Rhythmic Brainwave Activity O Sleep example essay topic

Stages of Sleep Stage 1: o Light sleep that lasts up to 5 minutes o Hallucinations - sensory experiences that occur without a sensory stimulus o Hypo genic sensations - sensation of falling (body may jerk) or feel weightlessness o Stage 2: o Relaxed more deeply for 20 minutes o Sleep spindles - bursts of rapid, rhythmic brainwave activity o Sleep talking occurs here and in other stages as well o Stage 3: o Transitional stage o Brain begins to emit large, slow delta waves o Part of slow-wave sleep o Hard to awaken o Stage 4: o Part of slow-wave sleep (delta waves) o Hard to awaken o Children may wet bed or sleep walk REM: o Rapid eye movement - eyes move around under eyelids o Rapid brain waves o Heart rate rises o Rapid, irregular breathing o Genital arousal o Sleep paralysis - brainstem blocks messages below spinal chord o Dreaming occurs Purpose of Sleep About one-third of a person's life is spent sleeping yet the true purpose of sleep is not really known. However, one thing is certain: we surely can not live without sleep. Apparently, sleep provides the body with refreshment, better moods, and accuracy and efficiency, because, those who are deprived of sleep, show signs of fatigue, irritability, slow response time, lack of efficiency, increased mistakes etc. According to the Myer's text book, there are three functions for sleep: protection, recuperation, and growth. Protection - because our ancestors probably needed it to help survive.

Recuperation - because brain and body tissues are restored by sleep. Growth - pituitary hormone is released during deep sleep, which diminishes with age. Major Theories on why we Dream Sigmund Freud believed that dreams were a method of wish fulfillment or an expression of hidden, often sexual, desires. He believed that dreams could be interpreted through the use of dream symbols. Another theory is that dreaming helps us to remember what we have learned throughout the day. Studies, such as those conducted on rats, help to legitimize this theory.

Many other theories point toward some sort of adaptive function of dreaming, such as mood regulation and stress relief. Allan Hobson is famously known for his activation-synthesis theory which states that dreams are the result of the brain trying to interpret random firings of neurons from the brainstem. This theory discredits psychologists because it basically says that dreams are not significant. Francis Crick and Graeme Mitch ison expanded upon Hobson's activation-synthesis theory saying that dreaming functions as a process "unlearning" or "reverse learning", saying that there is no psychoanalytic approach to dreams at all and that dream recall is "counter productive" Mark Solms, a British neurologist based in South Africa, has recently presented new evidence showing that dreaming depends on "cortical mechanisms", and not brainstem, opposing Hobson's "activation-synthesis" theory. Solms also observed that patients with frontal lobe damage lost all ability to dream, even though they continued to have REM sleep. This leads him to believe that dreams do not originate from the brainstem like Hobson states.

Rather, Solms states that dreaming must originate from the frontal lobes of the brain. He claims that PET scans (positron emission tomography), have allowed many new things to be proven. (Ferguson, Sue. "The Stuff that Dreams are Made of". Maclean's. 4 Aug. 2003: 26-33.) Narcolepsy (1) How it ties in with stages of sleep or circadian rhythm - One with narcolepsy will randomly fall asleep regardless of how much sleep they received previously.

Sometimes, these usually short (around 5 minutes) spurts of sleep will bring the patient directly into REM sleep. (2) Major symptoms: Excessive daytime sleepiness - the overwhelming urge to fall asleep during the day, even after having plenty of sleep the night before. One with narcolepsy may fall asleep at any time, even during exciting activities such as sports, conversation, and even sex. Cataplexy - a sudden, usually brief attack of general muscle weakness related to a strong emotional response (fear, anger, laughter) Hypnagogic sleep paralysis - brief episodes of paralysis that occur when falling asleep Hypnopompic sleep paralysis - brief episodes of paralysis that occur when waking up Hypnagogic hallucinations - vivid, usually visual or auditory hallucinations that occur at the onset of sleep (sometime between falling asleep and the actual sleep state) Hypnopompic hallucinations - vivid, usually visual or auditory hallucinations that occur when waking up (3) The cause of narcolepsy has been unknown until recently.

Studies show that a lack hypocretin in the brain may be the cause and that narcolepsy is actually a brain disease. (4) The problems associated with narcolepsy are obvious. Randomly falling asleep without warning can severely decrease quality of life. Falling asleep at important times can hurt the one with narcolepsy, and those around them, such as driving, but also during conversations and emotional times. Falling asleep during sex can definitely hurt a relationship with a spouse. (5) Narcolepsy has successfully been cured in dogs through lab studies by inserting more hypocretin cells into the brain.

This procedure has not yet been tested on humans. Because this procedure has not been tested on humans, narcolepsy has no known cure in humans. (6) Although there is no known cure yet, the symptoms can be reduced through medication. Stimulants such as Ritalin, Dexedrine, and Cy lert are commonly prescribed to improve alertness, while Prozac is prescribed to manage cataplexy, sleep paralysis and hallucinations. Regular exercise, limiting caffeine intake, taking planned naps, and eating light meals during the day may help.