How come when I’m sleeping I feel like I’m falling then my arm or leg involuntarily moves?
In: Biology
I think its your brain sending out test signals to judge where it’s at in the shut down for sleep process.
Most likely a myoclonic/hypnic jerk. It’s the common involuntary twitching of your muscles and usually completely harmless. It happens when your body transitions between NREM 1, NREM 2, NREM 3, and REM sleep.
No one knows for sure, but a reasonable theory suggests it goes back to our days as apes, and it being a reflex to prevent you turning quickly and falling off of a branch. Others suggest it’s a form of startlement from potentially micro pauses to breathing or heart rate. There isn’t a definitive answer unfortunately.
I’ve always thought it is because your body relaxes as it slips into a deeper state of slumber causing your dream state brain to trigger a falling reflex.
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