{"id":36383,"date":"2025-07-30T17:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/articles\/sleep-talking-4\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T17:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:58:11","slug":"sleep-talking-4","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/damwebserver.com\/dreamdoctor\/articles\/sleep-talking-4\/","title":{"rendered":"sleep talking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Anonymous\u2014 <\/p>\n

Your husband is sleep-talking during REM sleep, and apparently he is a very good talker. You understand every word! Not all sleep-talkers are so intelligible. <\/p>\n

Few people are aware that when we dream, our brains are just as active as when we are awake. It may seem hard to believe\u2014that our brains are as busy when we are asleep and dreaming as when we are driving a car down a city street\u2014but it\u2019s true. When researchers take \u201cpictures\u201d of awake and dreaming brains\u2014using \u201cPET\u201d (positron emission tomography) scans\u2014they are unable to distinguish between the two states. <\/p>\n

Accordingly, I don\u2019t find it surprising that your husband\u2019s mind is so \u201cactive\u201d during a dream. What is unusual, however, is his sleep-talking. Ordinarily when we dream our muscles are unreceptive to commands for movement\u2014including our jaw and tongue muscles when we dream of talking. One function which this \u201cmuscular atonia\u201d serves is it prevents us from getting out of bed and actually acting out our dreams. (The other is relaxation). Sleep-talking is a common \u201cpartial failure\u201d of this relaxation process. <\/p>\n

As long as your husband\u2019s muscle activity during sleep is limited to talking\u2014that is, he\u2019s not getting out of bed and moving about the house\u2014then the recommended treatment, unfortunately, usually is a pair of ear plugs for the bedpartner! (Muzzles\u2014for better or worse\u2014are politically incorrect!) <\/p>\n

You also are impressed by your husband\u2019s memory during sleep\u2014which appears to be literal and exact. Dream researchers often comment on the \u201chyper-mnesic\u201d qualities of our minds during sleep\u2014that is, that recall in dreams frequently is superior to recall in waking life. For example, dreams often re-create casual acquaintances whom we may not have seen or thought of in years effortlessly\u2014down to details about the way they walk, talk, and might act in a given situation. How do we know these details\u2014that surprise even ourselves upon awakening\u2014and where is this memory stored? The answer is that a tremendous amount of detailed information is stored in our brains\u2014and we often have more complete access to it when dreaming than awake. As for the<\/span><\/span> content of your husband\u2019s dreams, it is customary for us to dream about issues which<\/span><\/span> have been occupying our minds the previous day. Nearly all dreams can be traced back<\/span><\/span> to specific thoughts, feelings, and awarenesses we have had in the 48 hours prior to a dream. In your husband\u2019s case, he is just re-thinking\u2014\u201cre-living\u201d as you say\u2014the events of a previous day\u2014which is normal.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Back to original question<\/a><\/span><\/span>
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