PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Pineal Gland, Theta Wave, Melatonin
Document Summary
5. 1 biological rhythms of consciousness: wakefulness and sleep: consciousness = a person"s subjective awareness, including thoughts, perceptions, experiences of the world and self-awareness, changes in our subjective experiences make consciousness very curious. What is sleep: humans spend 1/3 of their lives sleeping. Circadian rhythms: organisms have evolved biological rhythms that are neatly adapted to the cycles in the environment, ex. Cells in the retina of the eye relay messages about light levels in the environment to the scn. Scn then communicates signals about light levels with the pineal gland. Pineal gland releases melatonin which peaks in concentration at nighttime and is reduced during wakefulness. As such, light is the primary stimulus for the human circadian rhythm. The stages of sleep: polysomnography = set of objective measurements used to examine physiological variables during sleep, ex. Output of an eeg is a waveform.
