NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF SLEEP PARALYSIS

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract

Characteristics	Peer reviewed
Key points	Sleep paralysis involves waking awareness with an inability to move, speak, or open the eyes, sometimes with hallucinations of a presence or pressure, lasting up to several minutes. It arises from muscle immobility during sleep-wake transitions while the brain is active. Its cause is unclear, but it has been linked with insomnia, disrupted sleep patterns, narcolepsy, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and family history.

Characteristics

Peer reviewed

Key points

Sleep paralysis involves waking awareness with an inability to move, speak, or open the eyes, sometimes with hallucinations of a presence or pressure, lasting up to several minutes. It arises from muscle immobility during sleep-wake transitions while the brain is active. Its cause is unclear, but it has been linked with insomnia, disrupted sleep patterns, narcolepsy, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and family history.

Abstract

During sleep paralysis you may feel: awake but cannot move, speak or open your eyes, like someone is in your room, like something is pushing you down, frightened these feelings can last up to several minutes. Sleep paralysis happens when you cannot move your muscles as you are waking up or falling asleep. This is because you are in sleep mode but your brain is active. It's not clear why sleep paralysis can happen but it has been linked with: insomnia. disrupted sleeping patterns – for example, because of shift work or jet lag, narcolepsy – a long-term condition that causes a person to suddenly fall asleep, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and a family history of sleep paralysis

Study at a glance

Abstract

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