State Dissociation, Human Behavior, and Consciousness
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry September 1, 2011 Mark W. Mahowald, Michel A. Cramer Bornemann, Carlos H. Schenck 81 citations
Sleep is not only a whole-brain phenomenon but can also be local, meaning the primary states of wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep are not always mutually exclusive. Components of these states can combine, producing conditions such as sleep inertia, narcolepsy, sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, REM sleep behavior disorder, sleepwalking, sleep terrors, out-of-body experiences, and reports of alien abduction. These incomplete state declarations affect consciousness, which has fluid boundaries. Fluctuations in consciousness may stem from abnormalities in a spatial and temporal binding rhythm that normally creates unified experience. Dysfunctional binding might play a role in anesthetic states, autism, schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative disorders. Further study of dissociated sleep-wake states by neuroscientists, clinicians, and legal professionals could yield scientific, clinical, and forensic insights.