Sometimes, when I’m laying in bed, trying to sleep, I feel like I’m falling. Obviously, I jolt in order to save myself, only to find I wasn’t falling at all and was still laying in bed safely. Why does that happen?
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Not a proper Eli5 (far too speculative), but I’ve also pondered this:
Your brain is in the process of isolating itself from the normal senses to reduce stimulation from the outside world – I have a suspicion that it’s not entirely unlike the strange behaviors one might see in an online game if the internet suddenly goes out, but the game hasn’t yet acknowledged this. Some components might try to carry on the last action (e.g. rubber-banding in walk cycles, aimless AI behaviors), but others might behave much more strangely e.g. objects falling through the floor.
Basically, your brain is a universe-simulator, and when the outside data driving it gets cut off, different parts of the brain might respond in ways that are difficult to rationalize – in this case, I have a suspicion that it’s something like a prompt dismissal of the feeling of weight, but too early in the sleep induction process to avoid that jerk reflex.
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