Sleep and Attention

Overview

This unit provides students with understanding of complex brain/behaviour relations and their underlying mechanisms, as they apply to higher order functions, in particular, attention and sleep states.

Learning outcomes

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Assessment

Content

Attention:

Anatomical and physiological basis of attention:

• • Cortical streams – dorsal and ventral;
  • Vision for perception;
  • Vision for action;
  • Magnocellular and Parvocellular visual pathways and receptive field properties.

Psychophysics of Attention

• • Cueing;
  • Visual search; masking; distraction;
  • Perceptual rivalry; binocular rivalry;
  • Normalization models of attention;
  • Emotional attention.

Filter theory of attention;

• • Feature integration theory;
  • Conscious awareness
  • Divided attention; 
  • Spotlight model of attention; 

Neuropsychology and Attention

• • Unilateral neglect; 
  • Controlled and automatic processing;

Sleep:

 

What is sleep? 

• • Manifestations of sleep;

Sleep stages;

• • Rapid eye movements

Comparative sleep in animals;

• • Neural mechanisms;
  • Neurochemical aspects of sleep
  • Sleep in marine and avian creatures
  • How much sleep does an animal need?

Recording of sleep;

Dreaming;

• • Effects of sleep deprivation;

Disorders of sleep;

• • Sleep fatigue;
  • Consciousness;
  • Parasomnias;
  • Diurnal rhythms