2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus Of Ephesus observed someone talking in his sleep, and since then it has become a case of wonder and study. This can happen at any age, as long as the person is already able to speak, however, it is said to be more common in children than in adults.
This behavior is named somniloquy and is among the involuntary behaviors called parasomnias that happen while we sleep, like sleepwalking; while it can be dangerous, sleep talking is the opposite and generally does not need any treatment if it is not caused by traumatic events.
When we sleep we go through different stages, REM sleep and non-REM sleep. During REM sleep all the muscles of the body, except the eyes, are paralyzed by the neutral structures of the brain that make it impossible for us to act out what we are dreaming. So, when sleepwalking normally occurs only during non-REM sleep.
Why do we talk in our sleep?
During REM sleep, which is caused by ‘motor breakthrough’ of dream speech, the mouth and vocal cords that usually are inactive when we sleep, briefly, get switched on and words are spoken out loud by one’s character in the dream that we’re having. It can also occur as well during the ‘transitory arousals’ so a sleeper becomes half-awake while transitioning from one stage to another.
Stress increases sleep talking
A study conducted by the University of Granada showed that stress increases sleep talking. The brain can continue to process information about a situation that worries it and keeps it awake or inquisitive even when we are asleep, however, in the case of children, this does not apply and may be more frequent because their brain remains active.
Would you reveal your secrets without realizing it?
According to a study published in the Frontiers for Young Minds journal about sleep talking, it has been shown that telling personal secrets of our life while we are asleep is unlikely and rare, however, it is common to relive conversations we had during the day and while feelings may be revealed.
There are too many similarities between talking while asleep and awake and this is surprising, as it can be short answers during a small conversation, small mistakes that we quickly correct while talking, or even a long speech describing a visual scene that could be something we are seeing in our dream or that we saw during the day.
One difference between the two is that people almost never remember what they said during their sleeping hours, but it is surprising that the grammatical structure of people who speak in their sleep is most of the time perfect and it is surprising because formulating a sentence and speaking it, which includes the conscious state as well, undoubtedly requires a very long process.
