• Question: Why do people walk and talk in thier sleep, because when you're asleep doesn't your brain switch off?

    Asked by 07laura to Fiona, Jane, Joanna, Michelle, William on 20 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by charlotte25.
    • Photo: Michelle Murphy

      Michelle Murphy answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      If your brain switched off completely we wouldn’t be able to breathe and our hearts would stop. The causes of sleep walking or talking are mainly unknown but it is thought to be related to anxiety and a feeling of pressure so your brain thinks your body should still be working rather than relaxing.

    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Hello, good question. When you are asleep your brain is in a very relaxed state but not completely switched off. The brain needs this relaxed state in order to regenerate cells in the language and memory systems for example. But for some people this ‘relaxed’ state is a little bit more active and so the brain gets a bit confused and is kind of half asleep – which is why people sometimes walk and talk in their sleep.

    • Photo: Fiona Randall

      Fiona Randall answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      Your brain isn’t strictly off when you are asleep, it is performing all the things it is to busy to do when you are awake like store memories and things. Normally it is when sleep is disturbed that people walk/talk in their sleep. They have no memory of doing it either-crazy eh!

    • Photo: William Davies

      William Davies answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      probably because, for some reason, the regions of the brain responsible for movement and speech haven’t shut down properly during sleep, and continue to work overtime. I don’t think anyone really understands why this might happen

    • Photo: Jane Henry

      Jane Henry answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      The brain does not switch off completely, it will still awaken during sleep in most cases if something unusual happens, eg mums awaken to babies crying. This helps protect us from dangers. We can sleep through sounds we are familiar with, eg sleeping happily with the radio on. A few of us have various sleep anomalies, one of which is walking in your sleep.

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