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A hypnic jerk, hypnagogic jerk, sleep start, sleep twitch, myoclonic jerk, or night start is a brief and sudden involuntary contraction of the muscles of the body which occurs when a person is beginning to fall asleep, often causing the person to jump and awaken suddenly for a moment.
These myoclonic twitches, jerks, or seizures are usually caused by sudden muscle contractions (positive myoclonus) or brief lapses of contraction (negative myoclonus). The most common circumstance under which they occur is while falling asleep (hypnic jerk). Myoclonic jerks occur in healthy people and are experienced occasionally by everyone.
Perhaps the most common experience of this kind is the falling sensation, and associated hypnic jerk, encountered by many people, at least occasionally, while drifting off to sleep. [ 17 ] Cognitive and affective phenomena
A hypnic jerk is the feeling triggered by a sudden muscle twitch, causing the feeling of falling while sleeping or dreaming. Hypnic jerks typically occur moments before the first stage of sleep. [2] About 70% of people have experienced hypnic jerk. [3] Hypnic jerks are most common in children, when dreams are considered the most simple. [4]
The sudden startled arm-jerking response sometimes experienced when on the verge of sleeping is known as the hypnic jerk. The evolutionary explanation for the existence of the hypnic jerk is unclear, but a possibility is that it is a vestigial reflex humans evolved when they usually slept in trees.
[2] [4] Their third album, Hypnic Jerks, was released through Tiny Engines in 2018. [5] [6] Their fourth album, Entertainment, Death, was released on April 9, 2021, on Saddle Creek Records. [7] Their most recent EP, i'm so lucky, was released on September 1, 2023. [8]
People aroused from this stage often believe that they have been fully awake. During the transition into stage-1 sleep, it is common to experience hypnic jerks. [5] Stage 2 – no eye movement occurs, and dreaming is very rare. The sleeper is quite easily awakened.
A K-complex is a waveform that may be seen on an electroencephalogram (EEG).It occurs during stage 2 NREM sleep.It is the "largest event in healthy human EEG". [1] They are more frequent in the first sleep cycles.