WELCOME STATEMENT
Welcome to Introductory Psychology Weekly Updates
Every Monday through June, you will find wonderful resources to enhance your teaching and to engage your students in discussions. With each “published” edition, you will discover two or three interesting provocative articles to use as “triggers” to discuss important issues that relate to your teaching content, subject matter, and/or important issues. The choice of the articles is such that students can find these on popular sites such as the New York Times, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, and read them without the pressure of going to the library or poring through their textbook. The popular media choices are easy to find without the need for subscription services; these are often articles that you might have read and brought up in your class. Further, the update will include a few questions that can be used to get a discussion started.
In addition to a listing of the articles, you will also be presented with a few websites for use in your teaching. The websites can be useful informative resources for both your teaching preparation and for student use. Lastly, every week, you will find either an App Of The Week listing, occasionally YouTube video, or a Podcast that will both enhance your teaching and presentations. If you have any suggestions please contact me.
Thank you,
David Berg
[email protected]
Psychology Update: 3 NEW STUDIES ABOUT SLEEP
ARTICLE #1
7 Ways Sleep Affects The Brain (And What Happens If It Doesn’t Get Enough)
DESCRIPTION
This is an excellent general article on the functions of sleep. It is well written, easy to read, and will make for an excellent piece for discussion. The author provides good information that works as a starting place for the introduction to this topic. Articles #2 and #3 (below) provide more technical and neuro-psychological studies on some of the function of sleep as function of memory. However, begin with the Forbes article especially if the class (audience) is new to the topic.
SOURCE
Forbes, December 9, 2016, by Alice G. Walton
LINK TO RESOURCE
(Tiny URL) https://tinyurl.com/zmqgxw5
ARTICLE #2
The Purpose of Sleep? To Forget, Scientists Say
DESCRIPTION
The article begins asking the question that we usually bring up in class: “what is the purpose of sleep?” It provides a few of the usual answers. However, in the past decade scientists have hypothesized that perhaps one purpose is to pare down or prune some of the neural growth that occurs throughout the waking day to sharpen memories and rid the system of unnecessary synaptic growth that can interfere with real memory consolidation. Research in the area produced indirect “evidence to support the so-called synaptic homeostasis hypothesis…It turns out, for example, that neurons can prune their synapses — at least in a dish. In laboratory experiments on clumps of neurons, scientists can give them a drug that spurs them to grow extra synapses. Afterward, the neurons pare back some of the growth.” The article is a good read in that it provides some of the new research on sleep and it’s functions. Students who are particularly interested in the neurobiology of sleep will find this a stimulating article.
SOURCE
New York Times, February 2, 2017, by Carl Zimmer
LINK TO RESOURCE
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/science/sleep-memory-brain-forgetting.html
(Tiny URL) https://tinyurl.com/jgafos7
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ARTICLE #3
Brain Synapses Shrink During Sleep, Making Way for New Information
DESCRIPTION
In a slightly more recent update on the “synaptic homeostasis hypothesis” (see ARTICLE #1), scientists are finding more confirming evidence that there is a process going on during sleep that clears away the “unnecessary” synaptic growth that occurs during the day which would lead to clear sharper memories. A number of studies are discussed that show some of the problems in memory when the process of “pruning” is inhibited. There is a cute YouTube segment provided from the film Groundhog Day.
SOURCE
Newsweek, February 2, 2017, by Douglas Main
LINK TO RESOURCE
http://www.newsweek.com/brain-synapses-shrink-during-sleep-making-way-new-information-551871
(Tiny URL) https://tinyurl.com/goxelxc
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CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
•What are the currently accepted functions of sleep?
•What is hypothesized to be problematic if an individual does not get enough sleep?
•How do memory and cognition related to the functions of sleep?
•What does research evidence suggest regarding the “synaptic homeostasis hypothesis” function of sleep? What are the negative consequences demonstrated through research if there is interference with this function?
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