Jalal Baland, Ramachandran Vilayanur S
Center for Brain & Cognition, University of California, at San Diego, USA.
Center for Brain & Cognition, University of California, at San Diego, USA.
Med Hypotheses. 2014 Dec;83(6):755-7. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2014.10.002. Epub 2014 Oct 13.
Sleep paralysis (SP) is a common condition occurring either at sleep onset or sleep offset. During SP the sleeper experiences gross motor paralysis while the sensory system is clear. Hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations are common during SP and may involve seeing, hearing, and sensing the presence of menacing intruders in one's bedroom. This "intruder" is often perceived as a shadowy humanoid figure. Supernatural accounts of this hallucinated intruder are common across cultures. In this paper, we postulate that a functional disturbance of the right parietal cortex explains the shadowy nocturnal bedroom intruder hallucination during SP. This hallucination may arise due to a disturbance in the multisensory processing of body and self at the temporoparietal junction. We specifically propose that this perceived intruder is the result of a hallucinated projection of the genetically "hard-wired" body image (homunculus), in the right parietal region; namely, the same circuits that dictate aesthetic and sexual preference of body morphology. One way to test this hypothesis would be to study clinical populations who may have genetically acquired "irregularities" in their internal hard-wired body image in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL); for example, individuals with apotemnophilia or anorexia nervosa. If such individuals experience SP (e.g., induced in a sleep lab), and they hallucinate this shadowy figure, one would predict that they would see humanoid shadows and shapes with body irregularities, mirroring their own internal body image morphology. If correct, our hypothesis will offer a neurological explanation for this nocturnal bedroom intruder that has been a source of controversy, and striking and implausible cultural interpretations throughout history. Indeed, if our proposed hypothesis is tested and corroborated, dissemination of such findings would provide great relief to SP experiencers worldwide and could potentially be used in a therapeutic context.
睡眠瘫痪症（SP）是一种常见现象，发生在入睡或睡醒之际。在睡眠瘫痪期间，睡眠者会出现全身运动麻痹，而感觉系统却清晰正常。入睡和睡醒时的幻觉在睡眠瘫痪期间很常见，可能包括看到、听到并感觉到卧室里有威胁性的闯入者。这个“闯入者”通常被视为一个模糊的类人身影。在各种文化中，对这个幻觉闯入者的超自然解释很常见。在本文中，我们假定右顶叶皮质的功能紊乱解释了睡眠瘫痪期间夜间卧室中模糊的闯入者幻觉。这种幻觉可能是由于颞顶联合区身体和自我的多感官处理受到干扰而产生的。我们特别提出，这种感觉到的闯入者是右顶叶区域基因“硬连线”身体形象（小人像）幻觉投射的结果；也就是说，正是相同的神经回路决定了对身体形态的审美和性偏好。检验这一假设的一种方法是研究临床人群，他们可能在右上顶叶小叶（SPL）的内部硬连线身体形象上有基因获得性“异常”；例如，患有截肢癖或神经性厌食症的个体。如果这些个体经历睡眠瘫痪（如在睡眠实验室诱发），并且他们产生了这个模糊身影的幻觉，那么可以预测他们会看到具有身体异常的类人影子和形状，反映出他们自己的内部身体形象形态。如果正确，我们的假设将为这个夜间卧室闯入者提供一种神经学解释，这个闯入者一直是争议的源头，并且在历史上引发了引人注目的、难以置信的文化解读。事实上，如果我们提出的假设得到检验和证实，这些研究结果的传播将为全球经历睡眠瘫痪的人带来极大的宽慰，并有可能用于治疗。
Zotero 插件