My old man was a snorer . His stertor was like the plot of a good action movie , with plenty of rising action at law . About 15 minutes after he ’d fall down asleep , it would sound like there was a heard of buffalo racing bulldozer and juggle chain saw in my parents ' bedroom . It would get louder and louder and then cut off when he finally woke himself up . There would be one final snort , and then a " huh ? " After that , there was a small windowpane of silence where the whole theatre could try and get back to sleep before the noise kicked back up .
You ’d call up it would follow , then , that we would regularly jar ourselves awake with sneezes , too , but that is n’t the lawsuit . Actually , it seems I commit a conjuration question out of the mailbag this hebdomad , because we do n’t sneeze in our sleep at all .
The Roots of the Sneeze
A sternutation is a reflexive reply to external stimulants slipping past your nose fuzz and pass the sensitive mucous membranes that line the rhinal passage ( another common cause is the " photic sneeze reflex , " a genetic trait that make sneezing when a soul is all of a sudden exposed to brilliant light ) . heart endings in the membranes mail signals to the brain about the strange encroacher , and the brain sends signals to muscles in the face , throat and chest to go ahead clean house by expelling melody from the nose and mouth .
We ’re in reality more prostrate to sneezing while benumbed , since the mucous membranes intumesce when we dwell down , but because there usually is n’t much airflow or movement to stir up rubble or other particles while we sleep , the membrane do n’t come into contact with as many stimulants as they do when we ’re awake .
Our betting odds of have have to sneeze during nap are already reduced , but our bodies have a neat picayune put-on up their sleeves to keep us at rest . It ’s call REM atonia , a state due to the shutdown of the release of certain neurotransmitter during REM rest that results in motor neurons not being stimulated and reflectory signals not being sent to the brain . So , even if therewerevarious stimulants being kicked up while you slept ( say , by an vicious cat playing with his natural rubber Lucille Ball or sting your toes at five in the morning ) , and a few make into your nozzle , the brainiac would n’t be alerted to the topic .
It is potential , if the external stimulant drug are sufficient ( say , by an malefic cat dusting your mustache with pepper ) , for a somebody to wake up up to sneeze .
This question was ask by Regina from Texas . If you ’ve get a burning question that you ’d like to see answered here , bourgeon me an email atflossymatt(at)gmail.com . Twitter substance abuser can also make nice with meand ask me questions there . Be trusted to give me your name and locating ( and a inter-group communication , if you need ) so I can give you a small shout out .
