Why don people snore when they e awake?
Neural receptors sense the negative pressure of inspiration and trigger the muscles of the upper airway, in particular the palatal and tongue muscles, to tighten to help keep the airway open (14, 15, 16). In sleep, this reflex is reduced, and whilst non-snorers retain sufficient tone to resist the air-flow and keep their throats open, snorers do not (14, 17). Without this muscle tone, lax tissue collapses into the throat where it may cause turbulence and vibration (14, 18). So it would seem that in order to resist collapse and obstruction of the airway – the source of snoring – the more residual tone left in the pharynx during sleep the better (14).
