Summary Biological Psychology // Biologische Psychologie (Vrije Universiteit) Course Notes - Year 1, Period 2 and 3
84 views 0 purchase
Course
Biological & Cognitive Psychology (P_BBIOCOG)
Institution
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
Book
Physiology of Behavior
Hey! Have a BioCog exam coming up? No worries! I watched and summarised the biological psychology lectures so you don't have to :) I've also included plenty of visuals to help you internalize the information.
Note: this file only includes the notes for the biological psychology lectures. If you a...
Week 8: Sleep
An EEG during sleep indicates 5 sleep stages:
- Awake
- Low amplitude
- Alpha activity (8-12 Hz)
- Beta activity (13-30 Hz)
- Stage 1 sleep
- Theta activity (3.5-8 Hz)
- If you wake during this period, you are
not aware that you were asleep
- Stage 2 sleep
- Sleep spindle (12-14 Hz): activity in the hippocampus; memory
formation
- K-complex (suppression of cortical arousal in
response to stimuli)
- Stage 3 sleep
- Delta activity (<3.5 Hz)
- Indicates synchronous brain activity (the
oscillations are more apart and higher in
amplitude)
- Stage 4 activity
- Highest amplitude
- Delta activity
- REM (paradoxical) sleep (activity similar to that of being awake)
- Theta activity
- Beta activity
- No muscle activity; no acting on dreams
- Almost always follows a period of slow-wave sleep
REM sleep characteristics:
- Rapid eye movements
- EEG desynchronization
- Ponto Geniculo Occipital (PGO) waves (just before REM sleep)
- Activity from the pons to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the
thalamus and finally the primary visual cortex
- Paralysis of skeletal muscles
- Increased genital activity (also in small children)
- Strong suppression of external stimuli (except for meaningful
sounds, such as someone calling ur now (brain activity present upon stimuli
although the present is asleep)
, - Narrative dreaming
- No logic continuity in space or time; caused by absent frontal lobe
activity
- At waking, immediately alert (mainly because the brain is active during REM
sleep)
- Chance of dream recall 75-95%
- High probability of waking up spontaneously
Slow-wave sleep characteristics (stages 3-4):
- Strong suppression of external stimuli
- Low probability of waking up spontaneously
- At waking, drowsy and disoriented
- Chance of dream recall 20%
- Fragmentary dreams (unrelated snapshots) with
strong emotions (i.e., nightmares)
All mammals and birds need to sleep, even if it is not
convenient
- The hemispheres of the bottlenose dolphin take
turns in sleeping
- A special function that has evolved
Lack of sleep in patients (fatal familial insomnia) or animals
leads to
- Loss of thermoregulation
- Increased fat and sugar metabolism
- Severe weight loss
- Immune system disruption
- Death
However, in some people after voluntary deprivation (>10 days), no physiological
stress is observed
- Therefore, physical recovery does not seem to be the main function of sleep
Sleep deprivation does lead to cognitive problems
(concentration/perception-hallucinations)
- Sleep is required for recovery of the brain
If sleep is possible after a period of deprivation there is no complete catch-up on the
amount missed out, but sleep is regained for stages 4 and REM
- Therefore, these stages appear to be the most important to your brain
The function of slow-wave sleep is primarily restorative
- Build a sugar supply
- Glycogen is built up in astrocytes during sleep, and when energy is
needed, these astrocytes pass on the glycogen to the neurons
, - When neurons use up too much glycogen, astrocytes release
adenosine to signal the neurons to stop using up so much glycogen
- Therefore, an accumulation of adenosine occurs throughout the
day
- Clearing of chemicals accumulated due to brain activity
- Adenosine (inhibits neural activity when glycogen is low) is cleared
away
- Learning (especially consolidation of declarative memory)
- Remember events you can talk about
The function of REM sleep:
- Alertness (vigilance)
- Brain development
- Reduction in the proportion of REM sleep
with age
- Learning (in particular non-declarative)
- E.g., hold a picture in front of a mirror and
learn to draw it correctly
Physiological mechanisms of sleep:
- Possibility 1 (waking chemical): production during
sleep of a chemical that keeps you awake
- Possibility 2 (sleep chemical (i.e., adenosine):
production during wakefulness of a chemical that
makes you sleep
- Adenosine accumulates in the brain during waking
(inhibits cells when energy is low)
Similar to sleep, there are also different levels of alertness during
wakefulness. There are 5 neurotransmitter system involved:
- Acetylcholine: cortical activation
- Location: pons, basal forebrain, septum-hippocampus
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller notesbymau. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.75. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.