Eli5: When someone has sleep paralysis, why can they still move their eyes?
In: Biology
The eyes have a much more direct connection to your brain. Some even consider the retina to be neural tissue as it forms from the same tissues as the brain.
The mechanism your body uses to cut the nerve impulses to your muscles during dreams does not affect the eyes.
This is why we call the dream portion of the sleep cycle the REM or Rapid Eye Movement.
Your muscles stay still and relaxed but your eyes will be moving as your dream self is moving and seeing with your dream eyes.
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