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Author Topic:   Somnambulism
Agobot
Member (Idle past 5530 days)
Posts: 786
Joined: 12-16-2007


Message 1 of 8 (491637)
12-18-2008 5:15 PM


Long story short - I met an old friend who works as a fire fighter and he was telling me of his room-mates, one of whom is a somnambulist. We had a short arguement where he stated that his room mate would sleep-walk on his night shifts, around 2am for a good half an hour, almost every other day. Now the controversial part - he says almost every other time, his friend is walking around their room, with the lights out, in total darkness without stumbling onto anything, perfectly dodging the surrounding beds, wardrobes and other trivial stuff. I laughed at that and said that was impossible but when i came back home, i found on google accounts of other similar cases. Allegedly, he's opening doors and going outside into the corridor for a smoke... with his eyes closed.
If this is true, does anyone have an explanation?
Edited by Agobot, : No reason given.

Replies to this message:
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 Message 8 by Stagamancer, posted 12-29-2008 5:00 AM Agobot has not replied

  
RAZD
Member (Idle past 1405 days)
Posts: 20714
From: the other end of the sidewalk
Joined: 03-14-2004


Message 2 of 8 (491642)
12-18-2008 7:27 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Agobot
12-18-2008 5:15 PM


mental map
All you need is a mental map. I do this at night without dreaming - walk around the house with no lights, and no stumble (as long as no one reorganizes the furniture). All it takes is concentration.
He's probably helped by 'dreaming' his mental map, so it seems normal to him.
And I'll bet he remembers nothing in the morning.
Enjoy.
Edited by RAZD, : clrty

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This message is a reply to:
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Granny Magda
Member
Posts: 2462
From: UK
Joined: 11-12-2007
Member Rating: 4.0


Message 3 of 8 (491644)
12-18-2008 7:42 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Agobot
12-18-2008 5:15 PM


The obvious way to test it is to get your friend to place a novel obstacle in his way. A soft cushion, a crocodile infested pit, whatever you have to hand.
It won't be part of his mental map and he wont see it so he'll fall over it (or into it, if you're using the crocodile pit).
Of course, when he falls, the sleep-walker will most likely awake and be pretty upset. Just tell him it's for science. I'm sure he won't mind.
Mutate and Survive

"The Bible is like a person, and if you torture it long enough, you can get it to say almost anything you'd like it to say." -- Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade

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subbie
Member (Idle past 1254 days)
Posts: 3509
Joined: 02-26-2006


Message 4 of 8 (491645)
12-18-2008 7:56 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Agobot
12-18-2008 5:15 PM


I suspect that the most likely explanation is that your friend misremembered and that the sleepwalker in fact had his eyes open during his sojourns. It's not particularly unusual for sleepwalkers to engage in any number of activities while asleep, but with no recollection of the activities upon waking.

Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin Franklin
We see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

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Deftil
Member (Idle past 4455 days)
Posts: 128
From: Virginia, USA
Joined: 04-19-2008


Message 5 of 8 (491750)
12-20-2008 4:27 PM


I don't know how it works but people can really go on "auto-pilot" and do some surprising things when they're sleeping.
My mom gets up and walks downstairs in her sleep. She sometimes even grabs something to eat while being alseep. What's really odd is that what she grabs to eat is sometimes a candle. That's weird.

Replies to this message:
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Granny Magda
Member
Posts: 2462
From: UK
Joined: 11-12-2007
Member Rating: 4.0


Message 6 of 8 (491760)
12-20-2008 7:05 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by Deftil
12-20-2008 4:27 PM


That's interesting. Does she actually eat the candle? Or does she take a bite and spit it out?
If she eats it, presumably she is dreaming of some more pleasant taste and experiencing that.
Mutate and Survive

"The Bible is like a person, and if you torture it long enough, you can get it to say almost anything you'd like it to say." -- Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
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Deftil
Member (Idle past 4455 days)
Posts: 128
From: Virginia, USA
Joined: 04-19-2008


Message 7 of 8 (491946)
12-24-2008 3:20 PM
Reply to: Message 6 by Granny Magda
12-20-2008 7:05 PM


Hm, I'm not sure if she swallows any candle wax or not.
I will have to look into the matter further.

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Stagamancer
Member (Idle past 4916 days)
Posts: 174
From: Oregon
Joined: 12-28-2008


Message 8 of 8 (492181)
12-29-2008 5:00 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Agobot
12-18-2008 5:15 PM


A personal anecdote:
I got into the shower and starting washing all in my sleep. My father woke me up by banging on the door (he wasn't too happy as my bathroom is above my parents' room and the running water woke him). I can't say whether my eyes had remained closed the whole time. Though I must say it's a weird feeling to wake up in a shower when you went to sleep in a bed.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

This message is a reply to:
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