What is Consciousness?

What is Consciousness?

Open Ended

What is your definition of the word "Conscious" or "Consciousness"?

Dictionary Definition of Consciousness:

• Our awareness of internal and external stimuli.

• What are Stimuli?

• Things or events that evoke a specific functional reaction in an organ or tissue

Examples of Internal and External Stimuli:

• Internal Stimuli

  feeling pain, hunger, thirst, sleepiness, and being aware of our thoughts and emotions.

  
  

• External Stimuli 

  seeing the light from the sun, feeling the warmth of a room, and hearing the voice of a friend.

  
  

Open Ended

Type some examples of stimuli that your brain has responded to already this morning.

Circadian Rhythm

• What is it?

• A biological rhythm that takes place over a period of about 24 hours.

• Examples:

• sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, body temperature

Open Ended

If you had no alarm or disturbance to wake you tomorrow, what time do you think you would you naturally wake up?

How does the body naturally^ make you sleepy?

Generally, and for most people, our circadian cycles are aligned with the outside world. For example, most people sleep during the night and are awake during the day. One important regulator of sleep-wake cycles is the hormone melatonin. The pineal gland, an endocrine structure located inside the brain that releases

melatonin, is thought to be involved in the regulation of various biological rhythms and of the immune system during sleep (Hardeland, Pandi-Perumal, & Cardinali, 2006). Melatonin release is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light.

Poll

Do you have trouble either falling asleep at night or waking up in the morning?

• Yes, both are difficult

• Yes, falling asleep

• Yes, waking up

• Neither is difficult

Poll

Do you identify more as a night owl (love being up late) or a morning person (love getting up early)?

• Night Owl

• Morning Person

YouTube Video about Circadian Rhythms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtCQ9jzC-Ek

Sleep Disruption Examples

• Jet Lag

• Rotating Work Schedule

• Insomnia

How has human sleep changed

• Since the invention of the light bulb (1879), the average amount of sleep that humans get has declined.

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Open Ended

Why do you suppose the invention of the light bulb has caused a decrease in average hours of sleep?

• When people have difficulty getting sleep due to their work or the demands of day-to-day life, they accumulate a sleep debt.

• A person with a sleep debt does not get sufficient sleep on a chronic basis. The consequences of sleep debt include decreased levels of alertness and mental efficiency.

Open Ended

In your opinion, how many hours of sleep should teenagers get per night to be well rested?

Recommended hours of sleep per night

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  Age Nightly Sleep Needs

  0–3 months: 12–18 hours

  3 months–1 year: 14–15 hours

  1–3 years: 12-14 hours

  3–5 years: 11-13 hours

  5–10 years: 10-11 hours

  10–18 years: 8-10 hours

  18 and older: 7–9 hours

  
  

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Your Assignment:

• Ask some people in your life, "about how many hours of sleep to you get per night during the week?"

• Record their answers in the assignment on google classroom.