BACKGROUND Sleepwalking consists of a series of behavioral activities that occur during sleep. These activities may be simple, complex or aggressive in nature. They include motor activities, confusion, and amnesia for the events. Sleepwalking is a disorder of arousal from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. In children, episodes of sleepwalking are rarely violent; in adults, however, sleepwalk...

Sleepwalking is thought to be a common arousal disorder; however, the epidemiology of this disorder has not yet been systematically examined. A systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ScienceDirect was conducted for 'sleepwalking' OR 'somnambulism' in any field, to identify studies that reported the epidemiology of sleepwalking or sleepwalking disorders. Fifty-one st...

Objective: Sleepwalking is common in children, however, the relationship between sleepwalking, bedtime routine and daytime problems is poorly understood. We assessed the prevalence of parent reported sleepwalking in school children, and its relationship with broader sleep and daytime difficulties. Methods: Parents of 1814 children aged 5 to 10 years reported on child sleepwalking, other sleep b...

Adult sleepwalking affects 2.5% of the general population and may lead to serious injuries. Fifty young adults with chronic sleepwalking were studied prospectively. Clinical evaluation, questionnaires from patients and bed partners, and polysomnography were obtained on all subjects in comparison with 50 age-matched controls. Subjects were examined for the presence of psychiatric anxiety, depres...

Sleep architecture and polysomnographic findings show that the majority of sleepwalking episodes occur during slow-wave sleep (SWS). Although genetics play an important role in the manifestation of sleepwalking, recent studies have shown that parasomnias are also associated with other sleep or mental disorders and psychological factors. Sleepwalking prevalence rates are higher in childhood than...

Despite widespread prevalence of sleepwalking, its etiology and pathophysiology are not well understood. However, there is some evidence that sleepwalking can be precipitated by sleep-disordered breathing. A hypothesis is proposed that serotonergic system may be a link between sleep-disordered breathing and sleepwalking. Serotonergic neurons meet basic requirements for such a role because they ...

SUMMARY Violence towards others during sleepwalking is relatively uncommon, but can result in serious injury or even death. Much of the research in this field has focused on the forensic consequences of violence during sleepwalking without sufficient attention to an understanding of the risk factors for violence during sleepwalking and the development of prevention and interventions based on th...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to further an understanding of the psychological state when aggression follows an episode of partial arousal from early non-REM sleep during which some areas of the brain appear to be functioning as in waking while others appear to remain in a state of sleep. To illustrate this, the author examines a case of homicide for which the defense argued lack of ...

Full Text (PDF) Abstract OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to further an understanding of the psychological state when aggression follows an episode of partial arousal from early non-REM sleep during which some areas of the brain appear to be functioning as in waking while others appear to remain in a state of sleep. To illustrate this, the author examines a case of homicide for which t...