Consciousness & Dreams
Consciousness
•Our awareness of ourselves & our environment
•Consciousness is the headlines of a newspaper• Summaries of brain activity – not all the many millions of details of what went on behind the scenes
• “The Conscious mind is not at the center of the action in the brain; instead, it is far out on a distant edge, hearing whispers of the activity” – David Eagleman
• Subconscious - information we aren’t consciously aware of but know must exist due to behavior
• Unconscious - thoughts or desires about which we have no direct knowledge
States of Consciousness
some states occur
spontaneouslyday dreaming drowsiness dreaming
some are physiologically
inducedhallucinations orgasm
food or oxygen starvation
some are psychologically
induced
sensory deprivation
hypnosis meditation
Awake, Asleep, Altered StateAwake, Asleep, Altered State
Sleep & Dreams
• Biological Rhythms & Sleep• Circadian Rhythm• 24 hour cycle• temperature changes
Sleep Stages
• Awake - Alpha Waves• Stage 1 - Sleep,
hallucinations• Stage 2 - Sleep
Spindles• Stage 3 - transitional
sleep• Stage 4 - Delta Waves• REM Sleep
REM Sleep
• Rapid Eye Movement• Recurring sleep state during which
vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep because the muscles are relaxed but other body systems are active
• Typical nights sleep is about a 90 minute cycle
Why do we sleep?
• Variations in sleeping patterns• Cultural Influences• Sleep Debt• Age of Sleep Studies• Chronic seep loss• Spring and fall time changes
Sleep Theories
•Sleep protects•Sleep helps recuperation•Memory Storage•Sleep and Creative thinking•Sleep and Growth
Sleep Disorders• Insomnia - problems of getting or
staying asleep
• Narcolepsy - extreme sleepiness (sleep attacks)
• Sleep Apnea - stop breathing during sleep• Night Terrors - usually occur in
children, dreams outside of REM
• Sleepwalking / Sleep talking
Dreams according to Freud• Manifest Content• the remembered story line of a dream -
literal content
• Latent Content• the underlying meaning of a dream -
deeper meaning
Dream Theories
• Freud’s Wish Fulfillment• Dreams provide a ‘psychic safety
valve’ - expressing otherwise unacceptable feelings; contain manifest (remembered) content and a deeper layer of latent content (hidden meaning)
• Critical considerations: Lacks any scientific support; dreams may be interpreted many different ways
Dream Theories
• Information-Processing• Dreams help us sort out the day’s
events and consolidate our memories
• Critical Considerations: But why do we sometimes dream about things we have not experienced?
Dream Theories
• Physiological Function• Regular brain stimulation from REM
sleep may help develop and preserve neural pathways
• Critical Considerations: This may be true, but it doesn’t explain why we experience meaningful dreams
Dream Theories
• Activation-Synthesis• REM sleep triggers neural activity that
evokes random visual memories, which our sleeping brain weaves into stories
• Critical Considerations: The individuals brain is weaving the stories, which still tells us something about the dreamer
Dream Theories
• Cognitive Development• Dream content reflects dreamer’s
cognitive development – their knowledge and understanding
• Critical Considerations: Does not address the neuroscience of dreams