Dreaming

Role of Biological Clocks

Biological Clocks

Circadian Rhythm

Ever notice…

• Timing device

• Programmed to regulate physiological behaviors @ certain times.

• Type of bio. clock

• Programmed to regulate behaviors in a 24-25 hr. period.

• Under control of the environment.

• You get sleepy at the same times each day?

• Hungry at the same times each day?

• Have to use the bathroom at the same time each day?

Human BodyThe human body has a natural rhythm that

free runs on a cycle of about 25 hours

The body can adjust to a 1 hour change, but anything more than that can have serious consequences

**Jet Lag

Interesting FactsAnything less than five minutes to fall

asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired

enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

Humans spend about 1/3 of their lifetime sleeping.

Did you know... World Record –

Longest period of

time a human has

intentionally gone

without sleep no

stimulants)

Randy Gardner

1964) 17-years old

264 Hours 11

days)

Health was

monitored –

negative cognitive

& behavioral

changes were

reported

Losing Sleep 1959 New York disk jockey Peter Tripper stayed awake

for 200 hours to 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 doctors tweed suit as a tangle of furry worms; at 120 he needed a stimulant to stay awake. 150 he didn’t know who/where he was/became paranoid. By 200 he thought a doctor examining him was an undertaker come to bury him.

HOW MUCH SLEEP DO I NEED?Humans spend approx 1/3 of life asleepSleep is largely related to biological clocks and circadian rhythms but how much sleep we get is often determined by the environment and 24-hour clock we follow.

Sleep Sleeping helps to restore the body.

The following things occur while sleeping:

New cells are primarily created during sleep

Chemicals the brain used up are restored

Body hair grows most rapidly

With a neighbor..

Discuss 1 memorable dream

• What do you think is the purpose of dreaming?

Dream Theory: Freud

Wish Fulfillment

symbolic expressions of unconscious conflicts

clues to humans’ inner thoughts and forbidden

impulses

Manifest Dream vs. Latent Dream

Modern Dream Theory

• Meaningless byproducts of REM sleep

• Attempt to make a coherent perceptual experience from memories & feelings

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• Concerns affect content & organization of dreams.

• Brain areas involved in emotion tend to be overactive

• Logical thought is suppressed

Problem Solving

• Filing away memories

• Dreams usually about everyday events

Information Processing

Nightmares

REM

More frequent w/ PTSD suffers

Night terrors

NREM stage 3)

Common in young boys

Lucid Dreaming

Awareness of dreaming while dreaming

Sleepwalking

NREM

Most common in childhood

Usually outgrown

Dream Occurrences

Creativity and Foretelling

The tune for

"Yesterday"

came to

Paul McCartney

in a dream

Mary Shelley's

Frankenstein

Inspired By a

Dream

"Wednesday night I had

a dream and it was about

my golf swing. I was

hitting them pretty good

in the dream and all at

once I realized I wasn't

holding the club the way

I've actually been

holding it lately.

Robert Lewis Stevenson dreamed about a man who drank a potion that turned him into a monster.

This inspired the famous: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Are your dreams in color?

Do you have a "sense of time" in your dream?

What emotions did you have during your dream?

How many different dreams can you remember in one night?

Do the same people, events or places reoccur in different dreams?

Do some events that happened during the day appear in your dreams?

If you think about something before going to sleep, does this "something" appear in your dreams?

Does watching a movie or a TV show influence what you dream about?

Does eating certain food influence what you dream about?

Does your mood affect what you dream about? If you are happy, do you dream about different things than if you were sad?

Does your mood affect what you dream about? If you are happy, do you dream about different things than if you were sad?

Are dreams on weekdays different than dreams on the weekends?

Does the time of year influence what you dream about? Does the time you go to sleep influence what you dream

about? Are nighttime dreams different from dreams you have if

you take a nap or fall asleep during class)? Are dreams different when you are sick? Are dreams different when you take medicine? Do you have the same dreams more than once? Can you remember your dreams better when you wake up

by yourself or when you wake up with an alarm clock think about the weekends when you may not set an alarm).

Do you remember dreams you have had in the past? How long ago?

Lisa dreamed that she was in school taking a test in pre-Calculus. It was a really hard test and she didn’t feel prepared, so she leaned over to see Brad’s test. When she looked at Brad’s paper, snakes started

crawling out of his desk. Before she could say anything, the teacher looked in her direction and

suddenly the floor fell away and she was floating in the ocean.

• problem-solving model.

• activation-synthesis model.

• information-processing model.

• Wish fulfillment

•No scientific evidence that dreams lead to greater insight or creativity more than in the waking state.