Chapter 4: States Of Consciousness

Chapter 4 talks about states of consciousness. William James is associated with the stream of consciousness, which is a term used to describe the continuous flow of changing stations sensations, images, thoughts, and feelings. Consciousness is an individual’s awareness of external events and internal sensations under a condition of arousal. There are two types of consciousness, awareness and arousal. Awareness is awareness of the self and thoughts about one's experiences and thoughts about our thoughts is referred to as metacognition. Arousal is the physiological state of being engaged with the environment and is determined by the reticular activation system (RAS) and "a network of structures including the brain stem, medulla, and thalamus."
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), is an input from the retina to synchronize rhythm with the daily cycle of light and dark. The desynchronization of the biological clock can affect sleep patterns. It can lead to sleepwalking or insomnia which can lead to sleep deprivation. There are two stages of wakefulness and five stages of sleep. The stages if wakefulness is beta, which reflects concentration and awareness, it's in the highest frequency and lowest amplitude. Alpha waves are associated with drowsiness and relaxation. The first stage of sleep is light sleep, which is characterized by drowsy sleep, where an individual experiences myoclonic jerks, the second stage is deeper sleep, where muscle activity decreases. Stages 3 and 4 are characterized by delta waves, deepest sleep, in which bedwetting, sleepwalking and talking occur. REM sleep is an active stage of sleep, which dreaming occurs. "Stages 1-4 is referred to as non-REM sleep, which is characterized by the lack of rapid eye movement and little dreaming. One sleep cycle lasts 90-100 minutes. Chapter 4 also went oversleep
We talked about psychoactive drugs and the different categories. Depressant include alcohol, barbiturates, tranquilizers, and opiates. Stimulants include caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, and MDMA (Ecstasy). Hallucinogens include marijuana and LSD. Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness or psychological state of altered attention. There are 4 steps in hypnosis, first, you minimize distractions, tell the person to concentrate on something, inform the person on what to expect, and suggest certain events or feelings. Hypnosis is used to treat somnambulism, alcoholism, depression, suicidal tendencies, PTSD, migraines, overeating, diabetes, smoking and many others. The last thing chapter 4 talks about is meditation. Meditation is the attainment of the peaceful state of mind in which thoughts are not occupied by worry. Getting started with meditation isn't hard either. All you have to do is find a quiet place and a comfortable chair, sit up straight, relax your arms and close your eyes. Next, you focus on your breathing, repeat the word of the emotion you want to produce, and if you find thoughts intruding just refocus on your