Title: Modules 7
1Modules 7 Consciousness and Attention
2Consciousness
- Our awareness of ourselves and our environments.
3Dual Processing
- Our perceptual neural pathways have two routes.
The newer cortex routes (i.e., to Primary Visual
cortex) produce conscious seeing. An older
brain stem route responds to reflex like the
orienting reflex (directing your attention
towards something important).
4Blindsight
- In the absence of a working visual cortex
pathway (V1), a persons dorsal pathway can
identify some qualities (i.e., movement, emotion)
in the absence of the conscious experience of
seeing.
5- Unconscious pathway is faster
- Conscious processing is
- more skilled
6Selective Attention
- The ability to select some aspects of our sensory
input to attend to while tuning other aspects
out. - Cocktail Party Phenomenon
7Selective Attention and Multitasking
- Our attention can shift from one task to another
and back (time sharing attentional recourses). - If two tasks compete for attentional resources
performance in one or both will be impaired.
8Driving and Conversing
- Brain activities in areas vial to driving
decreased 37 while attending to a conversation.
Cell phone users 4X higher risk of accidents.
9Selective Inattention
- Count the passes.
- Failure to notice some stimulus that is in plain
sight. This stimulus is usually unexpected but
fully visible. People can falsely believe that
they do not experience inattentional blindness.
This is due to the fact that they are unaware
that they are missing things.
10Module 8
11- Circadian Rhythms
- Alertness patterns over the day
- governed by suprachiasmatic nucleus
- body temperature fluctuations
- clock reset by light (keeps it to 24 hours)
- No light cues ? 25 hour cycle
- Morning People and Night People
12Melatonin - hormone released by pineal gland.
Sedative effect. Light suppresses melatonin
release Darkness increases melatonin
release Will Taking Melatonin help you sleep?
13Stages of Sleep Electroencephalograph (EEG)
- measures electrical activity of brain
areas. Beta Waves - Wakefulness - choppy
short waves. Hypnagogic Hallucinations
14Slow Wave Stages (1, 2, 3, 4 SWS)
Alpha Waves Waves become larger and more
rhythmic. Neurons fire in synchronized pattern.
15- REM (Rapid Eye Movement Stage)
- Beta waves return (like wakefulness)
- Paradoxical Sleep
- ? Visual cortex and frontal lobe activity
- Brain Stem blocks Motor
- messages thus muscle activity
- suppressed.
- - Dreams occur.
-
16Over the sleep period - cycle through
stages REM periods become longer. Stage 4
periods become shorter.
17- What function does sleep serve?
- Protective Function
- Night Time is more
- Dangerous!
18- 2) Sleep Supports healing growth
- Pituitary releases Growth Hormone
- Facilitates healing!
19Can we get by with less sleep? Yes, but reduce
slowly (15 mins. less per week). What Happens
when sleep reduced? Become more efficient
sleeper - fall asleep faster. - Same amount of
time in REM and Stage 4 as with 8 hours sleep.
20- Sleep Deprivation
- - circadian rhythms govern alertness
- - sleep does not need to be fully replaced
- REM rebound
- NREM Rebound
- Peter Tripp 200 hours of Sleep deprivation
21Cognitive functions - Loss of NREM has little
effect - Loss of REM - impaired
concentration - moodiness - health
problems
22How can I increase Sleep?
- Getting up earlier is often difficult and trying
to go to sleep when not tired is near impossible.
Add sleep by going to bed about 15 minutes
earlier for a week, then add another 15 mins. Etc.
23Benefits of Getting Enough Sleep
- Lowered risk of depression
- Decreased risk for Obesity
- - decreased ghrelin (hunger arousing hormone),
and increased Leptin (hunger suppresser). - - increased cortisol (stress hormone) leads
to storage of fat.
24- Lower risk of viral infections and cancer.
- Longer life expectancy
- Increased attention and vigilance
25Dreams (R.E.M.) Everyone dreams (some dont
remember) What Happens during dreaming. 1)
Thoughts come into consciousness. 2) Try to make
sense of them.
26Functions of REM SLEEP
- 3) Sleep helps restore and rebuild fading
memories of the days experiences. - - memory consolidation
- 4) Creative Problem Solving and Thinking
27Do Dreams have meaning? 3 views. 1)
Activation-Synthesis Theory - random firing
of neurons - produce random thoughts -
we try to make sense of them Evidence dreams can
be bizarre!
282) Cognitive View Thoughts involve current
experiences and concerns day baggage -
evidence We can solve problems in our sleep.
Content often related to our current
experiences.
29- 3) Psychoanalytic View.
- Symbolic messages from repressed
- areas of our minds.
- Dream Interpretation
- Psychoanalytic symbols.
- Manifest content vs. latent content
-
30Common Dreams Scared and cant move. Anxiety
Dreams Dreams have personal meaning!
31Major Sleep Disorders Insomnia inability to
sleep or to stay asleep Hypersomnia inability
to stay awake Sleep Apnea intermittent
stoppage of breathing
32Somnambulism - (Sleep walking) - failure of
the muscle suppression mechanism to
fully activate. Narcolepsy - associated
with upset or excitement. - may be
inappropriate muscle suppression
33Module 9 Hypnosis
- When you're under hypnosis
- increase in absorption.
- focused attention.
- disattention to extraneous stimuli.
- reduction in spontaneous thought.
34- Social-Influence Theory of Hypnosis
- Theory that powerful social influences produce a
state of hypnosis. - Physiological state does not change under
hypnosis. - Is Hypnosis just a placebo effect?
- Eich (1989) when subjects led to believe they
were hypnotized when they were not they acted
then same as when hypnotized.
35Divided Consciousness View
- Dissociation a split between different levels
of consciousness (i.e., blocking neural input
from conscious awareness).
36Stroop Effect
37- Raz (2005) selected highly hypnotizable
subjects and a control group of 'resistant'
subjects. They were given the post hypnotic
suggestion that when they entered a brain scanner
(fMRI) and heard his voice some days later, the
words they saw before them would appear as
nonsense and they were only to report on the
colors of the words.
38- Resistant showed Stroop, hypnotized did not.
- Hypnotized reported that the words did indeed
appear to be gibberish.
39- Comparing brain scans, Raz found that in the
first group, the area of the brain responsible
for decoding written words was suppressed as was
the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex one
of whose functions is conflict resolution. - This did not occur in the resistant group.
40Hypnotic Pain Relief Pain Relief - Two
components Physical (parietal) response no
change Emotional (frontal) response
decreased