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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.
Individuals with exploding head syndrome hear or experience loud imagined noises as they are falling asleep or are waking up, have a strong, often frightened emotional reaction to the sound, and do not report significant pain; around 10% of people also experience visual disturbances like perceiving visual static, lightning, or flashes of light.
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]
These medications decrease or eliminate both the leg jerks and the arousals. These medications are also successful for the treatment of restless legs syndrome. In one study, co-careldopa was superior to dextropropoxyphene in decreasing the number of leg kicks and the number of arousals per hour of sleep.
Dr. A. Thomas McLellan, the co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute, echoed that point. “Here’s the problem,” he said. Treatment methods were determined “before anybody really understood the science of addiction. We started off with the wrong model.” For families, the result can be frustrating and an expensive failure.
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.
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