Sleep and Circadian Rhythms

MCAT Basics (from MedSchoolCoach)

MedSchoolCoach

Science

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is packed with essential high-yield information for your MCAT prep, covering the biological, physiological, and psychological aspects of sleep. We’ll explore various sleep theories, like the Memory Consolidation and Brain Plasicticity Theories, and even discuss the controversial “Sleeping When You Die” theory. We’ll also delve into dream theories, including Freud’s interpretations and the Activation Synthesys Hypothesis. Plus, we’ll address common sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy, alongside the effects of different drugs on your sleep patterns.

We’ll cover critical brain structures involved in sleep, such as the hypothalamus and the suprachiasmatic nucleus, and break down the stages of sleep measured through EEG, EMG, and EOG.

Visit MedSchoolCoach.com for more help with the MCAT.

[00:00] Introduction to the MCAT Basics podcast with host, Sam Smith

[04:05] Pineal gland, amygdala, basal forebrain in sleep.

[07:40] Measuring postsynaptic potential, not action potentials. EEG waves distinguish sleep stages. EMG records muscle electrical activity.

[10:46] Alpha waves awake, theta waves asleep. Hallucinations in stage N1 sleep.

[15:01] Unconfirmed sleepwalking. Stages of sleep explained.

[18:18] Sleep cycles lengthen REM stage, diagrams illustrate.

[19:50] We don't remember all our dreams.

[23:55] Shifting circadian rhythms due to changes in light.

[29:10] Blind people's melatonin release entrained with light.

[29:41] Cortisol secretion cycle follows a circadian rhythm.

[35:09] Freud: Dreams represent unconscious desires; manifest vs latent.

[38:53] Divorce dreams related to spouse thinking time. Broad sleep disorder categories: insomnia, breathing, hypersomnolence.

[41:18] Hypersomnia, narcolepsy, drugs' impact on sleep.

[44:14 Brief primer on drug effects on sleep.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to MCAT basics, your ultimate guide to the essential topics you need to master for the MCAT,
0:07.5	brought to you by the physicians at med school coach. Every week, Sam Smith breaks down high-yield
0:12.7	MCAT topics, ensuring you're primed for success on test day. Join Sam as we explore the most
0:18.5	crucial subjects outlined by the AAMC, pulled from official
0:22.0	practice materials and third-party resources.
0:24.6	Get ready to elevate your MCAT game with topics tailored to maximize your score potential.
0:30.0	Hello, I'm Sam Smith.
0:32.3	This podcast covers sleep in circadian rhythms.
0:35.4	In the first part of the podcast, I cover some of the biological
0:38.4	and physiological concepts regarding sleep. I'm going to talk about sleep stages, and then I'll
0:43.9	get into some of the biology of circadian rhythms. And then in the second part of the podcast,
0:49.3	I'll get into more of the psychology-based concepts of sleep. That's going to be things like sleep in dream theories, sleep disorders, and the effects
0:59.2	of drugs on sleep.
1:01.3	And as you probably picked up from that description, this is a twofer.
1:05.1	There are going to be two MCAT sections in this one podcast because this podcast is going to
1:09.2	cover a material that is on the bio-biocem
1:11.6	section and also the psych-soche section. I hope you find this podcast helpful in your studies
1:17.3	and good luck to those of you who are taking the test shortly, especially those of you who
1:22.3	shout me out on Twitter. So as I said in the intro, the first part of this podcast is going to be more biology and physiology based.
1:35.5	And then I'm going to get into some of the psychology.
1:37.5	So let me start out here by talking about some of the parts in the brain that are involved in sleep.
1:43.5	And I want to say before I get into this that there are many, many structures in the brain that are involved in sleep. And I want to say before I get into this, that
	...

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