Sleepwalking happens in NREM3 when the mind is in a deep sleep…so what’s controlling the movement?

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When I’m walking or doing some complex tasks, I think there’s quite a lot of conscious involvement. During NREM3, the muscles are supposed to be relaxed. There shouldn’t be any conscious.

So how are they still able to walk and/or perform complex tasks? Where are they walking to? Do they have logic, coordination, or sense of direction? And suppose they hit an obstacle, do they awaken or somehow have the logic to turn around?

Neuroscience is just so fascinating to me.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Sleepwalking occurs when the skeletal muscles accidentally get a message saying “we’re awake, you can move normally now,” while the rest of the body is still getting the sleep message.

As for the rest of the questions, it’s kind of like being blackout drunk. The conscious part of the brain is checked out, but the body is still going. Sometimes there’s a logic and motive behind what a drunk person does, other times it doesn’t make any sense. Kind of a similar thing with a sleepwalking person.

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