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Sleepwalking (somnambulism) and related parasomnias are enigmatic conditions characterized by sudden awakenings out of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, during which affected individuals may interact with their environment in an altered state of consciousness.
In extreme cases, sleepwalkers have been reported to drive, commit sexual assault, and suicide, resulting in personal tragedies and dilemmas. Although rare, these instances invariably raise the question of whether sleepwalkers are conscious, and if yes, what they experience during parasomnia episodes ( a category that inclule sleepwalking/ a fancy name for sleep disorders)
Key objective: To uncover why some parasomnia episodes (e.g. sleepwalking, confusional arousals) are accompanied by conscious, dream-like experiences, while others seem to occur without awareness or recall.
Patients underwent the following experiment:
The patients (individual diagnosed with sleepwalking or other related parasomnia episode) underwent two sleep recordings using a technique called high-density EEG, which allows the researchers to observe and detect different kinds of brain waves emitted from the surface of brain. These waves plays an pivotal role in distinguishing the state of arousal from the state of sleepiness or drowsiness.
The patients are immediately interviewed by the examiner after performing a behavioral episode, or symptom (e.g. getting out of their beds, initiating a random conversation)
The patients either
Experienced anything conscious (CE)
Or had no conscious experience at all (NE).
The EEG data was focused on a 40‑second window before and after the patients having their behavioral episode: 20 s before patients performing their behavioral episode and 20 s after patients performing their behavioral episode.
Spectral analyses comparing delta (1–4 Hz) and beta (26–34 Hz) waves are used to identify where these brain waves are located and how they function when a person is in a state of arousal or sleepiness.
Conscious experience (CE) vs. No experience (NE)
Conscious experience (CE) vs. No experience (NE)
-the conscious experience (CE) reported by the participants was usually preceded by lower delta power (1-4HZ) and higher beta power 20 seconds pior to the patients performing their behavioral episodes (26-34HZ), compared to when the participants had no experience.
-the lower delta and higher beta power is found in the posterior cortical regions (visual, medial temporal, precuneus/cingulate)—this results mirror the EEG patterns observed during dreaming
-researchers detected slow waves with a higher amplitude and a steeper slope during the CE; these slow waves might be considered a hidden sign of dreaming.
What was being discovered throughout this research?
-The EEG patterns observed in parasomnia episodes with conscious experience closely match the brain activation found in dreaming. This suggests that similar neurophysiological mechanisms underlie both phenomena—i.e., parasomnia experiences may essentially be dreams expressed with movement.
-This study supports the view that NREM parasomnia experiences are not merely automatisms, but often involve real sleep consciousness and dream‑like mental imagery.
-It also suggests potential for refined treatments—targeting specific circuits rather than using broad sedatives—for parasomnia, especially if future research more precisely defines the involved neural pathways (e.g. hippocampal encoding, arousal systems)
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