Why does REM cause sleep paralysis?

Nerve pathways in the brain that prevent muscles from moving are active during normal REM or dreaming sleep, resulting in temporary paralysis of your body. In REM sleep behavior disorder, these pathways no longer work and you may physically act out your dreams.

What is hybrid sleep/wake state of consciousness?

It involves the conscious awareness of dreaming while you are still asleep. Lucid dreaming combines aspects of waking and dreaming. You have hallucinatory dream activity along with reflective awareness; you realize that you are not awake and are dreaming.

What stage of REM does sleep paralysis occur?

Parasomnias are abnormal behaviors during sleep. Because it is connected to the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of the sleep cycle, sleep paralysis is considered to be a REM parasomnia. Standard REM sleep involves vivid dreaming as well as atonia, which helps prevent acting out dreams.

Can you have a dream in a dream?

But the dream within a dream phenomenon is not only about being fooled that you are awake because there is still full-on dreaming happening. When the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is activated during REM, the individual gains some awareness of self and so becomes aware that he is dreaming.

Can you dream inside a dream?

A false awakening is a phenomenon that can happen to anyone. Sometimes it can be a dream within a dream, or maybe a dream within a dream within a dream, like a Russian nesting doll. Similar to lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis, false awakenings are considered one of the hybrid states between sleep and wakefulness.

What does it mean to have a dream within a dream within a dream?

The dream within a dream may be a hybrid sleep-wake state of consciousness. The neuroscience of sleep and dreams teaches us that there are three basic brain states: waking, REM (rapid eye movement), and non-REM (NREM) sleep. The transitions between the brain states can also be only partial.