PS101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Slow-Wave Sleep, Circadian Rhythm, Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
Document Summary
Lesson 5: the nature of consciousness: consciousness is the awareness of internal and external stimuli. William james describes this continuous flow as the stream of consciousness: variations in awareness and control, mind wandering refers to people"s experience of task-unrelated thoughts. These brain-wave tracings vary in amplitude (height) and frequency (cycles per second, cps: human brain-wave activity is usually divided into four principal bands, based on the frequency of the brain waves. The existence of these rhythms means that organisms have internal biological clocks that somehow monitor the passage of time: circadian rhythms are the 24-hour biological cycles found in humans and many other species. Moreover, chronic jet lag appears to be associated with measurable deficits in cognitive performance: a rough rule of thumb is that the readjustment process takes about a day for each time zone crossed. In addition, the speed of readjustment depends on the direction travelled.
