Why do people twitch when they are falling asleep? Sometimes I am told by my gf that I am twitching when falling asleep and I don’t even know I am doing it.
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Your brain shuts down large muscle movements when you go to sleep.
This is to stop you acting out your dreams.
Imagine being fast asleep and punching the dream bad guy and it is your GF
Or just thrashing about and letting the sabretoothed beasties know where you are.
So your body has to stop you moving but your primate bit of the brain essentially misinterprets the relaxation as a sign that the sleeping primate is falling out of a tree, and causes the muscles to quickly react.
In other words – no one really knows why it happens but there are many theories.
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