Dr. S.A. Kinnier Wilson coined the term “sleep paralysis’ in the medical journal Brain in 1928. He described the phenomena as “that of a man dreaming of a murderer, then carrying said dream over to a conscious state”. He noted the patient "lay motionless but suffered acute mental stress." Sleep paralysis is often a terrifying sleep experience but is not so easily explained as nightmares. On October 28, 2015, the article “Sleep Paralysis Is an Inescapable Waking Nightmare” by Brian Barrett was posted on Motherboard, an online magazine and video channel dedicated to technology, science, and humans launched by VICE. This article accounts the science and psychology of sleep paralysis, along with some of its history and the author's own experiences. This disorder is a complex combination of physiological and psychological factors that force the subject to experience his or her deepest nightmares while conscious.
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Dreams have a psychological purpose, but any discrepancy in the normal function of sleep can cause major mental and physical issues. The human body usually doesn’t realize the brain is just “playing pretend”, and if given the opportunity, the body will act out those dreams. This can lead to a condition called REM sleep behavior disorder, which can be incredibly dangerous. In normal conditions, the brain also has a “safety valve” which basically causes the body to paralyze itself during REM sleep to prevent you from physically executing the events of your dreams. While you dream, neural activity spreads through the cortex causing the images we experience. However, spinal interneurons simultaneously suppress the signals which normally cause movement in the
Dreams have a psychological purpose, but any discrepancy in the normal function of sleep can cause major mental and physical issues. The human body usually doesn’t realize the brain is just “playing pretend”, and if given the opportunity, the body will act out those dreams. This can lead to a condition called REM sleep behavior disorder, which can be incredibly dangerous. In normal conditions, the brain also has a “safety valve” which basically causes the body to paralyze itself during REM sleep to prevent you from physically executing the events of your dreams. While you dream, neural activity spreads through the cortex causing the images we experience. However, spinal interneurons simultaneously suppress the signals which normally cause movement in the