What do you get up to in your sleep?
Sleep is an amazing part of human behaviour, and scientists still can’t entirely agree on its purpose and exact mechanics. It’s something we all need, of course, as the consequences of having too little or going without it for too long are known to all of us. The scientific understanding of sleep has been improved by observing what can go wrong too – and we at headboards.co.uk have found that a lot can potentially go wrong!
Everyone has heard of sleepwalking. It’s been observed as early as the year 360 BC in medical records and has been common throughout history. Perhaps you used to do it as a child, maybe a friend of yours had nocturnal habits which you were shocked or surprised to discover, or maybe you’ve merely heard stories. These sleepwalking stories are often as concerning as they are entertaining, but what causes sleepwalkers to leave behind their beds and headboards to go on their nocturnal wanderings?
To find this out, we’ve got to take a good look at sleep itself. Sleeping has five observable stages, separated by the different types of brain activity that can be picked up when using certain equipment. Stages one through four are differentiated by specific cerebral activity, whereas the fifth can be noticed just by looking at the sleeper. Dubbed REM sleep because of the rapid eye movement that can be observed at this point, stage five sleep is the last phase before the cycle repeats itself roughly every 90 to 100 minutes. Usually sleepwalking will take place during the third and fourth stage (referred to as ‘slow wave sleep’) of the first or second cycle.
An estimated 15% of children under 12 will experience sleepwalking at least once. Researchers have suggested this tendency could be due to the nature of children’s sleep – during their development, this ‘slow wave sleep’ happens for longer periods. Most adult sleepwalkers started in their teens, although some have been shown to begin exhibiting symptoms later on in life.
There could be a genetic cause too: statistically you’re ten times more likely to start sleepwalking if you’re immediately related to someone who sleepwalks already, and even more likely if your identical twin sleepwalks.
Many theories abound as to what other factors could contribute to this fascinating phenomenon – don’t worry, we’re sure your headboard isn’t to blame! Not getting enough sleep has often been cited as a potential cause, as well as a generally unorganised sleep schedule. In fact, everything from magnesium deficiencies to the use of antihistamines has had the finger of blame pointed at it at some point, but there is no definitive cause – only a set of factors that seem to increase the likelihood of it happening.
Regardless, we at headboards.co.uk hope you all have a sound sleep tonight – and remember to check back at our website for the UK’s most competitive range of headboards! Don’t forget to look at our blog for the latest news on our products and many exciting sleep related topics.
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