split-brain

when a large band of axons that connects the two hemispheres, known as the corpus callosum, in the brain are severed

Hemispheric specialization

when some abilities are processed more on one side of the brain than the other

The Francis Crick Memorial Conference

brought together scientists from various fields to reassess the data supporting the neurobiological basis of conscious experience

Result of the Francis Crick Memorial Conference

Public proclamation of The Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness, which affirmed that many animals are capable of conscious experience

States of consciousness

the level of arousal or wakefulness both in response to the external environment and concerning internal states

Conscious content

the subjective experience of the world and oneself within it

Cerebral cortex

outermost layer of the brain responsible for higher-level functions like thought, language, and memory, and is strongly implicated in the physical basis of consciousness

Amygdala

part of the brain involved in emotion

Hippocampus

part of the brain responsible for memory formation

Cerebellum

part of the brain involved in motor control

Binding problem

a concept that Francis Crick and Christoph Koch worked on which asked how the brain integrates different sensory information and internal experiences into one conscious experience

Attention

the process of selecting information from the internal and external environments to prioritize for processing

Passive attention

when attention is involuntary and automatic, occurring when bottom-up information from the external environment requires a response

Active attention

when attention is directed by goals and top-down processing

Selective attention

occurs when you attend to one source of information while simultaneously ignoring other stimuli

Stimulus salience

the low-level properties of an environment, in comparison to the bottom-up qualities of a scene that catch our attention

Attention capture

when attention is diverted because of the salience of a stimulus

Cocktail party effect

where you can follow one conversation in a crowded, noisy room

Dichotic listening task

a common experimental procedure used to study selective attention-- they are usually only able to notice changes like a speaker's gender in the ignored ear

Corten and Wood study 1972

Participants associated city names with electric shock. Later, during a dichotic listening task, the city names were played in the unattended ear. Participants showed a significant galvanic skin response when they heard the shock-associated names in the unattended ear, even though they weren't consciously aware of them. This suggested that the brain was processing and identifying the meaning of the words, even when they weren't a part of conscious awareness.

Divided attention

occurs when we simultaneously attend to two (or more) tasks at the same time

The Stroop Task (in class)

there were words that said one color but then were highlighted a different color-- we were supposed to say the color that the words were, even if the word itself read as a different color. Automatic attention was when we read the word without thinking what color it was highlighted and active attention was when we intentionally looked at the color it was highlighted even when it read as a different color

Automaticity

refers to fast and effortless processing that can be accomplished without conscious thoughts

Posthypnotic Suggestion:

"You will immediately realize that meaningless symbols are going to appear in the middle of the screen. They will feel like characters of a foreign language that you do not know…"

Rosenbloom study

showed that drivers on a hands-free call drove with a shorter following distance and were more likely to speed.

Inattentional blindness

occurs when we are engaged in one task and completely miss other information

Flicker task

when participants are shown two variation of the same picture, usually with one difference between the image. The first image is presented briefly, followed by a white screen, and then they are shown the second version of the image followed by another white screen. The white screens are included to prevent participants from using motion cues to detect the difference. The participants are asked to find the difference between the two images as quickly as possible. Despite the fact that participants know that a change is going to occur, it is not uncommon for participants to require a rather substantial amount of time to locate it.

Intentional change detection studies

experiments which use the flicker task as a common tool to study selective attention

Change blindness

when people fail to detect visual environmental changes

Change detection

when a person identifies the differences in a phenomenon by observing it at different times

Attention Disorders

Deficits in attention influence our ability to perceive and respond to information and, in fact, influence perceptions of reality itself

Visual Neglect

Lesions on the right (inferior) parietal lobe of the cortex lose awareness of visual stimuli on the left, with most patients not even realizing that they are doing only half of everything

Marshall and Halligan

showed participants two nearly identical images of the same house, except that one image, the left side of the house was on fire. When a patient was asked which house she wanted to live in, she consistently chose the image that was not on fire, although she could not articulate the reason

ADHD

Marked by a pattern of inattention and hyperactivity that is so severe it impairs a child's ability to function normally. They have reduced brain activity, white matter and connectivity in the frontal lobe

Ritalin

treatment of ADHD that blocks the reuptake of Dopamine and Noradrenaline causing increased levels of each neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft and more attention.

Flicker task is designed to measure _____

change blindness

Dichotic listening task is designed to measure _____

selective attention

Driving tasks (while on a cell phone) is designed to measure ____

divided attention

Electroencephalograms (EEGs)

measure activity across the surface of the brain

Electrooculograms

used to measure the movements of your eyes as you sleep

Electromyograms

used to measure the tension in the muscles of the jaw

Frequency

measured in Hertz (Hz)-- the number of up-and-down cycles of the wave per second

Amplitudes

the height of the wave

Regularity

our measure of how consistent or erratic the waves appear. Ex) we can describe slow-wave sleep as consisting of regular, high-amplitude waves that occur at a rate of less than 3.5 Hz

Beta waves

patterns of irregular, low-amplitude waves that our brain produces when we are focused and engaged

Desynchrony

how erratic a wave is which reflects that many different neural circuits in the brain are actively processing information

Alpha waves

patterns that our brain shifts to when we are awake and relaxed

Theta waves

transitioning from a relaxed state to the early stages of sleep

Stage 1 sleep (NREM1)

When you begin to move from a state of relaxation to early sleep. Very light stage of sleep. The firing rate across the cortex becomes more synchronized.

Stage 2 sleep (NREM2)

characterized by the appearance of sleep spindles and K-complexes

Sleep spindles

brief bursts of activity which are though to help with memory consolidation

K-complexes

large bursts of activity that can be triggered by outside noises, and they seem to prepare our brain for the deepest stage of sleep

Stage 3 sleep (NREM3) or Slow-wave sleep (SWS)

known as the deepest stage of sleep when the brain produces high-amplitude delta waves and the body repairs and restores itself. It is critical for basic life functions.

REM sleep

occurs approximately 45 minutes after SWS, and it is characterized by a dramatic change in brain activity with desynchronized beta waves that appear similar to when we are away. Our eyes dart back and forth, our body temperature rises, but we lose our ability to sweat.

REM sleep atonia

when our bodies become temporarily paralyzed during the REM sleep cycle to keep us from acting out our dreams

Roffwarg and colleagues (1962)

recorded eye movements as participants slept and later asked them to describe what had been happening in their dreams. You use the same regions of your brain that are used when you are awake

Hypnogram

a visual representation of the stages of sleep over time-- it consists of a x-axis with the hours of sleep (time) and a y-axis showing sleep stages (NREM1, NREM2, NREM3, REM), and it illustrates sleep cycles, showing how the proportion of slow-wave sleep decreases and REM sleep increases as the night progresses

Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis

during sleep, many brain regions become activated, so the brain creates a story to make sense of all this activity

Neurocognitive Hypothesis

either internal or external stimulation activates parts of the parietal, occipital, and temporal cortex. No visual information overrides the stimulation and no criticism of the prefrontal cortex censors it, so it develops into hallucinatory perceptions

AMPHAC Hypothesis (Levin & Nielsen, 2009)

disturbed dreaming results from dysfunction in a network of affective processes that, during normal dreaming, are presumed to serve the adaptive function of fear-memory extinction • Fear-memory extinction is facilitated by three processes: 1. Memory-element activation 2. Memory-element recombination 3. Emotional expression • AMPHAC network: the amygdala (A), the medial prefrontal cortex (MP), the hippocampus (H), and the anterior cingulate cortex (AC).

Physiological functions of slow-wave sleep

cellular repair and growth, released growth hormones and cytokines (proteins that help fight inflammation and infection), surges of cerebrospinal fluid flow through the brain, clearing waste.

Psychological functions of slow-wave sleep

strengthen and consolidate information you learned during the day, transfers newly learned information from the hippocampus to the neocortex for long-term storage, cognitive restoration (clearing out metabolic waste products), reset brain's emotional centers, allowing for better coping and mood regulation

Function of REM sleep concerning development

helps learning and memory especially in infants, synapses, synaptic pruning, development of frontal lobe in the adolescent brain in REM sleep also occurs

Synapses

the connections between neurons, and the brain in infancy-- is a tangled web of countless, often redundant, connections

Synaptic pruning

process of eliminating these unnecessary synapses while strengthening the most important ones

Psychological function of REM sleep

Helps to "detoxify" emotional memories, making them less emotionally charged over time, prevents emotional dysregulation often seen in adolescents, such as increased mood swings, depression, or anxiety. Limbic system in the brain is responsible for emotions, is highly active during REM sleep, and lack of REM sleep in childhood has been linked to issues with emotional regulation, attention, and learning, highlighting its importance for overall cognitive and psychological health

Randy Gardner

a 17-year-old student in 1963 who decided to undertake a science fair project that would make him a subject of international fascination and provide invaluable date to the field of sleep research.

Effect of sleep deprivation on Randy Gardner

He experienced struggling to focus, struggling to identify objects by touch, increased irritability, decreased coordination and physical movements, paranoia and hallucinations, short-term cognitive failure, but he was still physically remarkably stable. He beat Dr. Dement in a game of pinball on the tenth day. He did struggle with insomnia for decades after the experiment

sleep deprivation from daylight saving consequences

spikes in heart attacks and strokes in the days immediately following the springtime change, along with an increase in automotive and workplace accidents

Dyssomnias

characterized by difficulty initiating or maintaining or remaining sleepy throughout the day-- insomnia, conditioned insomnia, idiopathic (childhood insomnia), hypersomnia

Narcolepsy

• Neurodegenerative disorder marked by: 1. Sleep attacks 2. Cataplexy (muscle weakness or paralysis) i. Brain inappropriately goes into REM sleep 3. Vivid hallucinations right after falling asleep or right before waking i. Also might be related to inappropriate activation of REM sleep • Initiated by emotionally engaging events such as: 1. Arguments, laughter, sex 2. Might be due to inappropriate connections of limbic system and biological clock

Parasomnias

characterized by abnormal/unusual behaviors during sleep

Pharmacological treatment for sleep disorder

• Benzodiazepine ○ Bind to GABA receptors to increase inhibitory mechanisms (reducing excitatory processes like arousal) • Antihistamines ○ Blocks histamine (a neurotransmitter that increases wakefulness) • Melatonin ○ Increases sleepiness hormone

Micro sleep

brief period where your brain goes to sleep without your awareness

Hormone imbalance from chronic sleep deprivation:

Chronic sleep loss disrupts the balance of two key hormones: ghrelin (the "hunger hormone") and leptin (that "satiety hormone"). In sleep-deprived individuals, ghrelin levels increase, while leptin levels decrease. Imbalance can lead to insulin resistance which can cause type 2 diabetes

ghrelin

the hunger hormone

leptin

the satiety hormone

metabolic function from chronic sleep deprivation

disrupts glucose regulation, preventing "dipping," which is when the body's blood pressure naturally drops during sleep. This persistent blood pressure (hypertension) increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and heart attacks-- this is an increase in our sympathetic nervous system activity (our fight or flight system), which elevates our heart rate.

atherosclerosis

accelerated buildup of plaque in arteries

cytokines

protective proteins that are crucial for fighting infections and inflammation.

natural killer (NK) cells

a type of white blood cell that plays a vital role in destroying cancerous and virally infected cells function during sleep

melatonin

a hormone with antioxidant properties that helps suppress tumor growth

Psychological effects of chronic sleep deprivation

decline in attention, memory, decision-making skills, and impaired activity in the prefrontal cortex causing a significant drop in productivity. Also, an increased change of anxiety and depression and Alzheimer's disease and dementia

Bidirectional

when a factor causes one thing and that thing can also cause the factor. In this case, poor sleep can contribute to the development of Alzheimer's Disease, and in turn, AD related brain changes can cause sleep disturbances

Insomnia

the inability to fall asleep or the inability to remain asleep

conditioned insomnia

results from associations and conditioning

hypersomnia

Excessive sleepiness despite getting 8-10 hours of sleep (might be due to sleep apnea)

Sleep hygiene

habits and behaviors that are conducive to sleeping well

Conditional insomnia

among the most commonly diagnosed forms of primary insomnia where going to bed becomes associated with the inability to fall asleep

Idiopathic insomnia (child-onset insomnia)

results from a neurophysiological abnormality in the central nervous system that begins in childhood and is experienced through adulthood-- much more resistant to treatments

circadian rhythm

the body's internal clock

Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

○ Located directly above the optic chiasm ○ The body's timekeeper

Psychoactive drugs

broadly defined as substances that influence mood, thoughts, or behavior

Drug tolerance

when a larger dose is required to achieve the same physical and psychological effects

Dependence

the physical or psychological need for a drug to maintain normal functioning

Withdrawal

when the absence of a drug leads to symptoms such as headaches, shaking, vomiting, or mood swings.

Depressants

drugs that slow or depress the arousal of the central nervous system

Glutamate

one of the primary excitatory neurotransmitters in the nervous system

Alcohol

A depressant ○ Inhibits the effectiveness of glutamate, especially in the hippocampus. ○ Increases the effectiveness of GABA: one of the main neurotransmitters implicated in relaxed states ○ Increases the dopaminergic system: allowing dopamine to increase

Barbiturates and benzodiazepines

two more depressants that act on the amount of GABA in the brain, therefore being prescribed to treat a variety of psychological disorders such as anxiety, OCD, and epilepsy. It creates a subjective sense of relaxation

Stimulants

drugs that increase the activity of the nervous system. Ex) Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamines

effect of stimulants

produces increased energy, creativity, and the ability to focus on work

Caffeine

the most widely used stimulant in the world. it works by blocking the neurotransmitter adenosine

Nicotine

a highly addictive stimulant that works by stimulating acetylcholine receptors in the brain

Long-term use of nicotine _____ overall levels of acetylcholine and _____ the activity of dopaminergic neurons and causes the _____ of dopamine

reduces, increases, release

Cocaine and amphetamines both _____ the effects of dopamine

enhance

Cocaine

a stimulant that prolongs the effect of dopamine by preventing reuptake

Psychedelic drugs

directly influence the sensory systems and our interpretation of reality

synesthesia

an experience where the senses seem to blend

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

synthetic drug that causes altered emotions and acts as an agonist for serotonin in the thalamus

Mescaline

derived from the peyote cactus, used primarily in religious ceremonies in Native American culture

effects of Mescaline

○ Color perceptions feel enhanced ○ Repeating patterns appear in the visual field ○ Feel "out of the body"

Cannabis/marijuana

○ Diffuse effects on the nervous system ○ Individuals using marijuana often experience a variety of effects, including an increase in appetite, feeling of euphoria, relaxation, and even paranoia ○ Cannabinoid receptors inhibit many neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine, acetylcholine, glutamate, and GABA