Question

• Explain the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture.
• Identify sleep cycles, patterns, disorders, and deprivation.
• Interpret restorative and circadian rhythms theories to explain sleep.
• Explain dreams, meditation, and hypnosis.
• Describe how drugs affect the brain's neurotransmitter system.

Answer 1

Explain the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture.

Our dreams may contain very different kinds of thoughts than those that we have while awake. However, there are also wakeful situations in which we can experience an altered state of consciousness (ASC)— these include hallucination, hypnotic states, trance states and meditation. In contemporary North American culture, these wakeful ASCs are thought of either as unusual events or pertaining to practices of specialists—hypnotic states induced by therapists or magicians, trances entered into by mediums conducting séances, meditation in yoga classes, or drug-induced hallucinatory experiences. The idea that bodies might be possessed by demons, witches, or spirits also exists as a popular theme in media and in some religious traditions. However, contemporary mainstream North American culture does not embrace these practices in rituals, healing practices, or as part of ordinary life. Many cultures allow individuals to deliberately induce altered states, often as part of tribal ceremonies or religious rituals or whirling dances & repetitive chanting are capable of producing such states.

Consciousness refers to a general state of awareness and responsiveness to our external environment and internal mental   processes.   "Normal"   consciousness is the state in which we spend the bulk of our waking hours. It is an active, directed, men- tally alert state. As you are reading this chapter you are (probably) experiencing a normal, ordinary state of consciousness with focused attention and logical thought processes. Altered states of consciousness, by contrast, involve subjectively recognized, qualitative shifts in the typical pattern of mental functioning. ASCs are generally receptive mental states. You may have experienced them as daydreams, alcoholic intoxication or in the practice of meditation. ASCs are characterized by diffuse attention, paralogical (unorthodox) thought, and dominance of sensory experiences.
The active and the receptive modes of consciousness represent innate human capacities; however, in Western cultures we value the primacy of active cognitive processing in normal waking consciousness. In line with evolutionary theory, it is widely accepted that this active mode of ordinary consciousness is adaptive and functional and serves to enhance the survival of the species. It simplifies and selectively processes information and guides and monitors our intra- and interpersonal actions. Although the receptive mode, characteristic of many altered states of consciousness, is viewed as devi- ant, mysterious, and occasionally pathological from a Western perspective, it also serves adaptive functions. Receptive mode ASCs often provide avenues for psychological growth and development; they are also commonly used as therapeutic mechanisms in ritual contexts. The fact that these ASCs are so widely pursued on a cross-cultural ba- sis suggests that there may be a universal human need to produce and maintain varieties of conscious experiences.

Identify sleep cycles, patterns, disorders, and deprivation.

Usually sleepers pass through four stages: 1, 2, 3, and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages progress cyclically from 1 through REM then begin again with stage 1. A complete sleep cycle takes an average of 90 to 110 minutes, with each stage lasting between 5 to 15 minutes. The first sleep cycles each night have relatively short REM sleeps and long periods of deep sleep but later in the night, REM periods lengthen and deep sleep time decreases.

There are four stages of sleep: Non-REM (NREM) sleep (Stages 1, 2 & 3) and REM sleep. Periods of wakefulness occur before and intermittently throughout the various sleep stages or as one shifts sleeping position.

Wake is the period when brain wave activity is at its highest and muscle tone is active.

Stage 1 is the lightest stage of NREM sleep. Often defined by the presence of slow eye movements, this drowsy sleep stage can be easily disrupted causing awakenings or arousals. Muscle tone throughout the body relaxes and brain wave activity begins to slow from that of wake. Occasionally people may experience hypnic jerks or abrupt muscle spasms and may even experience sensation of falling while drifting in and out of Stage 1.

Stage 2 is the first actual stage of defined NREM sleep. Awakenings or arousals do not occur as easily as in Stage 1 sleep and the slow moving eye rolls discontinue. Brain waves continue to slow with specific bursts of rapid activity known as sleep spindles intermixed with sleep structures known as K complexes. Both sleep spindles and K complexes are thought to serve as protection for the brain from awakening from sleep. Body temperature begins to decrease and heart rate begins to slow.

Stage 3 is known as deep NREM sleep. The most restorative stage of sleep, stage 3 consists of delta waves or slow waves. Awakenings or arousals are rare and often it is difficult to awaken someone in Stage 3 sleep. Parasomnias (sleepwalking, sleep talking or somniloquy and night terrors) occur during the deepest stage of sleep.

REM sleep, also known as rapid eye movement, is most commonly known as the dreaming stage. Eye movements are rapid, moving from side to side and brain waves are more active than in Stages 2 & 3 of sleep. Awakenings and arousals can occur more easily in REM; being woken during a REM period can leave one feeling groggy or overly sleepy.

A sleep cycle is the progression through the various stages of NREM sleep to REM sleep before beginning the progression again with NREM sleep. Typically, a person would begin a sleep cycle every 90-120 minutes resulting in four to five cycles per sleep time, or hours spent asleep.

One does not go straight from deep sleep to REM sleep, however. Rather, a sleep cycle progress through the stages of non-REM sleep from light to deep sleep, then reverse back from deep sleep to light sleep, ending with time in REM sleep before starting over in light sleep again.

For a majority of people, a sleep cycle begins with a short period of Stage 1 sleep whereby the body begins to relax and a drowsy state occurs with slow rolling eye movements. Though arousals or awakenings are prevalent, Stage 1 is important as it allows for the body to enter Stage 2; the first quantifiable stage of NREM sleep.

Stage 2 occurs for longer periods than Stage 1. For most, Stage 2 sleep comprises approximately 40-60% of total sleep time.

Moving through the sleep cycle, Stage 3 is most often found next in the progression. This restorative stage does not last as long as Stage 2, lasting between 5-15% of total time asleep for most adults. For children and adolescents Stage 3 is much higher in duration.

REM can occur at at time during the sleep cycle, but on average it begins 90 minutes following sleep onset and is short in duration as it is the first REM period of the night. Following REM, the process resumes starting with periods of Stage 1, 2 & 3 intermixed before returning to REM again for longer periods of time as sleep time continues.