Somniloquy

Somniloquy or sleep-talking is a parasomnia that refers to talking aloud while asleep. It can be quite loud, ranging from simple mumbling sounds to loud shouts and long, frequently inarticulate speeches, and can occur many times during a sleep cycle. As with sleepwalking and night terrors, sleeptalking usually occurs during delta-wave NREM sleep stages or during temporary arousals therefrom.She is somewhat palefaced; and, however blithe and sprightly she may be, she is, nevertheless, now and then troubled with a kind of dreaming fit. But that will wear off as she gets older. Her mother was so troubled before her; and I believe it runs in the family as I am not entirely free from it myself. I do not give much heed to such dreaming now; but she has never yet said anything, while in this state, that has not proved in a manner true; though she can discern nothing, by night or day, more than others may do when they are in their senses.'You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, 'that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe'!' Here the Dormouse shook itself, and began singing in its sleep 'Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle--' and went on so long that they had to pinch it to make it stop. Somniloquy or sleep-talking is a parasomnia that refers to talking aloud while asleep. It can be quite loud, ranging from simple mumbling sounds to loud shouts and long, frequently inarticulate speeches, and can occur many times during a sleep cycle. As with sleepwalking and night terrors, sleeptalking usually occurs during delta-wave NREM sleep stages or during temporary arousals therefrom. It can also occur during the REM sleep stage, at which time it represents what sleep therapists call a motor breakthrough (see sleep paralysis) of dream speech: words spoken in a dream are spoken out loud. Depending on its frequency, this may or may not be considered pathological. All motor functions are typically disabled during REM sleep thus, motoric, i.e., verbal elaboration of dream content, could be considered an REM behavior disorder (see below). Sleep-talking can occur by itself (i.e., idiopathic) or as a feature of another sleep disorder such as: In 1966, researchers worked to find links between heredity and somniloquy. Their research suggests the following: Sleep-talking by itself is typically harmless; however, it can wake others and cause them consternation—especially when misinterpreted as conscious speech by an observer. If the sleep-talking is dramatic, emotional, or profane it may be a sign of another sleep disorder (see above). Sleep-talking can be monitored by a partner or by using an audio recording device; devices which remain idle until detecting a sound wave are ideal for this purpose. Polysomnography (sleep recording) shows episodes of sleep talking that can occur in any stage of sleep. Stress can also cause sleep talking. Researchers have found than 30.7% of people who suffered from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) talk in their sleep. Another study shows that Vietnam War veterans having PTSD report talking more in their sleep than non-PTSD patients. Somniloquy can also be caused by depression, sleep deprivation, day-time drowsiness, alcohol, and fever. It often occurs in association with other sleep disorders such as confusional arousals, sleep apnea, and REM sleep behavior disorder. In rare cases, adult-onset somniloquy is linked with a psychiatric disorder or nocturnal seizure. Sleep-talking is very common and is reported in 50% of young children at least once a year. A large percentage of people progressively sleep-talk less often after the age of 25 while lot of people continue to talk in their sleep. And a sizable proportion of people without any episode during their childhood begin to sleep-talk in adult life. Somniloquy appears to run in families. In a study reporting the prevalence of somniloquy in childhood, the authors reported that the frequency of somniloquy differs between children. About half of the children have sleep-talking episodes at least once a year but less than 10% of children present somniloquy every night whereas 20%-25% talk in their sleep at least once a week. In addition, they didn’t find any difference between gender or socioeconomic class.