I still remember the first time I heard about sleepwalking. I was around 10 and the term was delivered by a cartoon character. Being able to walk around while asleep- the whole concept was strikingly fascinating to my 10-year old brain. However, the Internet wasn’t yet a thing in my neighbourhood. So I had to either try and pick up a book or ask someone of knowledge. And like any kid of my age, I quit the pursuit after 10 minutes. Still, the question haunted me for years. And it was only after I turned 16 that I got a satisfactory answer from a National Geographic documentary. So, if there are any 10-year-olds reading this, I dedicate this article to you- you are lucky to have been born in the 21st century.
First of all, what exactly is sleepwalking? It is the act of getting up and walking around while asleep. It is also called somnambulism. So, if you have heard about that person who committed murder or drove a car while asleep, it is probably true, or at least possibly true. But how come some people walk around when they sleep and all we do is toss and turn around in bed. To answer this question, we should initially bust a myth. Sleepwalking isn’t the acting out of our dreams. As I’ve elaborately explained in a previous article, dreams occur in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. However, sleepwalking occur in the first third of our sleep, approximately 2 or 3 hours after we fall asleep, which means the sleepwalking person is either in the NREM 3 stage or NREM 4 stage. These are the deepest stages in sleep with the complete domination of the slow delta waves. During the REM sleep, motor movement is completely restricted even though the brain is buzzing with activity and during the NREM 3 sleep, the brain is mostly inactive but the body is capable of movement. So, in NREM 3/4 stage we’ve got a moving body controlled by a sleepy brain.
Surprise! Surprise! The scientists aren’t yet sure about the actual reasons behind this interesting phenomenon. But they’ve got some pretty convincing theories. As we have already learnt, sleepwalking occurs in NREM sleep. Some mental health professionals are of the opinion that sleepwalking is the result of the brain trying to transition into the waking stage straight from the NREM stage without completing the sleep cycle. Sleepwalking is most common in children and often they outgrow it by their teenage. So, this phenomenon could be the initial troubles of a developing brain. In other words, children’s brains might not be developed enough to comprehend the different stages of sleep. Another possible explanation is associated with the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA that stifles the brain’s motor system. As you might have guessed, the neurons that release this neurotransmitter aren’t fully developed in kids. This might be a cause of sleepwalking as well. In adults, the damage or under-production of GABA releasing neurons might lead to the same result.
It is often said that it is dangerous to wake a person who is sleepwalking. To be true, it is kind of dangerous. It’s better to wake the person gradually than by a sudden sound or shake. It won’t be fatal but you would have a lot of explanation to do. The person would be so confused and disoriented. That being said, it is important to know the prevalence of this parasomnia disorder. According to the recent stats, more than 20% of the population has experienced some form of somnambulism. And there is a strong hereditary nature to this disorder. If one parent has the disorder, there is a 40% chance that the offspring has it too. And if both the parents have it, the number jumps to 60%.
Somnambulism ranges from something as simple as walking around the room to driving a car or committing a crime. The actual causes of this disorder are still largely unknown. There are still hundreds of sleep labs around the globe trying to figure out this mystery.
