PSYC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Cataplexy, Null Character, Nucleus Accumbens

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1001
• Professor: Elaine Waddington Lamont

Document Summary

Caused by the activity of the brain. William james emphasized that consciousness is a continually changing stream of mental activity. Consciousness varies along a continuum of levels of awareness. Eeg monitoring of brain electrical activity. The existence of these rhythms means that organisms have internal biological clocks that somehow monitor the passage of time. Light levels > retina > suprachiasmatic nucleus of hypothalamus > pineal gland > secretion of melatonin. Biological rhythms are periodic fluctuations in physiological functioning, which indicate that most organisms have internal biological clocks. The cycle of sleep and wakefulness is influenced considerably by circadian rhythms, even when people are cut off from the cycle of light and darkness. Exposure to light resets biological clocks by affecting the activity of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the pineal gland, which secretes the hormone melatonin. Ignoring your biological clock by going to sleep at an unusual time may have a negative effect on your sleep.