sleepwalking
Sign in to saveSleepwalking, also known as somnambulism or noctambulism, is a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness. It is classified as a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. It occurs during the slow wave stage of sleep, in a state of low consciousness, with performance of activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness. These activities can be as benign as talking, sitting up in bed, walking to a bathroom, consuming food, and cleaning, or as hazardous as cooking, driving a motor vehicle, violent gestures and grabbing at hallucinated objects.
AI overview
Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder where people perform everyday activities—ranging from harmless ones like walking or eating to dangerous ones like cooking or driving—while in a partially conscious state during deep sleep. It matters because the condition can put people at serious risk of injury to themselves or others, depending on what activities they engage in while sleepwalking.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Sleepwalking
- Medical condition (new).image
- Kramskoi somnambule.jpg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Ivan Kramskoi, Somnambula, 1871
- Medical condition (new).alt
- Somnambulism
- Medical condition (new).field
- Sleep medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Associated disorders
- Consequences
- Causes
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Assessment
- Treatment
- Safety planning
- Epidemiology
- History
- Culture
- Opera
- Drama
- Literature
- Sleepwalking as a legal defense<span class="anchor" id="Homicidal sleepwalking"></span>
- Historical cases
- See also
- Citations
- General and cited references
- External links
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism or noctambulism, is a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness. It is classified as a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. It occurs during the slow wave stage of sleep, in a state of low consciousness, with performance of activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness. These activities can be as benign as talking, sitting up in bed, walking to a bathroom, consuming food, and cleaning, or as hazardous as cooking, driving a motor vehicle, violent gestures and grabbing at hallucinated objects.
Although sleepwalking cases generally consist of simple, repeated behaviors, there are occasionally reports of people performing complex behaviors while asleep, although their legitimacy is often disputed. Sleepwalkers often have little or no memory of the incident, as their consciousness has shifted into a state in which memories are difficult to recall. Although their eyes are open, their expression is dim and glazed over. This may last from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.