, it also produces mild euphoriaModerate doses lead to an intensification of sensory experiences

and the illusion that time is passing very slowly.High doses may produce hallucinations, delusions, and distortions of body image

The active ingredient in marijuana is THC, or tetrahy-dreacannabinol

, which attaches to receptors that are abundant throughout the brain. The presence of these receptors implies that the brain produces some THC-like chemicals of its own. Slide84

Drugs and Consciousness

MarijuanaSome researchers report use of marijuana can lead to impaired memory, attention and learning, and may also be related to birth defects and lower IQ in children

Additionally, chronic marijuana use can lead to throat and respiratory disorders, impaired lung function, decreased immune response, declines in testosterone levels, reduced sperm count, disruption of the menstrual cycle and ovulationSlide85

Drugs and Consciousness

Marijuana

Marijuana may also be

habit-forming

, but withdrawal symptoms are mild because the drug dissolves in the body’s fat and leaves the body very slowly, which explains why a marijuana user can test positive for days or weeks after use

On the positive side, marijuana has been found to be

therapeutic

in the treatment of glaucoma, in alleviating the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, in increasing appetite, and in treating asthma, seizures, epilepsy, and anxietySlide86

Drugs and Consciousness

LSD (acid) in 1943, Albert

Hofman

, the Swiss chemist who first synthesized LSD in a laboratory, accidently licked some of the drug off his finger and later recorded it in his journal

“

Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced to stop my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and to go home, as I was seized by a peculiar restlessness associated with a feeling of mild dizziness. Having reached home, I lay down and sank in a kind of drunkenness which was not unpleasant and which was characterized by extreme activity of imagination. As I lay in a dazed condition with my eyes closed (I experienced daylight as disagreeably bright) there surged upon me an uninterrupted stream of fantastic images of extraordinary plasticity and vividness and accompanied by an intense, kaleidoscope-like play of colours. This condition gradually passed after about two hours.” (

Hofman

, 1968)Slide87

Drugs and Consciousness

LSD (acid)The best-known potent hallucinogen is LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)—it is one of the most powerful drugs known.

LSD is an

ordourless

, tasteless, and

colourless

substance, but one of the

most potent drugs

knownAs little as 10 micrograms of LSD can produce measurable psychoactive effects in one individual. An amount the size of an aspirin is enough to produce effects in 3000 people. Low reported abuse rates may be due to the extreme and powerful experience of LSD

LSD is a dangerous drug and bad LSD trips can be terrifying and may lead to accidents, death, or suicideSlide88

Drugs and Consciousness

II) Opiates (narcotics)--

Drugs that are derived from opium

Includes morphine and heroin

Opiates

numb the senses

and thus are used medically to relieve pain

They are highly attractive to people seeking an alternated state of consciousness because they produce feelings of

relaxation and euphoria. They produce their effect by mimicking the brain's own natural chemicals for pain control and mood elevation, called

endorphinsSlide89

Drugs and Consciousness

II) Opiates (narcotics)--

Drugs that are derived from opium

This mimicking of the body’s natural endorphins creates a dangerous pathway to drug abuse.

After repeated flooding with artificial opiates, the brain

eventually reduces or stops

the production of its own

opiates

—if the users attempts to stop, the brain lacks both the artificial

and normal level of painkilling chemicals and withdrawal becomes excruciatingly painfulThe euphoria, pain relief, and avoidance of withdrawal

all contribute to make opiates, like heroin, extremely addictive—interestingly, when opiates are used medially to relieve intense pain, they are seldom habit-forming, however when taken recreationally, they are

strongly addictive Slide90

Drugs and Consciousness

III) Depressants (“downers”)Act on the CNS (central nervous system) causing

relaxation

,

sedation

,

loss of consciousness

and even

deathIncludes, alcohol, barbiturates, and anti-anxiety drugs like Valium.Because tolerance and dependence (both physical and psychological) are rapidly acquired with these drugs, there is strong potential for abuseSlide91

Drugs and Consciousness

III) Depressants (“downers”)Anxiety Medication

Anti-anxiety medication can relieve some symptoms of anxiety, but it also comes with side effects and safety concerns—including the risk of addiction.

Benzodiazepines, and newer options like antidepressants and beta-blockers.

These medications can be very effective, but they shouldn’t be thought of as a cure.

Anxiety medication can provide temporary relief, but it doesn’t treat the underlying cause of the anxiety disorder. Once you stop taking the drug, the anxiety symptoms often return in full force.

Many medications for anxiety are also habit forming and physically addictive, making it difficult to stop taking them once you’ve started.Slide92

Drugs and Consciousness

Depressants (“downers”)

It is often said that alcohol is a stimulant at low doses, which accounts for its reputation as a “party drug,” and a depressant at higher doses.

The truth is that alcohol is always a depressant

—people become less self-conscious, less inhibited, more relaxed, and more in the mood for a “party,” even after just one or two drinks, because the alcohol has depressed neural activity in the brain and other parts of the nervous system.

As drinking increases, so too does relaxation,

disinhibition

, poor judgment, and lessened emotional and

behavioural

control—all of which leads to serious personal and social problems

In very large doses, alcohol can be lethalSlide93

Drugs and Consciousness

Depressants (“downers”)

Alcohol’s effects are

determined by the amount that reaches the brain.

Because the liver breaks down alcohol at a rate of 1 ounce/hour, the number of drinks and the speed of consumption are both important. People can die after drinking large amounts in a short period of time.

Men’s bodies are

more efficient

than women’s at breaking down Following equal consumption: women have a

higher blood alcohol level than do men.Combining alcohol with other drugs, like barbiturates (both depressants) can be

lethal—together they can relax the diaphragm muscles to such a degree that the person literally suffocates (Actress Judy Garland died from this combination)Slide94

Drugs and Consciousness

Depressants (“downers”): Alcohol

Drunk drivers are responsible from almost half of all highway-related fatalitiesSlide95

Drugs and Consciousness

IV) Stimulants (cocaine, caffeine, nicotine, amphetamine, methamphetamine)

Increase the overall activity and responsiveness of the CNS to produce alertness, excitement, elevated mood, decreased fatigue and sometimes increased motor activity.Slide96

Drugs and Consciousness

Stimulants : Cocaine

Cocaine is a powerful CNS stimulant (extracted from leaves of the coca plant), that can be sniffed as powder, injected intravenously, or smoked in the form of crack.

Produced a feeling of

alertness, euphoria, well-being, power, energy, and pleasure

.

Also acts as an agonist drug to

block

the reuptake of our body’s natural neurotransmitter that produces these same effects (dopamine)Slide97

Drugs and Consciousness

Stimulants

: Cocaine

Potential for physical damage and severe psychological dependence

: even small initial doses can be fatal because cocaine interferes with

the electrical system of the heart

, causing irregular heartbeats and, in some cases,

heart failure

. It can also cause heart attacks and strokes

by temporarily constricting the blood vesselsThe most dangerous form is Crack/Rock—and its lower price makes it affordable and attractive to a large audience, but its

greater potency also makes it more quickly addictive and dangerousSlide98

Drugs and Consciousness

Drug Abuse and Addiction

Drug Abuse

refers to drug taking that causes emotional or physical harm to the individual or others

Addiction:

is a broad term referring to a person’s feeling of compulsion to use specific drugs or to engage in certain activities

Drug abusers

are those people who regularly use illegal drugs or excessively use legal drugsSlide99

Drugs and Consciousness

Drug Abuse and Treatment

Why Do People Abuse Drugs?

Avoidance issues

Boredom

Social Issues: Fitting-in, gain more self-confidence

Forget about problems

Anxiety issues—to relaxSlide100

Drugs and Consciousness

Drug Abuse and Treatment

The greatest risk associated with the abuse of psychoactive drugs is

loss of control

—which manifests itself as an

overwhelming

and

compulsive

desire to obtain and use drugsSlide101

Drugs and Consciousness

Drug Abuse and Treatment

Treatment for drug abuse involves:

1. The drug abuser admitting that he/she has a problem

2. The drug abuser entering a treatment program/getting therapy

3. The drug abuser must remain drug free. Many drug abusers are encouraged to join support groups to help them reduce drug use and fight off the temptation of returning to drugs. Many drug abusers suffer relapse—that is, they return to using drugs. This is why support groups are so beneficial for the user.Slide102

Drugs & Consciousness-Activity

READ: Addictive Drugs as the Brain’s “Evil Tutor”And in a paragraph, fully answer the question: Why do addicts abuse drugs?Slide103

Healthier Ways to Alter Consciousness

Hypnosis, Biofeedback & MeditationSlide104

Healthier Ways to Alter Consciousness

As we have seen, altered states of consciousness (ASCs) may be reached through everyday activities such as sleep and dreaming, or psychoactive drug use.

But there are also less common, perhaps healthier, routes to alternate states. Slide105

Exploring Psychology:

Not Feeling Pain

Victor R. entered a hypnotic trance by focusing on Chopin’s Lush Nocturne in E-flat, as it was played in the movie The Eddy

Duchin

Story. Victor visualized scenes from the movie and wrapped his mind in appealing thoughts. His blood pressure and pulse rate remained steady for 75 minutes.

During the 75 minutes, Victor was undergoing a gallbladder operation! He had refused the anesthetic, and during the surgery, he swears he felt no pain—just a little tugging. He even talked and joked with the surgical team during the procedure. After the surgery, he stood up and walked down the hall, riding the elevator to his hospital room.Slide106

Hypnosis

How can hypnosis eliminate the pain involved in surgery?

Hypnosis shifts our perceptions

By altering a person’s state of consciousness, people can be made conscious (aware) of things they are usually unaware of and unaware of things they usually notice.Slide107

Hypnosis

Relax…your body is so tired…your eyelids are so very heavy…your muscles are becoming more and more relaxed…your breathing is becoming deeper and deeper…relax…your eyes are closing and your whole body feels like lead…let go…relax.

These are some of the suggestions most hypnotists use to begin hypnosisSlide108

Hypnosis

Once

hypnotized…

Some

people can be convinced they are standing on the edge of the ocean listening to the sound of waves

crashing and feeling the mist on their faces

Will eat a delicious apple that is actually an onion…and relish the

flavour

Told they are watching a very funny movie or sad movie, they may begin to laugh or cry at their self-created visionSlide109

Hypnosis

What is hypnosis?

It is a state of consciousness resulting from a narrow focus of attention and characterized by heightened suggestibility

Also described as the trancelike state of heightened suggestibility, deep relaxation, and intense focusSlide110

Hypnosis

Characteristics:

Narrowed, highly focused attention (participant is able to tune out competing sensory stimuli)

Increased use of imagination and hallucinations (in case of visual hallucinations, a person may see things that aren’t there)

A passive and receptive attitude

Decreased responsiveness to pain

Heightened suggestibility (willingness to respond to proposed changes in perception “this onion is an apple”)Slide111

Hypnosis

The Power of Suggestion:

Many theorists believe that a persons suggestibility (willingness to respond to proposed changes in perception) increases their ability to be hypnotizedSlide112

Hypnosis

The Power of Suggestion:

Theorist: Theodore Barber

hypnosis is not a special state of consciousness, but simply the result of suggestibility

If people are given instructions, told to try their hardest, they will be able to do anything that hypnotized people can doSlide113

Hypnosis

The Power of Suggestion:

Theorist: Earnest

Hilgard

Hypnosis is a special state

People who are hypnotized are very suggestible; they go along with the hypnotist and can more easily imagine and remember thingsSlide114

Hypnosis

The Power of Suggestion:

Theorist:

Sarbin

& Coe

Hypnotized people behave as they do because they have accepted to role of a hypnotized subjectSlide115

Hypnosis: TRY THIS

The Power of Suggestion:

The Yawning Poll…

To illustrate the power of suggestion, start to yawn as you talk to friends and family…

How many times do you have to yawn before the other person also yawns?

How many people are immune to the yawn?Slide116

Hypnosis

Myths and Facts

Forced Hypnosis: People can be involuntarily hypnotized or hypnotically “brainwashed”

Hypnosis requires a willing, conscious choice to relinquish control of one’s consciousness to someone else. The best subjects are those who are able to focus attention, are open to new experiences, and are capable of imaginative involvement or fantasySlide117

Hypnosis

Myths and Facts

2. Unethical Behaviour: Hypnosis can make people behave immorally or take dangerous risks against their will

Hypnotized people retain awareness an control of their behaviour, and they can refuse to comply with the hypnotist’s suggestion.Slide118

Hypnosis

Myths and Facts

3. Faking: Hypnosis participants are “faking it,” playing along with the hypnotist

Although most participants are not consciously faking hypnosis, some researchers believe the effects result from a blend of conformity, relaxation, obedience, suggestion, and role playing. Others believe the effect results from a special state of altered consciousnessSlide119

Hypnosis

Myths and Facts

4. Superhuman Strength: Hypnotized people can perform acts of special, superhuman strength

When non-hypnotized people are simply asked to try their hardest on tests of physical strength, they generally can do anything that a hypnotized person canSlide120

Hypnosis

Myths and Facts

5. Exceptional Memory: Hypnotized people can recall things they otherwise could not.

Although the heightened relaxation and focus that hypnosis engenders improves recall for some information, people also are more willing to guess. Because memory is normally filled with fabrications and distortions, hypnosis generally increases the potential for error.Slide121

Hypnosis

Therapeutic Uses

Occasionally used in surgery and for treatment of chronic pain and severe burns

Found its best use in medical areas in which patients have a high degree of anxiety, fear and misinformation (dentistry, childbirth)—because pin is strongly affected by tension and anxiety, any technique that helps person to relax is useful Slide122

Hypnosis

Therapeutic Uses

In psychotherapy, it can help client relax, remember painful memories and reduce anxiety and has been used with modest success in treatment of phobias and in efforts to lose weight, stop smoking and improve study habitsSlide123

Biofeedback

A technique where a person learns to control bodily states with the help of specialized machines.

Biofeedback has been used to teach people to control a variety of physiological responses: brain waves, heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, sweat-gland activity

Principle: feedback makes learning possibleSlide124

Biofeedback

A technique where a person learns to control bodily states with the help of specialized machines.

Biofeedback involves having the participant connected via wires to a computer. Electrodes are attached to different parts of body that are targeted for measurement and modification—usually, head, hands, fingers, feet or muscles

Signal is transmitted from electrodes to computer and provides immediate info about levels of physiological activity

Relaxation and visualization techniques are practiced during session and the computer then indicates any changes in physiological activity as a result of practice of techniquesSlide125

Biofeedback

Biofeedback involves using machines to tell people about very subtle, moment-to-moments changes in the body.

People can experiment with different thoughts and feelings while they watch how each affects their bodies

In time, people learn to change their physiological processes.Slide126

Biofeedback

Example: Tension Headaches

Result from constriction of the

frontalis

muscle in the forehead—cure involved specialized training of muscular control

Use biofeedback to teach people to relax this special muscle.

In study, the practice went on for weeks, and while others were given similar treatments without biofeedback, only biofeedback group improved significantly.Slide127

Meditation

Suddenly, with a roar like that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord. The illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder. I experienced a rocking sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely enveloped in a halo of light. I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider, surrounded by waves of light .

(

Gopi

Khrishna

, 1999)Slide128

Meditation

This is how spiritual leader

Gopi

Khrishna

describes his experience with meditation

Does it sound attractive?

Most people in the beginning stages of meditation report a simpler, mellow type of relaxation, followed by a mild euphoria.

With long practice, some advanced

meditators

experience feelings of

profound

rapture and joy or strong hallucinations.Slide129

Meditation

This is how spiritual leader

Gopi

Khrishna

describes his experience with meditation

Does it sound attractive?

Most people in the beginning stages of meditation report a simpler, mellow type of relaxation, followed by a mild euphoria.

With long practice, some advanced

meditators

experience feelings of

profound

rapture and joy or strong hallucinations.Slide130

Meditation

What is meditation?

The term is generally used to refer to a group of techniques deigned to refocus attention, block out distractions, and produce an alternate state of consciousness.

Success in meditation requires controlling the mind’s natural tendency to wanderSlide131

Meditation

Three Major Approaches

Transcendental Meditation

: involves the mental repetition of a mantra, usually a Sanskrit phrase. The participant sit with eyes closed for 15-20 minutes twice a day

Mindful Meditation:

(Buddhist tradition) focuses on the present moment. The person may move his or he focus through the body from tips of the toes to top of the head, while paying particular attention to areas that cause pain.

Breath Meditation

: concentrating on one’s respiration—the process of inhaling and exhalingSlide132

Meditation

Is Meditation Good for You?

Researchers agree that most people can benefit from systematic relaxation techniques

Has been found to help lower blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration rate

The reported benefits come from those who practice it—may be biased.

Other data suggests that some people may actually be sleeping during meditation, so benefits may result from deep relaxationSlide133

Meditation

Is Meditation Good for You?

Researchers have found that meditation enhances the coordination between the brain hemispheres

Also found that those who meditate use a larger portion of their brain, and that faster and more powerful gamma waves exist in individuals who meditate regularly (past studies have shown that the type of increased coordination associated with more powerful gamma waves correlates with improvements in focus, memory, learning and consciousness).Slide134

States of Consciousness Inquiry Activity

TASK:

You will create a

technology-based presentation (not a poster) that answers one of the inquiry

questions

about States of ConsciousnessSlide135