"Can I leave this in here?"

         As we finally end Unit 4 and the studies of sensation and perception, we turn to a more interesting topic- consciousness. We began Unit 5 by discussing the many properties of sleep. While learning about the cycles of sleep is all fine and dandy, I really wanted to focus on sleep walking.

          However, as a review, I'll go over the sleep cycle. Let's say I decide to go to sleep at 10:30 (highly unlikely, seeing as I can't seem to find a way to fall asleep before 12). As I am laying in my bed, I'm in "Stage 0" of sleep, meaning that my brain is still emitting short, fast alpha waves. As I begin to drift off, I fall into Stage 1, with a mixture of slow and fast waves, then Stage 2, with spindles, and Stages 3 and 4, characterized by delta waves. Finally, as it becomes later and later, I pass into REM sleep, where my brain seems to be emitting small and fast waves like Stage 0.

         During REM sleep, my body would be paralyzed while my mind is still awake, meaning I wouldn't be sleep walking at this stage. REM sleep is the sleep stage where dream occur. In Stages 2-4, I would have sleep thoughts, where I would think about simple experiences that occurred throughout the day, such as driving or reading.

         So if sleep walking doesn't occur during REM sleep, when does it happen? During Stage 4, when we are in a state of deep sleep and our brains emit large, slow delta waves. My brother, Ahron, used to sleep walk on a usual basis when he was younger, meaning that I witnessed sleep walking many times. His adventures were usually characterized by crying, talking incoherently, and just being downright weird. I remember one night, a few years ago, I was in my parents room talking to my mom, and all of a sudden Ahron walks in holding his comforter. His eyes are open and his face is calm. He drops his blanket on the floor and says, "Can I leave this in here?" and then walks out. This particular night was memorable because it happened to be extremely hilarious.

         I wasn't so keen on all the sleep walking business because it was creepy. Ahron would sometimes come into my room and ask me the most random things with a glazed look on his face, eyes open, and apparently awake, but in actuality he was sleep walking. One night, I had already fallen asleep and he came into my room and actually poked me awake and said, "Shani, where's the paper? I need the paper." Usually my dad would just tell him to go back to sleep, but my dad had already gone to sleep. In the morning, Ahron couldn't remember a thing.

          Because sleep walking used to be a normal occurrence at my house, I wanted to explore it more deeply. According to webmd.com, sleep walking occurs most during childhood, usually around the ages of 4 to 8. This website also explains that sleep walking can occur as a result of genetics, such as if a close relative has a history of sleep walking, environmental factors like stress, sleep deprivation, and intoxication, and medical conditions like fever, asthma, reflux, sleep apnea, and PTSD. I'm pretty sure my brother did not have any of these conditions when he was younger, so I'm going to hazard a guess at the genetics factor. Either way, I find sleep walking quite intriguing.

Link to website: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleepwalking-causes