What is Somnambulism and What Causes Sleepwalking?
Scientists have been researching sleepwalking for years, and though they know when and how it happens, they still haven’t answered the why. Sleep cycles are definitive in every person and are broken into two general parts: REM and non-REM sleep. To get through both cycles takes anywhere between 90 and 120 minutes, dependent upon the person. Non-REM sleep is further broken down into three parts, the third being the deepest phase of sleep. This is when some people hop out of bed to go for a leisurely midnight stroll. What goes on in the brain to trigger that movement? No one knows. The Washington Post recently did an article on sleepwalking in children in which they interviewed two leading somnambulism researchers. Jodei Mindell is a clinical psychologist and professor at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. Donna Arand is the clinical director of the Kettering Medical Center’s sleep disorder center. Neither of them are sure what chemical changes occur in the brain, though Arand specul
