BBB - Sleep Loss, Sleep Disorders, and Dreams Lesson

Learning Targets:

• Discuss the impact of sleep deprivation on the mind and body.
• Identify and describe the primary sleep disorders.
• Examine typical dream content and evaluate the different theories regarding the purpose of dreams.

Courtesy of the AP psychology course and exam description, effective fall 2024. (n.d.). Links to an external site.

 

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep is an essential part of our daily routine, occupying a significant portion of our lives. However, studies reveal that a large percentage of high school students in the US do not get adequate sleep, with many experiencing sleep deprivation. This lack of sleep can profoundly impact various aspects of our well-being. Sleep loss can lead to changes in mood, increasing irritability, anger, and conflicts while also being linked to depressive disorders. Moreover, adequate sleep plays a crucial role in processing emotional experiences during REM sleep, which helps safeguard against depressive tendencies.

Additionally, there is a direct correlation between the amount of sleep we get and our academic performance. Research studies have consistently shown a strong correlation between sleep and academic performance. For example, a study published in the journal Sleep found that college students who reported better sleep quality also had higher GPAs. Another study by the University of Minnesota found that high school students who had later school start times and, therefore, more opportunity for sleep performed better academically than those with earlier start times. Additionally, a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health revealed that sleep-deprived adolescents were more likely to experience difficulties in school, such as falling asleep in class, having trouble concentrating, and achieving lower grades. These studies collectively emphasize the critical role of sleep in academic success.

The Effects of Poor Sleep on Health

Lack of quality sleep can harm your health, including weight gain. When you don't get enough sleep, your body produces more ghrelin, a hormone that increases hunger and decreases leptin, suppressing appetite. Additionally, poor sleep can lead to increased cortisol, a stress hormone that prompts the body to store fat, lowers metabolic rate, and raises blood pressure. Inadequate sleep can disrupt gene expression, raising the risk of developing heart disease and other adverse health outcomes. It also heightens the brain's response to food in the limbic system, making it harder to resist unhealthy cravings.

Insufficient sleep can also weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to illnesses. It can also impair cognitive functions, such as slowing reaction time and increasing errors in visual attention tasks. In extreme cases, individuals experiencing sleep deprivation may even have brief episodes of microsleeps lasting anywhere from 1 to 6 seconds, which can be dangerous, especially when performing tasks that require focus and attention. Therefore, prioritizing a good night's sleep is crucial for maintaining overall health and well-being.

The Impact of Sleep Loss on Mood and Mental Health

Sleep loss can have significant effects on our mood, leading to increased feelings of anger and a higher likelihood of conflicts with others. For adolescents, in particular, sleeping 5 hours or fewer per night can result in a 70-80% higher risk of experiencing depression and having thoughts of suicide. It's crucial to prioritize getting enough quality sleep to maintain good mental health and emotional well-being.

Sleep Disorders

At some point in our lives, we will all experience an inability to sleep or some sleep disturbance. A sleep disorder is a severe disturbance in our ability to regularly have regular sleep patterns that interfere with daytime functioning and cause distress. Sleep disorders can either be primary or secondary. Primary sleep disorders are those not associated with any other health condition. Secondary sleep disorders are associated with medication, alcohol or drug use, and other health issues. In AP Psychology, there are several sleep disorders that you should know.

 

 

Major Sleep Disorders Studied in AP Psychology 

 

Dreams

Get an introduction to dreaming by watching the video below.

Dreams have been described as an unfolding episode or story of mental images during REM sleep. On average twenty-five percent of our night's sleep is devoted to dreams. That is two hours a night if you are maintaining a healthy amount of sleep. Over the course of our lifetime, we will have spent approximately six years dreaming! Psychologists have always been interested in explaining dreams and, once they discovered the link between REM sleep and dreaming, this process became much easier.

Dreams tend to share some basic characteristics: emotions are intense; content and organization are illogical; sensations are bizarre; bizarre details are accepted, and images are often difficult to remember. Studies have found that negative events are often dreamt about over positive ones and aggression is a theme more common than friendliness. Men have more aggression in their dreams than women, while women dream about being the victim more. Psychologists have produced several different theories aimed at explaining why we dream.

Dream Theories

Freud's Wish Fulfillment

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis believed that dreams are the "disguised" fulfillments of repressed "wishes". According to his theory aggressive human instincts that motivate, and drive behavior is pushed into our unconscious to align with societal standards. Through dreams, these unacceptable wishes, and desires surface in a safe manner. He believed that dreams were key to understanding our inner conflicts.

*Note: The psychoanalytic theory of dreams is outside the scope of the AP Psychology Exam.

Activation-Synthesis Theory

Dream researcher J. Alan Hobson in the late 1970s proposed a new theory on dreaming called the activation-synthesis model. This theory describes dreaming as a way of the brain continuing to try and make sense of activity during sleep. During REM sleep the cerebral cortex continues to try and interpret random electrical activity. To do this the brain synthesizes memory fragments, emotions, and sensations into dreams. This theory describes an attempt to make sense of neural static.

Please take a moment to watch this short presentation on these first two dream theories.

 

Information Processing/Consolidation Theory

The Information Processing or Consolidation Theory of Dreams, suggests that dreams play a crucial role in processing information and consolidating memories. According to this theory, dreams help us make sense of our daily experiences and assist in organizing our thoughts and memories. This process of sorting through our daily events while we sleep is believed to contribute to our overall cognitive functioning and emotional well-being.

 

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