Most of us might be aware of a few people who have a peculiar habit of getting up from bed at night, changing their clothes and going out for a walk, and while doing all of the following they still remain in the state of sleep. Wow! Weird right? Actually they are not consciously aware of what they do in that state. Do you know why it happens?
To understand this it is necessary to know what sleep is. For me, sleep is heaven. But according to established scientific facts, there is a complex region in our brain which is called the 'sleep centre’. This centre controls activities like sleeping and walking. It is regulated by calcium in blood. During the day when we are awake and most of the parts of our body are functioning, lactic acid, calcium and other substances are produced in the body and get mixed in the blood. And later when calcium is carried by the blood to the sleep centre, it becomes active and brings the man to sleep.
The sleep centre has two functions in the body. First, it blocks a part of the brain and so we do not feel like doing anything. We might call this 'brain sleep’. Secondly, it blocks certain nerves in the brain and hence the inner organs and our limbs become inactive and we fall asleep.
But in certain cases, the brain goes to sleep and the body remains awake. This might happen to a person whose nervous system does not function normally. A person afflicted by such a disorder would get up from bed and walk about. In that situation his/her brain is in a state of sleep, while his body is awake. This happens due to the lack of coordination between the body and the brain.
So the next time you see someone sleepwalking, don’t be scared. They aren’t possessed by some spirit. It's just the lack of coordination between the brain and the body and they should get this checked by a doctor.
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