Do your legs twitch involuntarily when you sleep? When you were a kid, did you always think you were growing because you were twitching?
So, why is it that when you're an adult, you're still twitching, and life just keeps going on and on? In fact, one popular theory that looks at the process from an evolutionary perspective is that twitching is an ancient primate reflex that relaxes muscles when they go to sleep, but the brain is worried that you're falling out of a tree while you're sleeping, so it tells the muscles to respond quickly.
Tics can be caused by external stimuli
Sleep twitching, also known as sleep twitch, also known as sleep initiation or sleep twitch, it is actually an unconscious muscle spasm, generally occurring at the time of falling asleep, that is, the transition period between the awake state and the sleep state.
Our muscle spasms may occur spontaneously, or they may be caused by sound, light, or other external stimuli.
Some people report that their sleep jerks are accompanied by hallucinations, dreams, the feeling of falling, or lights or noises coming from inside the brain. Sleep jerks are common, with some studies suggesting that 60 to 70 percent of people experience them.Many of us may experience a twitch without even realizing it, because we often forget about it when we wake up, especially if we have had a good night's sleep and haven't been rocked by "violent convulsions" until we wake up.
The twitch comes from an ancient primate reflex
Some scientists believe that certain factors, such as stress, anxiety, fatigue, caffeine, and lack of sleep, may increase the frequency or severity of sleep jerks, but this idea is currently lacking conclusive research support.
Vigorous physical activity or exercising in the evening can also increase sleep jerks, according to psychologists and behavioral sleep medicine specialists at the Sleep Disorders Center. While the researchers aren't sure why this is the case, they've come up with a few other theories.
One hypothesis is that hypnic jerks are a natural part of the body's transition from alertness to sleep, and occur when the nerves "misoperate" during this process. Another, more general theory analyzes the process from an evolutionary perspective.
The theory is that twitching is a conditioned reflex of some ancient primate that relaxes its muscles when it goes to sleep, but the brain misreads this process and thinks that these primates fall from the tree while asleep, causing the brain to "tell" the muscles to react quickly in case of a fall.
"Normally, sleep jerks are completely normal and nothing to worry about." "But if the convulsions are affecting you, or if you are anxious about them and it is interfering with sleep itself, then you should see a sleep specialist."
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What is it about talking in your sleep?
In addition to unconsciously moving their legs during sleep, many people also keep their mouths busy. Many of us have probably been kindly reminded, "You talk in your sleep." Other people may just remind us, but we may struggle for a while: What did I say? Did you say something embarrassing that you shouldn't have? Our sleep talk may reveal deep, subconscious desires that we are often unaware of. All that was left was a tangled, curious face: What did I say?
In fact, most sleep talk is not as fun as it sounds. Research has found that most sleep "speech" is a short, nonsensical speech that lasts only a second or two and rarely produces anything thought-provoking.
Sleep talking, known scientifically as "somniloquy," can happen both during REM and non-REM sleep. When we talk in our sleep during the REM stage of sleep (the time when we dream), it is usually caused by a "motor breakthrough." When we sleep, the mouth and vocal cords should be in or in an inactive state, and when the mouth activity is briefly activated, the words we speak in our dreams are loudly "told to the world."
Does sleeping talking Get Better when you're older?
How many people talk in their sleep? It's hard to count, because we're usually asleep the whole time, as are our partners or roommates, unless, of course, we're talking so intensely that we wake everyone up.
While the prevalence of sleep talking is difficult to estimate, studies have found that more than half of children do it occasionally, with the practice becoming less frequent with age.
In addition to sleep talking, other bizarre sleep behaviors, such as sleepwalking and teeth grinding, also decrease with age. Chronic somniloquy in adults is considered a sleep disorder that can be caused by stress and other factors.
Sleep psychologists have described it this way: After a sudden and unexpected burst of sound, the sleeper returns to silent sleep. "It's reminiscent of a seal that has been swimming underwater, surfacing for one excited, tough, thoughtful call, and then turning around and going back under the water."