Hi,
I just fell asleep in class with the camera off and when the professor called my name to make sure my group was ready to present I immediately woke up to say that I was in the lecture and almost had a heart attack because missing this specific lecture is an automatic fail. I wanted to ask anyone as to why we wake up if someone calls our name even when we’ve been asleep for 10+ minutes, but don’t wake up when hearing other people’s names or the lecture content.
In: Biology
Your brain stores different words in different ways depending on their meaning and importance. For example, swear words are stored in a totally different way and that’s part of what gives them their power in our speech. One such word that has extra importance is our name. Our brains are constantly on the lookout for our name because hearing it means we’re needed.
Also, when we’re asleep, our bodies are silently processing stuff still and absorbing information. That’s why you might wake up to a loud noise or someone nudging you.
Combine these two things and now you have a brain that will wake you up when your name is called.
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