Sleep talking

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Somniloquy or sleep-talking is a parasomnia that refers to talking aloud in one's sleep. It can be quite loud, ranging from simple sounds to long speeches, and can occur many times during sleep. Listeners may or may not be able to understand what the person is saying.

Sleep-talking usually occurs during transitory arousals from NREM sleep, which is when the body does not move smoothly from one stage in NREM sleep to another, and they become partially aroused from sleep. Further it can also occur during REM sleep at which time it represents a motor breakthrough (see sleep paralysis) of dream speech, words spoken in a dream are spoken out loud.

Sleep-talking can occur by itself or as a feature of another sleep disorder such as:

• REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) - loud, emotional or profane sleep talking
• Sleepwalking
• Night terrors - intense fear, screaming, shouting
• Sleep-related eating disorder (SRED)

Sleep-talking is very common and is reported in 50% of young children, with most of them outgrowing it by puberty, although it may persist into adulthood (about 5% of adults are reported to talk in their sleep). It appears to run in families. Sleep-talking can be associated with fever.

Sleep-talking by itself is harmless; however, it can wake up others and cause them consternation —especially when misinterpreted as conscious speech by an observer. If the sleep-talking is dramatic, emotional, or profane it may be a sign of another sleep disorder (see above). Sleep-talking can be monitored by a partner or by using an audio recording device; devices which remain idle until detecting a soundwave are ideal for this purpose.

Sufferers of sleep-talking have no control over what they say and can say things that they would not say when conscious.

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Contents 1 See also 2 References & Bibliography 3 Key texts 3.1 Books 3.2 Papers 4 Additional material 4.1 Books 4.2 Papers 5 External links

[edit] See also

[edit] References & Bibliography

[edit] Key texts

[edit] Books

[edit] Papers

[edit] Additional material

[edit] Books

[edit] Papers

• talking Google Scholar

[edit] External links

• SleepEducation.com
• OSF Healthcare
• The Sleep Well
• Sleep Talking Personal Accounts & Support
• Example of a man sleep talking
• Regular Recordings and Discussion of Sleeptalk
• Somniloquies in the form of poems, audio and video pieces by Nancy Graham
• Home of Matthew James' Religious Somni-Sync Studies.

v·d·e Articles on sleep
Sleep stages	Rapid eye movement sleep · Non-rapid eye movement sleep · Slow-wave sleep · Beta wave sleep · Delta wave sleep · Gamma wave sleep · Theta wave sleep
Sleep disorders	Advanced sleep phase syndrome · Automatic behavior · Circadian rhythm sleep disorder · Delayed sleep phase syndrome · Dyssomnia · Hypersomnia · Insomnia · Narcolepsy · Night terror · Nocturia · Nocturnal myoclonus · Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome · Ondine's curse · Parasomnia · Sleep apnea · Sleep deprivation · Sleepeating · Sleeping sickness · Sleeptalking · Sleepwalking
Benign phenomena	Consciousness states ·Dream · Dream content · Exploding head syndrome · False awakening · Hypnagogia · Hypnic jerk · Lucid dream · Nightmare · Nocturnal emission · Sleep paralysis · Somnolence ·
Other Sleep-related Topics	Chronotype · Electrosleep treatment · Hypnotic drugs · Napping · Jet lag · Lullaby · Polyphasic sleep · Segmented sleep · Siesta · Sleep and learning · Sleep debt · Sleep inertia · Sleep onset · Sleep treatment · Sleep wake cycle · Snoring

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Somniloquy. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.