When Sleep becomes Violent
Summary:
Normally, we cycle through two stages of sleep throughout the night: REM and NREM. REM sleep stands for rapid eye movement, and NREM is non-rapid eye movement sleep. We do most of our dreaming during REM sleep, and although we are moving in our dreams, our real bodies are basically paralyzed, a condition known as atonia. Only our eyes move, darting around as if watching the scenes from our mind. Even though our bodies lie motionless, our minds are just active as if we were awake.
In NREM sleep, an EEG--electroencephalogram--will show decreased brain activity.
There is, nevertheless, a condition called parasomnia which occurs between wakefulness and deep sleep in NREM sleep, and produces those famous activities such as sleep walking and talking. If one is woken from the former, he or she will be confused and disoriented, which is why people are advised not to wake them. The person will also not be able to recall their dream in the slightest amount.
There is a step beyond parasomnias, however: RBD, or REM sleep behavior disorder. When a person has this, he will literally act out his dream, as in the case of one man who dreamed he was playing baseball again. In his dream, saw the ball coming at him, and reached out for it. Next thing he knew was he was on the floor next to his bed and had nearly put his hand through the wall. Doctors usually connect this disorder with a degenerative neurological condition.
Although simply acting out the dream is not the whole story. People also tend to display Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type behavior—they may be kind in the waking world but say profanities and be belligerent in the sleeping one. In fact, this is usually the case with people diagnosed with RBD.
A polysomnogram, a test that employs sensors placed over muscles, is used to show if movements are interrupting the normal REM sleep stage. In the case of the man who dreamed of playing baseball, doctors discovered through the test that he did in fact have RBD. While there is no known cure for this disorder, doctors do know how it happens and have medication for it, a drug similar to Valium by the name of clonazepam.
Response:
I thought it interesting when I saw the title of this article, because I did not know one could be so violent while asleep. Sure, I thought, people toss around in bed, but to hit someone, all because of a dream was a different story (the wife of the baseball man in the article had actual bruises from him striking out at her.) It is comforting to know that there is a known cause for RBD and a drug for it, so that people with the disorder will not have to hear the words, “We don’t know what’s wrong with you.” Although it will be a hard road, I am sure researchers will be able to discover a cure for REM sleep behavior disorder.
Labels: http://discovermagazine.com/2008/dec/27-vital-signs/?searchterm=When%20Sleep%20turns%20Violent
posted by Krista Belter @ 6:33 PM
4 Comments:
I've heard of sleep walking before (although I've never witnessed it) but I have never imagined that one would try to act out dreams! I suppose RBD could be fairly dangerous if it is not treated by medication. I wonder whether the test performed to detect interruptions of the REM stage can be used to detect the cause of parasomnia in the NREM stage of sleep. The idea presented in this article that one can say things and do things in sleep that he or she is oblivious too when awake is very interesting and somewhat unnerving. It would be interesting to compare parasomnia and RBD with neurological disorders evident when one is awake.
Since most of society percieves sleeping as a time of rest and relaxation, it is interesting to discover that someone could be so active and even violent in their sleep in their sleep. Although I've never heard of RBD, I imagine that I could be somewhat dangerous for a person who might have a spouse or small children. The article mentioned that this disorder is due to neurological degenration and I wonder if it can affect other areas of the person's life? It is also interesting how a person with RBD cannot recall their actions. I wonder if they can recall their dreams just as people with normal sleep patterns do? While this article is shed light on something that I never knew about, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
I thought your article was fascinating, because as someone who has never had any weird problems while they sleep, I never realized what was really going on with sleep walking and talking, and REM sleep behavior disorder. While sleep walking and talking are more common, the REM sleep bahvior disorder seems dangerous, especially if someone were acting out some really crazy dream. Hopefully, some kind of cure or treatment can be developed before these sleeping disorders cause serious( and dangerous)problems for those who have them.
Although I have heard a ton about sleep walking/talking and even RBD I have never heard of the reasons behind these sleeping disorders. It is fascinating to see how each person experiences sleep differently. I wonder after reading your article if there is any connection between RBD, sleep walking/talking and the REM deprivation causing more vivid dreams and how your body needs each step of the sleep cycle that I discussed in my article. Sleep is a strange and sometimes scary part of our lives as a victim of night terrors(being physically awake but in a state of dreaming nightmares) when I was younger and experiencing the effects and dangers of RBD which my grandpa suffered from(he is now treated) I would hope that there is a cure that would some day allow rest to actually be accomplished during sleep.
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