Recent research from Stanford University shows that up to 4 per cent of adults might have had such an experience. In fact, sleepwalking is on the rise, in part due to increased use of pharmacologically based sleep aids – notably Ambien. [...]
Somnambulists are in an irrational state during which they could harm themselves or others. Some extreme examples include the instance of the English teenager who in 2009 jumped eight metres out of her bedroom window, or the case of Kenneth Parks in Toronto, who in 1987 drove 23km and murdered his mother-in-law, all apparently while sleeping. Parks committed the act – if that’s the right word – despite an agreeable relationship with the victim and a lack of motive. [...]
One answer comes from studies suggesting that ‘sleepwalking’ might not be an appropriate term for what is going on; rather, primitive brain regions involved in emotional response (in the limbic system) and complex motor activity (within the cortex) remain in ‘active’ states that are difficult to distinguish from wakefulness. Such activity is characterized by ‘alpha wave’ patterns detected during electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings.
At the same time, regions in the frontal cortex and hippocampus that control rationality and memory remain essentially dormant and unable to carry out their typical functions, manifesting a ‘delta wave’ pattern seen during classic sleep.
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