Circadian Rhythm Cycle & Its Effects

Circadian rhythm describes our body’s natural tendencies to cycle through physiological processes at some regular time interval. A group of brain cells in the hypothalamus play the role of internal biological clocks in keeping humans to the circadian rhythm and are called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, 139). Remember from a previous chapter that the hypothalamus maintains homeostasis in the body. Also, the hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland. As part of the brain, the hypothalamus is able to cooperate with the suprachiasmatic nucleus in brain to signal other parts in the brain as well as organs and systems throughout the body (via hormones) to turn on or turn off, work faster or slower, in order to stick to circadian rhythm (as much as possible).

The most obvious daily process that comes to mind when considering circadian rhythm is our sleep cycle. Though our wills as humans are strong enough to fight our immediate need for sleep (to a point), eventually sleep ends up taking over. The hormone melatonin is involved with helping to signal sleep within an individual. The eyes transmit light information to the suprachiasmatic nucleus; less or no light signals the release of melatonin, telling the body to sleep, vice versa (Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, 139). Other processes are tied in with circadian rhythm including body temperature.

I was curious about how blind people get around this, since many blind individuals cannot translate light energy entering their eyes into brain signals for vision processing. One article notes that a disorder called non-24 hour sleep-wake disorder affects an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 blind individuals in the United States.

Doyle-Portillo, S. & Pastorino, E. (2011). What is Psychology?: 3E. Belmont: Wadsworth.

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That was a very interesting inquisition regarding the blind, I was also thinking how the Circadian rhythm would be affected for people living in places with very long days/nights. Melatonin is a subconscious trigger, but in special cases maybe people try to trigger sleep more consciously, or because the body simply realizes it needs sleep irrespective of light intensity.

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This is a good explanation using the text book and bringing information in from the previous chapter as well. I appreciate your question regarding the blind and then your initiative to find an answer to your question.

The 24-25 hour circadian rhythm changes at puberty and has specific effects on the adolescent and the school day. What strategies and awareness need to be understood when it comes to parenting and education?

The textbook notes that teenagers require 8-10 hours of sleep every night (137). At least in my experience, when I was a teenager, sleep was a commodity. In general, between school, homework, sports, extra curricular activities, family time, and time with friends, 8 hours of sleep can be very difficult to maintain.

Now in regards to the sleep-wake cycle of our biological clocks, individuals after puberty tend to prefer to stay up later because of changes in melatonin secretions (139). I think that with teenagers demanding more and more freedoms, it is up to the parents to help keep their teenagers in check as to how much sleep they can realistically get a night. Not enough sleep will tend to affect a teenager's behavior in and out of the classroom, possibly leading to poorer grades, a feeling of exhaustion, and possibly even car accidents.

Doyle-Portillo, S. & Pastorino, E. (2011). What is Psychology?: 3E. Belmont: Wadsworth.

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I use to be a paraprofessional for an elementary age visually impaired student and we struggled with this issue. There were many times she would come to class extremely tired having not slept well the night before. Like the woman in your link it seemed as though there was a pattern to it. It would have been more helpful if the parents had been more diligent to keep her on a more structured sleeping schedule.

Why We Need Sleep

As Psychiatrist Ernest L. Hartmann of Tufts University mentions, sleep does two important things: synthesis of body functions, and setting a constellation of brain processes that put together new information from the day before with old material to make connections of experiences and information (1). On a physiological level, sleep helps replenish the nervous system, immune system and organs as well as repair individual cells in our body (2). These functions offer several benefits, such as increased resistance to disease and facilitation of healing. During sleep we increase our sensitivity to norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that helps us stay alert while awake, and we activate a growth hormone to help us grow during earlier stages of life (2). On a mental level, as Hartmann suggests, sleep can help our memory: studies have shown that there is at least a 20-30% increased chance of recalling memories from the previous day after sleeping (3). Sleep also enables us to dream through REM, which could help us deal with our fears (threat simulation theory) or offer insight into our psyche as proposed in Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams (2).

Research done at the Pennsylvania School of Medicine has shown that lack of sleep can decrease the subject’s ability to function and focus (3). David Dinges, who is the scientist in charge, claims that lack of sleep may have contributed to human error in major accidents such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Staten Island ferry crash and nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Lack of sleep makes us negatively moody, less rational and prone to hallucinations, as seen in the case of Peter Trip (4). While Trip felt he had fully recovered after sleeping, the deprivation seemed to have long-term effects on altering his personality. Long-term sleep deprivation can be fatal, as studies on mice indicate (3). Its importance may have been underrated in the past, and we are now learning that sleep is a vital basic need rather than a luxury.

(1) The Science of Sleep (Part 2): http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4181994n
(2) "What is Psychology" by Doyle-Portillo & Pastorino: pages 135-144
(3) The Science of Sleep (Part 1): http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4181992n
(4) Peter Trip Sleep Deprivation: https://moodle2.cerrocoso.edu/mod/resource/view.php?inpopup=true&id=93433

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An excellent summary and integration of the material in the text and the videos assigned for this week on the effects of sleep.

What did you learn that your found most interesting and important when it comes to sleep? How could you apply this information that you have learned?

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I found the tips for naturally sleeping better very useful (p. 145). One interesting tip on there advises, "Don't use your bed for anything other than sleeping." I shared that tip with my dad because he eats and watches TV in bed. The tip makes sense to me because your body associates the bed only with sleeping, and we can train our bodies to have certain responses through association. It's better to try natural remedies first, specially because sleep is something that comes to our body naturally as long as we don't get in its way (through stress, caffeine, etc.).

One of the videos mentioned that sleeping well regularly can help you lose weight, which was also a useful tip. My cousin is a doctor who had given me the same advice and it worked.

Hypnosis - Effects & Limitations

Some of the possible effects that are thought to be possible during hypnosis include pain relief, relaxation, and enhancing therapy for some people. When relieving pain hypnosis works by focusing attention on something other than the pain and by relaxing the patient which reduces pain. Hypnosis may affect physical performance by relaxing the muscles and using guided imagery. Hypnosis is not effective in curing addiction, enhancing or recovering memory, and does not give you super human abilities. You can not be forced to do anything you don't want to do under hypnosis.

(What is Psychology?, pgs 149-151)

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I wonder what the future of hypnosis is, because with advancements in neuroscience it is getting more possible to read thoughts. So far it has led to technologies that can carry out functions through thought (like robots and hands-free computers to help the physically handicapped). But when technology will start playing a stronger role in hypnosis, I think many things that are not possible now will eventually become possible, for better or worse (some fear it could lead to mind control). Also referring to the previous textbook chapter, maybe some methods similar to signal detection could be explored to make data retrieved through hypnosis more accurate.

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This is a very nice summary on the effects of hypnosis. However, you did not use the class videos or any outside resources to add to this. Doing this "extra" will help you get higher grade in future posts.

Types of Neurotransmitters & Effects on Brain

Neurotransmitters are very important for the functioning of our nervous system, as they are required for any and every signal sent to and from the brain. While there are more than one hundred neurotransmitters, three major ones are acetylcholine (ACh), dopamine, and serotonin. ACh, being the first neurotransmitter discovered, is known to help with exciting skeletal muscles, and inhibiting heart action. It is also possible that it helps with our awareness/consciousness and the processing of our memory. Dopamine affects movement, learning, attention, and possibly motivation since it makes certain actions rewarding. It is also assumed to play a role in Parkinson’s disease, which happens with too little dopamine in the brain, and Schizophrenia, which happens with too much dopamine in the brain. Serotonin, an inhibiting neurotransmitter, is associated with certain behaviors such as: sleep, arousal, mood, eating, and pain perception. Quite a few mental disorders have been associated with serotonin levels. For example, depression, eating disorders, and compulsive behavior have been known to occur when a person’s brain has too little serotonin. Thankfully, there are certain drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which help with these disorders by increasing the amount of serotonin available in the synapses.

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Very good post. This is concise and detailed. The 3 neurotransmitters you choose are very excellent examples to use. It is also good to be aware that GABA is also a major neurotransmitters that has an chief inhibitor, regulating arousal and Glutamate is the chief excitatory neurotransmitter. Thereby regulating our levels of arousal within the nervous system and if a neuron will fire or not. Many substances effect the ability of these neurotransmitters to function properly.

Another important point you made was how too little dopamine in the brain results with Parkinson's disease and too much results in Schizophrenia. L-dopa which is given to individuals with Parkinson's if not regulated properly can create psychotic symptoms as found in Schizophrenia.

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Yes I found it interesting that certain types of neurotransmitters can be used in so many ways. So since GABA is used in most inhibitory synapses does that mean that more than one transmitter can be used at once in combination? Or is there only one neurotransmitter to transfer the signal?

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Most likely it would be a combination rather than a single neurotransmitter that is used.  That adds to the complexity of the brains chemical system and creates interesting reserach issues and how to isolate one variable.  

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"Neurons can simultaneously receive both excitatory and inhibitory signals from other neurons" (49). This seems to suggest that more than one neurotransmitter can be used at once. It would also seem true because neurons in different parts of the brain have different responsibilities, thus different neurotransmitters could be used to excite/inhibit different parts or functions of the brain at once.

Signal Detection Theory and Its Applications

According to the textbook "What is Psychology" (Doyle Portillo & Pastorino, 2012), signal detection is a method of analyzing the relative proportions of hits and false alarms to eliminate the effects of response bias in a participant's detection of a stimulus. By applying signal detection theory researchers can eliminate the results of response bias. There are many practical situations in which signal detection can be used. One application is, if you actually heard someone knock on the door or not. A hit in this situation would be if you thought you heard a knock, and there actually was a knock. Another real life situation that signal detection works with is, if you thought you heard your baby crying in another room. A hit in this situation would be if the baby really was crying when you checked. A signal detection situation in my major is if i thought i saw someone speeding. A hit in this situation is if they actually did. 

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I'm sure the calculation of probability between hits and misses is often quite complicated. Similar to how humans have "ghost" perceptions, machines can also undergo false alarms. At times a hit is calculated by analyzing the misses (for example calculating where a person is by knowing where they are not). Similarly it seems human error can become a measured probability and hence reduced, which I had not thought of before.

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This is a good summary from your text book. Did you find any information outside of your text on this? I liked your examples, especially that you were able to incorporate how this would be within your own profession. Why would it be important to refine your ability to have hits rather than misses in your line of work?

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In my line of work, being able to have more hits and misses is extremely important. A miss could mean the difference between letting a guilty person off or convincting an innocent person. Being able to distinguish a crime from something else is the most important thing in my profession.

Psychology - As Vast As the Human Mind

Although many define psychology as a science, at times its methodologies seem to be more than purely scientific. It is true that advocates of behaviorism such as John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner reinforced the idea that “for psychology to be taken seriously as a “true” science, it must focus on observable behavior and not on the mind” (Doyle-Portillo & Pastorino, 2012). However, we must not forget that the field of psychology essentially spawned from philosophy, which is categorized under Humanities. When we trace the early beginnings of psychology becoming a separate field of study, Wilhelm Wundt’s concept of structuralism identifies stimuli and responses as perceptions rather than scientific proof. Furthermore, humanists such as Abraham Maslow and positive psychologists such as Martin Seligman have deduced that human needs and actions go far beyond the grasps of measurable stimuli, responses, and other forms of (restrictive) data collection. After all, we are people, not machines, and while analysis does play an important role at times, we must keep an open mind towards seeing the bigger picture.

Psychology is still a very vast field, which is why the fact that we continue dividing it into subdivisions makes sense. Neuroscience studies attributes of the brain, the sociocultural perspective focuses on environmental factors, and the psychodynamic perspective explores the inner unconscious. Hence, it seems that psychology is not just a science, but rather it branches into sociology and even art. In fact, the field of psychology seems as vast as the human mind itself, which we still have a lot to learn about the less we confine its study.

At the moment I am not really drawn to any one particular perspective because I want to keep an open mind. I think all perspectives play a key role in helping us figure out what human thought and behavior is all about. Structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and more contemporary approaches such as humanism and positive psychology all contribute towards helping us solve the puzzle (of how our minds work) on the whole. The theories will balance one another as long as we don’t favor or neglect one over the other. If we eventually do feel more drawn towards one perspective, we must look towards other perspectives to grow our own inquisitions. Hence, to maintain balance the psychoanalyst (who studies inner unconscious) should also study behaviorism (expressed behaviors), and the functionalist should also study humanism to realize that a person’s actions can go beyond just adaptive functions to perhaps serve a greater cause.

If I were to pick one perspective though I would pick structuralism, because it questions our ability to present facts when all we can ever seem capable of is experiencing perceptions.

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Your response is very articulate and well formulated with excellent discussion of the development of the field of psychology. I believe that psychology can be seen as a science in that we use the "scientific method." The field may not be a "hard" science such as chemistry but it strives to use critical thinking (scientific method) to base its theories on. It can also be argued that the "observer" in all scientific studies adds an uncontrollable variable to the study. However, with that said I also see the difficulties in developing "experimental" studies that show "cause" in the field of psychology. However, correlational studies which use the "scientific method" are legitimate science and extensively utilized in research in psychology. As a field psychology can be distinguished from common sense speculation, "armchair psychology," and pseudo-science through the use of the scientific method. Neuroscience studies is a field that is going to bring much to the field of psychology as well as create even greater questions to be answered.

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I'm learning more now with the discussions and revising more of the assigned text. In the text I've noticed there is a list for the perspectives that is separate from the theories, I think I was getting them confused before because some of them have similar names and even the ideas seem similar (maybe the difference is that many theories can belong to the same perspective?).

As for psychology being a science yes I do see that it uses the "scientific method." Some theories, specially the early ones, seemed more abstract to me. I guess being an advocate of the eclectic approach I not only see perspectives within psychology integrating with one another, but psychology on the whole also integrating with other fields of study where it goes beyond science. It could be another misconception, and right now our discussions are almost like a survey to help clarify further.

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There are different perspectives and theories are built on those perspectives. You are very correct that psychology also integrates with other fields of study. Remember psychology comes out of the fields of philosophy, medicine and physiology and those fields still have heavy influences in the field of psychology.

Illusions of Perception

One illusion is the moon illusion. It involves the way we perceive the moon on the horizon versus high above our heads. The moon "appears" to be larger near the horizon or just above structures and smaller when high in the sky. This is because of the way our brain uses interposition cues. The logic behind it is that if the moon is farther away on the horizon, but it still projects the same size image on the retina as the moon overhead, then the moon on the horizon must be bigger. The way we are sensing the moon, the light and images hitting our retina are the same in both views, but how are brain is perceiving them using stored cues is different.

Another illusion is Mueller-Lyer illusion. This illusion is one where our perception of the length of vertical line segments changes, depending on the directions of the arrows on either end of the line. For example, Two vertical lines are exactly the same length, but on one the arrows point inward and on the other they are pointing outwards. As noted earlier, the lines are exactly the same length, however we perceive them two be two different lengths. Once again, we still sense the images in the same way. Our eyes see the objects as the are. Our brain though, perceives them incorrectly with depth cues setting off a process of compensation for size consistency. We know its a difference in perception and sensation because of cultural factors in perception. Western cultures who live in "carpentered" environments tend to be fooled by this illusion more often than people who live in "noncarpentered" environments.

One last illusion is the Ames' illusion. You look at a specially distorted room, and it causes a person in the room to appear to grow or shrink inside the perceived normal looking room. Our brain knows what a room is expected to look like, therefore it perceives the room to be normal and will not allow a person to see the distortion. All of the sensory information is picked up by our eyes, but perception causes the illusion.

Information from What is Psychology pages 90-100 and pages 122-125 and also the Ames' experiment video.

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This is a very good explanations of the illusions described in the text book and in the video. Could you find any additional illusions outside of what was in the text book or video?

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Another illusion that i found is called the figure-ground illusion. With this illusion, your brain is able to perceive the sensory information being received in two different ways. You can either focus on the figure and perceive it to be one way, or focus on the background and see something different. One example of this would be Ruben's Vase.