“Last night I dreamt that I was a butterfly. Could it be now that I am a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?� ~ Chuang Tsu
s s e n s u o i c
s n o C f o s e Stat r5 e t p a h C
The Nature of Consciousness What is consciousness? …awareness of external events and internal sensa4ons
Higher-‐Level Consciousness
controlled processing
ac4vely focus efforts toward a goal
requires a?en4on
Lower-Level Consciousness Automa4c processes • require li?le a?en4on/conscious effort • do not interfere with other ongoing ac4vi4es
Daydreaming
Altered States of Consciousness • drug states • fa4gue, illness, trauma, depriva4on • medita4on, hypnosis • mental disorders
Subconscious Awareness Incuba4on Sleep and Dreams: low levels of consciousness of outside world
No Awareness unconscious (censored) thought à Freud
Conscious
Ego Superego Id
Unconscious
Why Do We Need Sleep? • Adap4ve Evolu4onary Func4on • Restora4ve Func4on • Brain Plas4city
Sleep Deprivation – decreased alertness and cogni4ve performance – inability to sustain a?en4on – less complex brain ac4vity – adverse effects on decision making Why are Americans sleep deprived?
REM Sleep: Stage 5 Rapid-‐Eye-‐Movement Sleep rapid eye movement dreaming Non-‐REM Sleep (Stages 1-‐4 ) – lack of rapid eye movement – li?le dreaming
Sleep Cycles 90-‐100 minutes per cycle typical night includes 60% -‐ Stages 1 & 2 sleep 20% -‐ Stages 3 & 4 sleep 20% -‐ REM sleep
• Visual Images = Vivid & Colorful • Space & Time Rela4onships = Distorted • Charged with Emo4on • Delusional Quality
Š 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Theories of Dreaming Psychodynamic Approach • manifest and latent content Cogni4ve Theory • informa4on processing and memory Ac4va4on-‐Synthesis Theory • brain makes “sense” out of random brain ac4vity
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.� T.E. Lawrence