How Are Psychoactive Drugs Classified?

In this video I describe the 3 main classifications of psychoactive drugs: stimulants, depressants (including narcotics), and hallucinogens. I provide several examples of each drug type, the associated effects on the nervous system, and the relationship to concepts of neuroadaptation, … Read More

How Do Drugs Influence Neural Communication?

In this video I describe how psychoactive drugs can influence neural communication by passing through the blood-brain barrier and acting as either agonists or antagonists. The brain also responds to this influence via neuroadaptation which can create tolerance and withdrawal … Read More

Sleep Disorders

In this video I describe the symptoms and treatment for several sleep disorders including insomnia, sleep apnea, sleepwalking, night terrors, sleep paralysis, REM sleep behavior disorder, and narcolepsy. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to see future videos! Have … Read More

The Circadian Rhythm

In this video we’ll consider a different state of consciousness that occurs during sleep. Our pattern of wakefulness and drowsiness varies throughout the course of the day and this is known as our circadian rhythm. This cycle is influenced by … Read More

How Much Control Do We Have Over Our Minds?

In this video I consider how much control we have over our own minds. We may not have as much control as we think and this can be demonstrated in ironic processes of mental control as well as unconscious processes. … Read More

The Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Do we need emotions to make decisions? In this video I describe Antonio Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis and then discuss research using Antoine Bechara’s Iowa Gambling Task to assess how emotional reactivity guides decision-making in healthy controls and patients with … Read More

Characteristics of Consciousness

In this video I describe 4 characteristics of human consciousness. These include unity, intentionality, selectivity, and transience. The selectivity of our consciousness and our ability to filter out perceptions which are deemed irrelevant can be demonstrated in the Cocktail Party … Read More

Sensation & Perception Knowledge Organizer

Here’s a knowledge organizer I’ve created of the most essential terms for sensation and perception in an introductory psychology course. These knowledge organizers are designed to help you identify the most important factual knowledge you need to have in order … Read More

Levels of Consciousness

In this video I describe different levels of consciousness that we have based on our level of access to different types of information. These include conscious, preconscious, subconscious/unconscious, and nonconscious levels of awareness. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel … Read More