Living without Memory

Living without Memory

by Minh Anh Nguyen

Memory is a biological experience involving the activation of several brain systems.  Our memories are not situated in only one brain structure or in a single place inside the brain.  Some memories are shaped by language, others by imagery. The term memory covers a diverse set of cognitive capacities by which we retain information and reconstruct past experiences, usually for present purposes. Memory is one of the most important ways by which our histories animate our current actions and experiences. For example, for any memory to be created, it is necessary that neurons form new connections via synaptic linkages with other neurons. The information incorporated in the neurons will represent the elements of an experience or idea. In order for information to be remembered, it must be encoded and processed by the neurons.  The ability of humans to call up a specific episode of our lives is both familiar and puzzling, and is a key aspect of personal identity.

Poor memories are often the product of ineffective initial training, which usually occurs because little attention is paid during the training, and no personal or emotional bonds are established.  Many people have trouble with memory; this does not mean they have Alzheimer's or didn’t pay attention during the training. There are many different causes of memory loss.  The video, “Living Without Memory” on Hockenbury’s website, shows a study of memory loss that was caused by brain infection.  The patient has suffered a viral infection that caused his brain to become inflamed, a condition called encephalitis.  It produced almost immediate memory loss.  As a result, the patient could not remember or recognize any memories of his childhood life.  The video also shares some of the simple solutions, such as a special pager, that patient used to help him to remember daily activities or tasks.  For those suffering from significant memory loss, this simple device provides an active prompt for taking medications, keeping scheduled appointments, and preparing meals.  For example, the pager reminds patient of what clothes to wear, what bills to pay, and what library items to return.  It also helps the patient also successfully navigates transactions at the local library.

The mind-brain relationship seeks to investigate how our brains define who we are, i.e, subjective experience arises. The mind and the brain are a two-way street. The brain is calling up memories, doing calculations in mathematics tests and so on, but the mind also provides feedback, at least in the case of letting us think about consciousness.  The experience of consciousness and mind is so different from the functions of the brain that so far no scientific theory is capable of accounting for the missing subjectivity within the brain. The Mind's features cannot be directly related to the brain's features.  The Mind uses the functions of the brain to express itself.  The minds features are conceptual while the brains features are physical. That explains the correlations between our mind and the brain.

                                               

Sleep and Sleeplessness

        The benefits of sleep impact nearly every area of daily life, however, some people don’t realize how much sleep they need and why it is so important.  As a result, sleep often becomes a neglected part of life. Especially for college students, sleep sometimes is a rare thing.   College life presents many new stressful challenges such as variable schedules, repeated deadlines and academic obligations which may require all-night study especially at examination time and late night computer work.  In order to meet these demands college students voluntarily change their sleeping routines.  College students often deprive themselves of sleep during the week and attempt to catch up on sleep by sleeping long hours on the weekend.  Students who are more concerned about using their time effectively to meet all of the demands placed on them are more likely to experience sleep problem.   Student’s poor sleep routines and quality can impose mental and physiological penalties.  Decreasing sleep periods   to less than 6 hours per night can cause the reduction of attention, concentration, memory, problem-solving ability, and diminished academic performance, often resulting in poor grades.  Sleep deprived students tend to avoid more difficult tasks. They also are often not aware that their academic difficulties may be related to lack of sleep.

It is no surprise that poor sleep routines may negatively impact academic performance.  A student who is so exhausted that they doze during class knows that it is disadvantageous to learning.  Larks (or morning people) are more likely to earn a better grade than night owls. Students who are tired in the morning tend to receive a lower grade than students who stick with a more regular sleep routine.  There are two biological factors that drive you to bed. These factors are the biological clock and the day-to-day sequence.  Larks and owls do not differ in their preferred amount of sleep but rather in their timing of sleep in reference to daytime.  The difference comes from the way their everyday cycle works. Some people can work very well in the morning and others work better at night.  To alter this pattern people must try cycle adjustment.  Sleep patterns vary between individuals, as well as a function of other factors such seasons, stress, timing of sleep, timing of the light period, exercise, and many more. 

Another common sleep problem is narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord that causes an uncontrollable desire to sleep. Fortunately this sleep problem can be treated with medication.  Modafinil is a prescription medication that is helpful in the treatment of narcolepsy or some forms of depression.  The most common side effects of modafinil are headache, nervousness, anxiety and insomnia.  Modafinil can decrease or increase the activity of enzymes in the liver.

The video, “Sleep and Sleeplessness: The Current Scene” on Hockenbury’s website, shows a study of  sleep deprivation issues.  The problem of sleeplessness is not new and yet more and more people are becoming victims of the consequences of sleep deprivation. More and more people are sleeping less each day without realizing the very harmful effects that not sleeping on time and at regular intervals for the required time can have on our physical as well as mental health.  The human body needs a certain amount of sleep every day for it to function effectively. One of the great benefits of sleep is that it allows our brain to better process new experiences and knowledge, increasing our understanding and retention.   If a person does not sleep over long periods of time, many important parts of the brain stop operating properly and start to affect such bodily functions as body temperature, hormone levels, heart rate and other vital body functions.  Over time, chronic sleep deprivation may lead to an array of serious medical conditions including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even early mortality.  Researchers have shown that lack of sleep may lead to type 2 diabetes by affecting how your body processes glucose, which is the carbohydrate your cells use for fuel. In addition, sleep deprivation may make activities such as driving or operating machines very dangerous.  In adults, sleep problems can occur because of disease processes, anxiety, depression, and worry or stress. It is important for people to realize that sleep deprivation is a growing problem and that it can cause serious medical and health problems.  Many people tend to take this problem lightly and not pay much attention to how much they are sleeping.  This video also shows the benefits of sleep on improving the quality and the length of our life. Therefore, it is vital to place a priority on getting a consistent full eight hours of sleep.

Evaluating the credibility of three Medias on the topic of sleepwalking

                                                 Abstract

Some people experience parasomnia, a disorder where one undertakes strange activities while they are asleep.  Parasomnia is a sleep problem that affects both adults and children.  It is normally seen in older children, where it is considered to just be part of the growing process and the development of the brain.  In adults, parasomnia could indicate a personality disturbance.  This disease is characterized by undesirable physical or verbal behaviors, or experiences while sleeping. Sleepwalking or somnambulism is an example of parasomnia in which sufferers can find themselves performing daily routines like doing housework in their sleep.  People sleepwalking often do not recollect what activities took place while they were sleeping.  It is almost as if one has amnesia, because they have no memory of what they did or why they did it. This research paper will explain the sleep disorder known as somnambulism, including possible causes and remedies.  A comparison of three articles will also be presented in this paper.

There are a wide variety of sleep disorders in the world today.  These sleep disorders include sleepwalking and night terrors.  They are characterized by partial arousal during sleep or during transitions between wakefulness and sleep.  These disorders involve activation of the autonomic nervous system, motor system, or cognitive processes during sleep or sleep-wake transitions.  They are referred to as parasomnia. Parasomnia events, such as sleepwalking, can be extremely unsettling but they are temporary and don’t generally cause harm. This research paper will discuss the sleep disorder known as somnambulism, including possible causes and cures.  I will be discussing how various media depict these disorders.  In this paper, I will review Hockenbury’s definition of parasomnia and sleepwalking, the web site sleep.com and W. Szelenberger et al.’s perspective of how parasomnia and sleepwalking influence our life. I will also analyze and evaluate the credibility of online sources for use in preparing research papers.  Finally, I will also show that W. Szelenberger et al.’s paper is a more credible source than other two articles.

Hockenbury describes sleepwalking is a type of parasomnia, i.e., one of a group of sleep disorders.   Parasomnia represents the activation of physiological systems at inappropriate times during the sleep-wake cycle.  Hockenbury suggests that sleepwalking is one of the most common forms of parasomnia.  Sleepwalking affects mostly children and tends to go away after puberty.  The author reports that about 15 percent of all children have had at least one sleepwalking incident whereas 4 percent of adults sleepwalk (Hockenbury, 2001, p. 157).  Sleepwalkers can do complex tasks including but not limited to using tools and driving. Some patients with a sleepwalking disorder can behave violently if disturbed but most are passive.

The website sleep.com suggests that sleepwalking is caused by stress, depression, and genetic factors.  The author feels that sleep deprivation, fever, and medications can also have an effect on sleepwalking. Sleepwalking is more common in children and can occur at any age.  The author repeats the observation mentioned in Hockenbury’s textbook that about 15 percent of children had experienced sleepwalking (sleep.com, 2011). This website also presents some of the root causes and symptoms of this problem and advertises their treatments for this problem.  In contrast to Hockenbury, the author states that disrupting the sleepwalker is not harmful. People affected with the disorder usually have their eyes wide open in a stare.  People who sleepwalk do not remember their nocturnal walk the next day. 

W. Szelenberger et al.’s study published in International Review of Psychiatry, “Sleepwalking and night terrors: psychopathological and psychophysiological correlates”, confirms that sleepwalking is caused by arousal from NREM (non-rapid eyes movements) sleep.  This sleep disorder occurs frequently in children and decreases in the teenager years. The study provides data to support this finding. For example, sleepwalking occurs in 1-3% of children, but, in contrast, only 0.6% of adults suffer from frequent sleepwalk experiences (Szelenberger, 2005, p.264).   The study also suggests that sleepwalking often occurs in the first sleep period when slow-wave sleep is more common. The triggering factors for sleepwalking are stress, environmental or endogenous factors, and stimulants.

In the textbook, Hockenbury shows a picture of an old man walking around a bed without a light. This image was very useful and worked well with the title of the article, Sleepwalking.  The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words appears to fit this situation.   Without this picture giving readers a shorthand impression of the disease, the readers might not be interested in reading the article.  The word “sleepwalking” makes readers curious to understand how this sleep disorder affects their life.  The goal of this article is to educate or help students understand the sleep disease.  The article did share some research results on the sleep disorder.  For example, sleepwalking occurs more frequently in children than adults. These issues convince readers to search further for more answers.

The sleep.com website is very easily accessed through any internet provider. The domain address for this site is http://www.sleep.com; this indicates that it is a business or industrial website and is owned by the company itself. When the home page is opened, the background is soft white. The page shows a picture of a sleeping lady with an alarm clock and a picture of Michael J. Breus, PhD, the sleep doctor, is displayed on the left side of the page. The site links are on the top of the page. The individual links are in green with a white background. These links are broken-down into seven categories: home, sleep disorder, sleep information, feature articles, blog, and shopping. Each link clearly states what users are accessing when users click on each individual link. This site is well suited for an audience that is looking for tips, helps and information on sleepwalking.  The site is well updated with news and press releases.  Current news is down on the web page.  The content is strong and plentiful. The user will have an easy time moving through the site quickly and smoothly. Some other bulleted links are on top of the Michael J. Breus picture.  Below that is a contact line that encourages questions and comments. Along the bottom of the page is a navigation bar that gives the user access to any of the links along the left side of the page. The website provides useful information on sleep tips, sleep products, sleep articles, etc. 

The journal article by Szelenberger et al. has a much better approach to evaluating sleepwalking. The journal article is like links of a website that can be further categorized in detail. In a journal article, for example, users can see the title which describes a subject or idea, the author, and the date that it was published. The journal article mainly focuses on one topic. It is good to use for school research, etc., because the journal article shows more data and provides more details to convince the reader of the veracity of the information presented. The journal article, itself, was a hefty 8 pages long. This indicates that it is not just a brief overview of the topic but rather a more in-depth analysis. The article abstract gave me further information for evaluating the article.  According to the abstract, the authors examine the root cause of sleep disorders and it effects. The authors have included facts from all sides of the issue. The article also provides further information on the author. Waldemar Szelenberger is a medical doctor with the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical University of Warsaw(Szelenberger, 2005, p.263). This information further boosted the author's reputations.  One major problem of the journal article is that it was difficult for students like me to understand because the choice of words used, i.e., there was a lot of technical jargon. This article targets people who are looking for answer about the sleep disorder or disease.   

 If one compares the three sources of information described above, one can see that each has strengths and weaknesses. The content of the article in the textbook is very clear. Not only is the topic well-presented but it is easy for students to understand.  On the other hand, although the internet site has a wide variety of sources and information that it organizes into smaller communities, the sleep.com website contains advertising therefore it is not a good source for academic information.  It distracts the readers. Internet resources are a growing reality in every side of academic life, as most students would prefer to turn to them first, due to their ease of use. The journal article provides more sources compared to other articles.  The last source of information, the journal article, is a good source because it has the name of the author as well as the date that it was published.  This means that the authors are staking their reputations on the information contained in the article. A journal article is a safe choice for research because most journals are academic in nature and require their article writers to check facts before publishing. However, not all journals are created equal; readers should try to find journals that are peer-reviewed for the best sources of information, as these will be more reliable than other journals. Journals associated with professional organizations are also a safe bet because they tend to be high-quality.   W. Szelenberger et al.’s paper has both of these claims. For this reason, W. Szelenberger et al.’s paper is more credible source than other two articles.  The subject matter of a journal article may not be as broad as using the web, which is more of an unorganized resource, but it tends to be more reliable.

Reference:

Hockenbury, D.H. & Hockenbury, S.E. (2001).Discovering Psychology (5^th ed.) New York: Worth. 

Sleep.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sleep.com/content/parasomnias

Szelenberger, Waldemar1.Niemcewicz, Szymon1, & DĄbrowska, Anna Justyna1, (2005). Sleepwalking and night terrors: psychopathological and psychophysiological correlates. 17(4), p263-270, 8p. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.catalog.poudrelibraries.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=17523091&site=ehost-live