Editing Sleepwalking (section)

{{short description|Sleeping phenomenon combined with wakefulness}}
{{About|the sleep disorder||Sleepwalking (disambiguation)|and|Sleepwalker (disambiguation)|and|Sleepwalk (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox medical condition (new)
| name            = Sleepwalking
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| image           = John Everett Millais, The Somnambulist.jpg
| caption         = [[John Everett Millais]], ''The Somnambulist'', 1871
| pronounce       = 
| alt             = [[Somnambulism]]
| field           = [[Sleep medicine]], [[Neurology]], [[Psychiatry]]
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'''Sleepwalking''', also known as '''somnambulism''' or '''noctambulism''', is a phenomenon of combined [[sleep]] and [[wakefulness]].<ref name="ICD-10" /> It is classified as a [[sleep disorder]] belonging to the [[parasomnia]] family.<ref name="DSM-V" /> It occurs during the [[Slow-wave sleep|slow wave]] stage of sleep, in a state of low consciousness, with performance of activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness. These activities can be as benign as [[somniloquy|talking]], sitting up in bed, walking to a bathroom, [[Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder|consuming food]], and cleaning, or as hazardous as cooking, [[sleep driving|driving a motor vehicle]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-42267790|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218114630/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-42267790|archive-date=18 February 2022|title=I went driving and motorbiking in my sleep |date=2017-12-11 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=2020-02-27|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>[https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/sleepdisorders/3568?np=1&xid=ob_pcp "SLEEP: Sex While Sleeping Is Real, and May Be No Joke"], Michael Smith (June 19, 2006), ''MedPage Today'', access date 18 February 2022</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=19 June 2006|title=SLEEP: Sex While Sleeping Is Real, and May Be No Joke|url=https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/sleepdisorders/3568|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218112917/https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/sleepdisorders/3568?np=1&xid=ob_pcp|archive-date=18 February 2022|access-date=2022-02-18|website=www.medpagetoday.com|language=en}}</ref> violent gestures and grabbing at hallucinated objects.<ref name="Sleep Disorders Sourcebook">Swanson, Jenifer, ed. "Sleepwalking". ''Sleep Disorders Sourcebook''. MI: Omnigraphics, 1999. 249–254, 351–352.</ref>

Although sleepwalking cases generally consist of simple, repeated behaviors, there are occasionally reports of people performing complex behaviors while asleep, although their legitimacy is often disputed.<ref name="sex">{{cite news |author=Rachel Nowak |title=Sleepwalking woman had sex with strangers |work=[[New Scientist]] |date=15 October 2004 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6540 |access-date=2007-04-30 |archive-date=2007-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509073838/http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6540 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Sleepwalkers often have little or no memory of the incident, as their consciousness has altered into a state in which memories are difficult to recall. Although their eyes are open, their expression is dim and glazed over.<ref name="Lavie, Malhotra, and Pillar">Lavie, Peretz, Atul Malhotra, and Giora Pillar. ''Sleep disorders: diagnosis, management and treatment: a handbook for clinicians''. London: Martin Dunitz, 2002. 146–147.</ref> This may last from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.<ref name="Sleep Disorders Sourcebook" />

Sleepwalking occurs during slow-wave sleep (N3) of [[non-rapid eye movement sleep]] (NREM sleep) cycles. It typically occurs within the first third of the night when slow-wave sleep is most prominent.<ref name="Lavie, Malhotra, and Pillar" /> Usually, it will occur once in a night, if at all.<ref name="Sleep Disorders Sourcebook" />