Is sleep an altered state of consciousness?
Short Answer
Yes. Sleep shifts consciousness away from sustained external awareness toward changing internal statesāfrom minimal experience in deep sleep to vivid dreamingādriven by different brain rhythms and neuromodulators than wakefulness.
Why This Matters
Sleep isnāt just āturning offā because the brain remains active, but it reconfigures how information is processed. Changing rhythms and neurotransmitters reduce sensory gating and executive control, which leads to dreams, memory consolidation, and shifts in emotion regulation. Understanding sleep as an altered state clarifies why sleep loss changes perception, judgment, and wellbeing.
Where This Changes
āAlteredā varies by stage: deep non-REM usually contains little reportable experience, while REM can be intensely vivid. Brief awakenings, lucid dreams, and sleep disorders can blur boundaries, and sedation or anesthesia arenāt the same as natural sleep.
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