Chapter 3 - Consciousness and the Two-track Mind

Consciousness - our awareness of ourselves and our environment

Cognitive Neuroscience - the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with our mental
processes

Dual Processing - the principle information is often simultaneously processed on separate

conscious and unconscious tracks. High roads for the conscious and Low roads for the
unconscious.

Selective Attention - the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Cocktail Party Effect - your ability to attend one voice among many
Inattentional Blindness - failing to see visible object when our attention is directed
elsewhere
Change Blindness - failing to notice changes in the environment.

Sleep and Dreams

Circadian Rhythm - (circa from the latin word means about and diem means day) the
biological clock; regular body rhythms

Sleep - periodic, natural, reversible, loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness

resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation

Stages of Sleep
Stage 1 - The stage between Wakefulness and Sleep
Referred as the somnolence or drowsy sleep
Represents only about 5% of the total sleep or lasts
for 10minutes
Muscles are still quite active and eyes roll around
slowly and may open and close from time to time
Breathing becomes more regular and heart rate
begins to slow
Dreaming is relatively rare
Hypnic (Hypnagogic) Jerks - sudden short micro-
awakenings often accompanied by a falling sensation
Stage 2 - NREM2 (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) or N2
The non-equivocal stage of sleep, during which muscle activity decreases
still further and conscious awareness of the outside world begins to fade completely
Constitutes about 45-50% of total in sleep time
Stage 3 - NREM3 or N3
Also known as the Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS)
Sleeper is even less responsive to the outside environment, essentially
cut-off from the world and unaware of any sound or other stimuli
 Brain temperature, breathing rate, heart rate and blood pressure are all in
their lowest levels
Stage 4 - REM (Rapid Eye Movement)
The stage which parasomnias like night-terrors, sleep walking, sleep
talking and bed wetting occurs.
Parasomnias - are category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal
movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling
asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or during arousal of sleep
Information processing and memory consolidation also takes place in this
period

Why do we need Sleep?

1. Sleep protects.
2. Sleep help us recuperate.
3. Sleep help restore and rebuild our fading memories of the days experiences.
4. Sleep feeds creative thinking.
5. Sleep support growth.

Sleep Disorders
Insomnia - recurring problems in falling or staying asleep
Narcolepsy - a disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The
sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times
Sleep Apnea - a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of
breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings
Night Terrors - a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance
of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during NREM 3 sleep, within two
or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered

Dreams - a sequences of images, emotions and thoughts passing through a sleeping persons
mind. They are notable for their hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and
dreamers delusional acceptance of the content and later difficulties remembering it.

Why we Dream?
To satisfy our own wishes. Freud published a book titled, The Interpretation of
Dreams in 1900. He proposed that dreams provide psychic safety valve that discharges
otherwise unacceptable feelings. Dreams has 2 parts: Manifest Content or the
remembered story line of a dream and Latent Content or the underlying meaning of a
dream,
To file away memories.
To develop and preserve neural pathways.
To make sense of neural static.
To reflect cognitive development.

Hypnosis - a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggest to another (the
subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur.
Posthypnotic suggestion - a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after
the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired
symptoms or behavior

Dissociation - a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur
simultaneously with others

Drugs and Consciousness

Tolerance - the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring user to
take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drugs effect

Addiction - compulsive drug craving and use, despite adverse consequences

Withdrawal - the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug

Physical Dependence - a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal

symptoms when the drug is discontinued

Psychological Dependence - a psychological need to use drug, such as to relieve negative

emotions

Psychoactive Drug - a chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods

Types Of Psychoactive Drugs
Depressants - drugs such as alcohol, barbiturates (tranquilizers), and opiates
that calm the neural activity and slow body functions.
1. Alcohol - slows down vital functions - resulting to slurred speech, unsteady
movement, disturbed perceptions and inability to react quickly. It also disrupts memory
formation, reduce self-awareness and self-control,
2. Barbiturates - drugs that depress nervous system activity, reducing anxiety but
impairing memory and judgment. Nembutal, Seconal, and Amytal are sometimes
prescribed to induce sleep or reduce anxiety.
3. Opiates - opium and its derivatives such as Heroin and Morphine; they depress
neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety.

Stimulants - drugs that excite neural activity activity and speed up body functions.
Pupils dilate, heart rate and breathing rate increases, and blood sugar level rise, causing
drop of appetite. Energy and self-confidence also rise.
1. Amphetamines - drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body
functions and associated energy and mood changes.
2. Nicotines - a stimulating and highly addictive psychoactive drugs in tobacco.
3. Cocaine - a fast track from euphoria to crash. Was originally included in the
recipe of Coca-cola. It enters quickly to the bloodstream, producing a rush of euphoria
that depletes the brains supply of neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and
 norepinephrine. Within the hour, a crash of agitated depression follows as a drugs effect
wears off.
4. Methamphetamines - a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central
nervous system, with speeded up body functions and associated energy and mood
changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine levels
5. Ecstasy (MDMA - Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) - a synthetic stimulant and
mild hallucinogens. Produces euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health
risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition.

Hallucinogens - psychedelic (mind-manifesting) drugs that distorts perception

and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input
1. LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) - a powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known
as acid. It will result to uninterrupted stream of pictures, extraordinary shapes with
intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors.
2. Marijuana - a mild hallucinogen, amplifying sensitivity to colors, sounds, tastes
and smells. Impair the motor coordination, perception skills and reaction time
THC (Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) - the major
ingredient in marijuana

Influences on Drug Use

Biological Influences
1. Hereditary traits
2. Having an identical twin rather than fraternal
3. Boys who at the age of 6 y/o
4. Genes

Psychological and Social-Cultural Influences

1. Lacking of sense of purpose
2. Significant stress
3. Psychological disorders, such as depression
4. Urban environment
5. Cultural attitude toward drug use
6. Peer influences