I Learned Something Today.

Have you ever been lying in bed, falling asleep, and just as you fall asleep a part of your body suddenly twitches? You feel like you've been falling and you just landed in bed when the twitch wakes you up? I know it happens to me all the time.

Well I've just learned that this is called a "hypnic jerk". It occurs when you haven't been getting enough sleep (sounds about right). Your body's muscles become so relaxed and non-functional that the body thinks it's falling. The twitch is supposedly your body's response to falling, that is, to quickly reach or kick out in order to get hold of something to keep from falling. It shows you how incredible the human brain is. Our instinctive reactions are active even in our sleep.

Anyway, I found that pretty interesting. I've always wondered what exactly was going on when that happens.













-AM

and i'm falling down