In article
<mattfei-2601952055010001 at davenport-college-kstar-node.net.yale.edu>,
mattfei at minerva.cis.yale.edu (Matt Feiszli) wrote:
> Does anyone have any information on twitching/jerking while trying to
> fall asleep (or could someone at least tell me what to call it)? Does it
> correlate with things like stress, anxiety or activity before sleep?
> Thanks for any information.
Last year I audited a graduate neuroanatomy course at UCLA where Prf.
Scheibel talked about this reaction. The response is called a myoclonic
jerk and is related to loss of muscle tone and the areas of the brain
responsible for balance. I don't remember all the details but the general
idea is as follows.
As the brain begins to synchronize firing and enter the sleep cycle, the
neuronal firing that maintains muscle tone is reduced. The loss of tone
activates another neuronal pathway which sends messages to the area of the
brain that maintains balance (forgot the area name). This area interprets
the signal as a loss of balance and triggers a reflexive jerk in the large
muscles used to keep the body upright and balanced.
This reaction occurs when the area controlling tone falls asleep before
the area controling balance. As far as I know, nothing else is involved,
ie emotional state, etc. Obviously external factors will effect your sleep
cycle, but I don't think they affect the jerking.
dbs
