Unconscious Cognition

Unconscious Cognition There are varying states of unconsciousness which involve reduced or impaired activity in the frontal and parietal areas of the brain. Consciousness is often described as wakefulness, although we are not fully unconscious when we are sleeping. A unified state of brain arousal is required for consciousness. A coma is usually described as a state of unconsciousness, although it is not always. There is evidence of coma patients producing mental images for yes / no responses. Usually when in a coma people have a lack of backward re-entrant processing and disruption to the top-down processing. Sleep is also considered a state of unconsciousness. During sleep there is reduced autonomic activity such as lower breathing rate, heart rate and blood flow to the brain, but sleep isn't simple unconsciousness. During sleep there are high event related potentials (ERP's) to sensory stimuli. Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) is a sleep state which involves both conscious and unconscious-like responses. It involves varying states of autonomic activity. Dreams are also a state of unconsciousness