States of Consciousness
Introduction to Sleep and Dreams
What you’ll learn to do: describe what happens to the brain and body during sleep
We devote a very large portion of time to sleep, and our brains have complex systems that control various aspects of sleep. Several hormones important for physical growth and maturation are secreted during sleep. While the reason we sleep remains something of a mystery, there is some evidence to suggest that sleep is very important to learning and memory.
You may not feel particularly busy while you sleep, but you’ll learn in this section that your brain and body are quite active. You pass through four different stages of sleep. In this section, you’ll learn more about these sleep stages, dreaming, and sleep disorders.
Learning Objectives
- Describe areas of the brain and hormone secretions involved in sleep
- Describe several theories (adaptive and cognitive) aimed at explaining the function of sleep
- Differentiate between REM and non-REM sleep
- Describe the stages of sleep
- Describe and differentiate between theories on why we dream
- Describe the symptoms and treatments for insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy
Licenses and Attributions (Click to expand)
CC licensed content, Original
- Modification, adaptation, and original content. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
CC licensed content, Shared previously
- Sleep and Why We Sleep. Authored by: OpenStax College. Located at: https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/4-2-sleep-and-why-we-sleep. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction
- Image of sleeping girl. Authored by: College Degrees 360. Provided by: Flickr. Located at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/83633410@N07/7658254172. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike