Why do we sleep?

We spend one-third of
our lives sleeping.

If an individual
remains awake for
several days, they
deteriorate in terms of

Jose Luis Pelaez, Inc./ Corbis

immune function,
concentration, and
accidents.
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 Sleep Theories
1. Sleep Protects: Sleeping in the darkness when
predators loomed about kept our ancestors out
of harm’s way.
2. Sleep Recuperates: Sleep helps restore and
repair brain tissue.
3. Sleep Helps Remembering: Sleep restores and
rebuilds our fading memories.
4. Sleep and Growth: During sleep, the pituitary
gland releases growth hormone. Older people
release less of this hormone and sleep less.
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 Sleep Deprivation

1. Fatigue and subsequent death.

2. Impaired concentration.

3. Emotional irritability.

4. Depressed immune system.

5. Greater vulnerability.

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 Accidents
Frequency of accidents increase with loss of sleep

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 Sleep Disorders: Insomnia

1. Somnambulism: Sleepwalking.

2. Nightmares: Frightening dreams that wake

a sleeper from REM.

3. Night terrors: Sudden arousal from sleep

with intense fear accompanied by
physiological reactions (e.g., rapid heart
rate, perspiration).
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 Sleep Disorders: Insomnia

4. Narcolepsy: Overpowering urge to fall

asleep that may occur while talking or
standing up.

5. Sleep apnea: Failure to breathe when

asleep.

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 Dreams
The link between REM
sleep and dreaming
has opened up a new
era of dream research.

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 What do we Dream?
1. Negative Emotional Content: 8 out of 10
dreams have negative emotional content.
2. Failure Dreams: People commonly dream
about failure, being attacked, pursued,
rejected, or struck with misfortune.
3. Sexual Dreams: Contrary to our thinking,
sexual dreams are sparse. Sexual dreams in
men are 1 in 10; and in women 1 in 30.
4. Dreams of Gender: Women dream of men
and women equally; men dream more about
men than women.
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9
 Battles
• Id- all things that give us pleasure
– Wish fulfillment

• Ego- Reality principle- Represses the Id

• Super Ego- Uses guilt to enforce rules

• Dreams are a battle between these forces; are

desires are trying to come out.
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 Neuroscience Retake
• You can HAND IN CORRECTIONS.
• All assignments must be completed.
– Including the Brain Mnemonic Assignment
– Sims and Ports
• Corrections need to be turned in.
• Contract needs to be handed in by Tomorrow.
• RETAKE: 35 Multiple Choice Questions
– Neurotransmission, Neurotransmitters, Nervous
System, Brain and Behavior.
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 Freud Says
• Most of it is
psychosexual
• Manifest Content- the
remembered story
line of a dream
• Latent Content- the
underlying meaning of
the dream

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 Carl Jung - Neo-Freudian
• Every character in
your dreams
is an aspect of
yourself.
• Characters can be
facets or "aspects"
of the self

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 What does it mean?
I was at a university twelve years in the
future. I was 30. In the moment I felt
persecuted. I knew that a whole team of
policemen or the FBI or CIA were haunting
me. Suddenly I began to run, and they
were following me. I decided to break a
glass window in order to get out of the
Building.

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 Dream 1
• I only remember a little pieces of this dream but my
family was going to Syracuse for an SU game, and for
some reason I was the only one that was able to drive.
So I had to drive home late at night from Syracuse but
was really nervous to drive when it was that dark and for
that long. Another piece I remember was my family in the
back seat like cheering for me and I was driving. It was
really strange.
• If we are driving it means we are in control, if we are
driving with passengers we may have knowingly or
inadvertently made our selves responsible for other
people. When driving, the destination is important. In
this case the destination is home. The people cheering
you on could be an aspect of you telling you to keep 15
going.
• This dream might mean that while you like
to be in control you are nervous about
things that are coming up. You are usually
responsible, but might be doubting your
decisions or abilities. The family cheering
you on is a part of yourself that is telling
you that you will be alright. You see your
family as support structure and view your
home as your secure base.
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 Dream 2
I had a dream that i was sleeping and i woke up from hearing something
knocking on my window and i looked outside and there was a car that
sped away from the front of my house. I stayed up on my computer and
started hearing the knocking again and i opened my blinds and
someone was trying to climb into my window. I went to go wake up my
mom and i came back and my window was broken and we started
searching the house for whoever tried to break into my window. I was
running around the house looking for him and i opened my closet and
then i woke up.

Windows represent barriers to our hopes and dreams. When someone is trying
to enter through our window this could represent someone that is trying to get
in the way of our aspirations. Breaking glass represents breaking through
those barriers which could be frightening to you. This causes you to run.. and
search. You then Open the closet, which could represent your search for
answers.
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 Dream 3
• I was dress shopping with my mom and she was talking
on the phone, we bought a red dress and didn't try it on
for some reason, then we went home and the night i
needed to wear it it didn't fit, and my dad had to take me
back to the dress shop, but that wasn't a problem
because it was near where he lived, and we got there
and couldn't find a dress and then i woke up.

Shopping represents our search for something we feel we want our

need. In this case you were shopping for a red dress. The color red is
symbolic of vigor strength, energy, and life, but the dress does not fit.
This could mean that while you want to be strong you often feel insecure
about your abilities.

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PsychPort: Drugs: SUN

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 Why do we dream?
1. Wish Fulfillment: Sigmund
Freud suggested that dreams
provide a psychic safety
valve to discharge
unacceptable feelings. The
dream’s manifest (apparent)
content may also have
symbolic meanings (latent
content) that signify our
unacceptable feelings.

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• Information Processing: Dreams may help
sift, sort, and fix a day’s experiences in our
memories.

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 Why do we dream?
3. Physiological
Function: Dreams
provide the sleeping
brain with periodic
stimulation to
develop and preserve
neural pathways.
Neural networks of
newborns are quickly
developing; therefore,
they need more sleep.
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 Why do we dream?
4. Activation-Synthesis Theory: Suggests that the
brain engages in a lot of random neural
activity. Dreams make sense of this activity.
5. Cognitive Development: Some researchers
argue that we dream as a part of brain
maturation and cognitive development.

All dream researchers believe we need REM sleep. When

deprived of REM sleep and then allowed to sleep,
we show increased REM sleep called REM Rebound.

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Dream Theories
Summary

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Lucid Dream

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