“Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.”

Charles Fisher

Sleep and Dreams

Biological Rhythms periodic physiological fluctuations

Circadian Rhythm biological clock regular bodily rhythms that

occur on 24-hour cycle, wakefulness and body temperature

Sleepperiodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness

Sleep Across the Lifespan

Sleep and Dreams REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep 1953 Eugene Aserinsky discovered

REM sleep recurring sleep stage vivid dreams “paradoxical sleep”

muscles are generally relaxed

other body systems are active

Brain Waves and Sleep Stages

Beta waves

Typical Night’s Sleep

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4

3

2

1

Awake

Hours of sleep

REM

Sleep Deprivation

Effects of Sleep Loss fatigue impaired

concentration depressed immune

system greater

vulnerability to accidents

REM ReboundREM sleep increases following

REM sleep deprivation

Sleep Deprivation

2,400

2,700

2,600

2,500

2,800

Spring time change(hour sleep loss)

3,600

4,200

4000

3,800

Fall time change(hour sleep gained)

Less sleep,more accidents

More sleep,fewer accidents

Monday before time change Monday after time change

Accident frequency

Sleep Disorders

Insomnia persistent problems in falling or staying

asleep Narcolepsy

uncontrollable sleep attacks Sleep Apnea

temporary cessation of breathing momentary reawakenings

Somnambulism sleepwalking

Sleep DisordersInsomnia

Chronic problems in getting good sleep Difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep Causes

Stress, depression, health problems Solutions

Sedatives sometimes ineffective/never long-term solution

Don’t take naps during dayAvoid alcohol, caffeine, and cigarettes within 5 hrs

before bedtime (avoid exercise within 2 hrs)Keep schedule – going to bed/waking up at same

time

Sleep Disorders

Hypersomnia Being sleepy during the day and sleeping

too much at night Narcolepsy

Parasomnias Sleep apnea Nightmares Night terrors Sleepwalking

Night Terrors and Nightmares

Night Terrors occur within 2

or 3 hours of falling asleep, usually during Stage 4

high arousal-- appearance of being terrified

Dreams

sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through sleeping person’s mind hallucinatory imagery incongruities delusional acceptance of content difficulties remembering Lucid dreaming ("light, bright, clear") is the conscious perception of one's state while dreaming, resulting in a

clearer experience.

Theories of Dreaming

Dreams as Problem-SolvingDreams reflect emotional preoccupations of

waking life—relationships, sex, work, health.

Images in dream are sometimes symbols for things in life.

This agrees with Freud >dreams contain symbols, but no “latent” (unconscious) meaning

Meaning is at surface level—”manifest” content

Dreams: Freud Sigmund Freud--The Interpretation of Dreams

(1900) wish fulfillment discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings attempt to satisfy sexual and aggressive impulses

we cannot satisfy when we are awake

Manifest Content remembered story line

Latent Content underlying meaning

1976 Hobson & McCarly

Activation-Synthesis Theory

Dreams result from random activation of brain cells responsible for eye movement, muscle movement, balance, and vision.

Brain then synthesizes (combines) this activity with existing knowledge and memories as if signals came from environment

How we interpret the random images and sensations as dream’s meaning

Information Processing Theory

Mental Housekeeping TheoryDuring sleep, brain shuts out sensory input

so it can process what was stored in memory during day

Dreams are brief glimpses of brain’s sorting, scanning and searching through memories. Dreams have no meaning.

Supporting this theory is research showing that REM sleep is important for remembering things that were learned during preceding day.

Eugen Tarnow suggests dreams are ever-present excitations of long-term memory. Strangeness of dreams due to format of long-term memory

up to 70% of females and 65% of males report recurrent dreams.

sexual dreams show up no more than 10 % of the time

common themes: themes relating to school, being chased, sexual experiences, falling, arriving too late, a person now alive being dead, flying, & failing a test.

12% of people dream only in black and white.

men's dreams 70 % of characters are other men, female's dreams contain equal number of men & women.

Sleep IQ

1. During sleep your brain rests.False: While your body rests, your brain doesn’t.

2. You cannot learn to function normally with one or two fewer hours of sleep a night than you need.True: Sleep need is biological. While children need more sleep than adults, how much sleep any individual needs is genetically determined.

3. Boredom makes you feel sleepy, even if you have had enough sleep.False: Boredom only unmasks sleepiness, but doesn’t cause it.

Sleep IQ

4. Resting in bed with your eyes closed cannot satisfy your body’s need for sleep.True: Sleep is as necessary to health as food and water, and rest is no substitute for sleep.

5. Snoring is not harmful, as long as it doesn’t disturb others or wake you up.False: Snoring may be a signal for sleep apnea (which can be fatal if untreated).

6. Everyone dreams at night.True: Every person dreams every night –

it’s just that some of us can’t remember much of our dreams.

Sleep IQ

7. The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need.False: Although we tend to sleep less, our need for sleep doesn’t decrease as we age.

8. Most people don’t know when they are sleepy.True: We are not very good judges of our biological need for sleep.

9. Raising the volume of your radio will help you stay awake while driving.False: The only short-term solutions are to pull over and take a nap or to have a caffeinated drink.

Sleep IQ

10. Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry or psychological problems.False: Sleep apnea is caused by relaxed muscles and narcolepsy appears to be genetic.

11. The human body never adjusts to night shift work.True: No matter how long you work a night shift, sleeping during the day remains a challenge because of our circadian rhythms that operate on the light/dark schedule.

12. Most sleep disorders go away, even without treatment.False: On average, sleep disorders do not disappear without treatment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zVCYdrw-1o