While we do not yet fully understand the cause of somnambulism episodes, the existing evidence suggests that an unexpected spike in nervous system activity during deep sleep is one trigger. This electrical jolt compels the brain to rocket from the basement of deep NREM sleep all the way to the penthouse of wakefulness, but it gets stuck somewhere in between (the thirteenth floor, if you will). Trapped between the two worlds of deep sleep and wakefulness, the individual is confined to a state of mixed consciousness—neither awake nor asleep. In this confused condition, the brain performs basic
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