You may have found yourself in this scene: you are relaxing, almost drowsy, when suddenly you feel a startle, as if the body is rushing downwards. Immediately your heart shoots up, and you feel a brief shock that wakes you up or interrupts your sleep. This phenomenon is much more common than you might think, and although it is disconcerting, it does not usually represent danger.
Specialists call this reaction “hypnagogic spasm” or “sleep shaking”.
These jerks are sudden muscle contractions that occur during the transition from wakefulness to deep sleep. They usually appear right at the beginning of the sleep process.
Why does this sensation of falling occur?
Although science has not come up with a single definitive explanation, there are solid theories that help to understand why this happens:
- One explanation suggests that when the body relaxes very quickly when falling asleep, the brain can “interpret” that sudden relaxation as a loss of control or body support. In response, it triggers a muscle contraction, which manifests as the sensation of falling.
- Another hypothesis takes our ancestors as a reference: when they slept in unstable or vulnerable conditions (for example in trees or rocks), a reflex to protect themselves from a real fall could have remained in our nervous system as a vestige.
- It is important to note that this phenomenon occurs mainly at the onset of sleep, not during the deepest phases. This strengthens the idea that it is linked to the transition between wakefulness and sleep.
Factors that can increase the frequency of these shocks
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