Is it true that sleepwalkers forget everything they do? And that their movements are automatic? Does the habit of getting out of bed many nights – in more than 20% of cases, every night – have any repercussions? In a study published by the Lancet Neurology , researcher Antonio Zadra, from the University of Montreal (Canada), reveals that sleepwalkers do not always forget what happened while sleepwalking . Moreover, the author publishes that sleepwalking adults often remember what happened when they walked in their dreams, including what they thought and what they felt during those night walks. Children and adolescents, however, having more immature brains, tend to suffer more episodes of amnesia when they are victims of this sleep disorder.
On the other hand, it is not true that sleepwalking behavior is automatic and involuntary. In this state, most do things for a reason that they can explain when they wake up, even though the arguments sometimes seem illogical.
Believing that sleepwalking has no effect on health is also a mistake. According to Zadra, around 45% of sleepwalkers suffer drowsiness during the day and obtain worse results than the rest of the subjects when subjected to surveillance tests. Also, if they are allowed to nap, they fall asleep much faster than ordinary mortals. According to the researcher, it is due to the fact that during the night they have micro-awakenings lasting 3 to 10 seconds that make sleep less restful for them.
