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Volume 15: Number 1: Article 6
Does Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis Involve More Than Cognitive Neurosciences?
Jean-Christophe Terrillon, Human Information Processing Research
Laboratories (HIP), Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International
(ATR), 2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, Japan 619-0288
Sirley Marques-Bonham, Austin Community College, 512 Kingfisher
Creek Dr., Austin, TX 78748
Isolated sleep paralysis (ISP) is a poorly understood phenomenon that
has attracted increased attention in recent years both in the medical
community (Dahlitz & Parkes, 1993; Hishikawa & Shimizu, 1995) and in
psychological research (Fukuda et al., 1987, 1991; Fukuda, 1993; Takeuchi
et al., 1994; Wing et al., 1994). Although the occurrence of ISP is
relatively common, recurrent ISP (RISP) is a rarer variant of sleep
paralysis characterized by frequent episodes or a complex of sequential
episodes whose total duration may exceed 1 hour, and particularly by
the range and sense of perceived reality of the subjective phenomena
experienced during episodes. Although such phenomena are usually categorized
as hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, there is at present no
integrated model that adequately explains the ensemble of physiological,
neurological, cognitive, and psychological components of RISP. As researchers
who experience RISP, in this paper we attempt to synthesize information
on RISP gathered from various sources and to conjecture possible connections
between RISP and other as yet poorly understood phenomena at different
levels: at a neurophysiological level, with anxiety disorders (Suarez,
1991; Paradis et al., 1997), the Periodic Paralyses (Stedwell et al.,
1992), and with Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS)
(Nimmanit et al., 1991; Randall, 1992; Adler, 1995); at a neurocognitive
level, with lucid dreaming (LaBerge, 1985); and finally, at a level
that examines the possibility of the manifestation of paranormal phenomena
during RISP episodes, with Out-of-Body Experiences (OBE) (Tart,1968;
Osis, 1981) and with Near-Death-Experiences (NDE) (Moody, 1976; Ring,
1979). Finally, we performed a statistical analysis on RISP by use of
a sample of 250 direct or indirect respondents to a message posted initially
by one of the authors on the sleep web site of the University of California
in Los Angeles (UCLA).1 Preliminary results indicate that over 90% of
respondents experience intense fear during their RISP episodes, about
50% have invoked a paranormal or supernatural explanation, and that
a typical RISP episode may be described as consisting of three main
phases. We conclude with a brief description of possible strategies
to cope with RISP.
Keywords: sleep paralysis, hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations, periodic
paralyses, lucid dreaming, out-of-body experience
FULL TEXT:
Does Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis Involve More Than Cognitive Neurosciences?
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