PSYC 100A Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Rapid Eye Movement Sleep, Slow-Wave Sleep, Circadian Clock

• School: University of Victoria
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100A
• Professor: Smith Martin

Document Summary

Consciousness is difficult to define, but is said to be our awareness of ourselves and our environment. Cognitive neuroscience: the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with our mental processes. Cognitive neuroscience is relating specific brain states to conscious experiences. Unresponsive car-crash patients were asked questions and scans showed certain parts of their brains displayed activity. Some neuroscientists believe that conscious experience arises from synchronized activity across the brain. If there is a stimulus that creates strong enough signals from one part of the brain to another then it crosses a threshold for consciousness, which engages parts of the brain involving language, attention, memory etc. The human brain is a device for converting conscious into unconscious. Each eye sends different signals to different parts of the brain. Visual perception track: enables us to think about the world . Our subconscious mind often makes decisions before we consciously know about them.