Sleep Paralysis: phenomenology, neurophysiology and treatment
arXiv Preprint Archive April 7, 2017 Peer reviewed via arXiv
Summary
Sleep paralysis is a temporary inability to move or talk during transitions between sleep and wakefulness, often accompanied by vivid sensory experiences including visual, auditory, and tactile mentation, as well as a feeling of presence. This chapter examines sleep paralysis from the perspectives of enactive cognition and cultural neurophenomenology, reviews current neurophysiological knowledge and associated conditions, and proposes coping techniques. As a hybrid state of dreaming and waking, sleep paralysis provides unique insight into the phenomenology of spontaneous thought during sleep.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Sleep paralysis offers a unique window into the phenomenology of spontaneous thought in sleep as a hybrid state of dreaming and waking. |
Abstract
Sleep paralysis is an experience of being temporarily unable to move or talk during the transitional periods between sleep and wakefulness: at sleep onset or upon awakening. Feeling of paralysis may be accompanied by a variety of vivid and intense sensory experiences, including mentation in visual, auditory, and tactile modalities, as well as a distinct feeling of presence. This chapter discusses a variety of sleep paralysis experiences from the perspective of enactive cognition and cultural neurophenomenology. Current knowledge of neurophysiology and associated conditions is presented, and some techniques for coping with sleep paralysis are proposed. As an experience characterized by a hybrid state of dreaming and waking, sleep paralysis offers a unique window into phenomenology of spontaneous thought in sleep.