Do you know why a person jerks when falling asleep?

With the phenomenon of sudden jerking in a dream, most people are familiar. Many of us were wondering why a man twitches when he falls asleep.

In ancient times, people conducted an analogy between the process of falling asleep and the onset of death. Our distant ancestors believed that the soul of the asleep person goes to the world of the dead. Involuntary spasm during sleep was considered a reaction to the touch of the devil.

But what does modern medicine say about this? In science, there were many theories explaining this phenomenon. There was an opinion that twitching of limbs in a dream indicates a beginning epilepsy. The essence of another hypothesis was reduced to violations of the hypothalamus - the higher autonomic center of the brain. But attempts to find an answer to the question of why a person jerks when falling asleep, with the help of these theories have failed.

The most convincing declined the explanation of scientists who investigated the nature of such a physiological state as a dream. Some of them came to the conclusion that people shudder at the transition from one phase of sleep to another. Other experts claim that the human body responds to a slowing of breathing and a decrease in the amplitude of heartbeats. Reflex muscle contraction is a test of vitality, as the state of sleep is mistakenly perceived by the hypothalamus as close to coma.

Scientists also found out that there is a correlation of nocturnal convulsion with physical exertion and emotional experiences during the day. That is, the answer to the question of why a person twitches, when he falls asleep, lies in his condition just before bed. Therefore, the transition from wakefulness to night rest should be smooth. It is better to leave unresolved problems for the morning.

But not just adults start in a dream. Sometimes a young mother notices that a newborn is twitching in a dream. But, as doctors say, this is not a reason to sound an alarm. The fact is that for babies up to a year such a physiological reaction during sleep is perfectly normal. The brake mechanism of the child's nervous system at this age is imperfect. This is especially true for premature babies, so they shudder more often.

It should be noted that in children, sleep, sleep phases and their duration differ from what happens in this plan with adults.

Since it is in this state in the newborns that growth hormone is produced, small children spend most of the day in a dream. This is necessary for the normal development of the child. When the baby sleeps, his nervous system and brain actively develop. Children up to a year wake up from the slightest rustle, this is due to the fact that the phase of superficial sleep is longer than deep. Such a program is inherent in us by nature. Infants are most vulnerable, so children, feeling threat to their safety (noise, bright light, sudden movement) immediately wake up and scream.

So, the answer to the question of why a person jerks when falling asleep has already been found. In this physiological reaction, there is nothing terrible, and in itself involuntary twitching in a dream does not cause problems in a healthy person.