vision. If someone else is in the presence of a sleepwalker, they may even carry on a conversation with the afflicted individual. As Meara maintains, sleepwalkers will often ô'sleep talk,Æ actually hold a conversation with you, though their sentences will probably be disjointed and incomprehensibleö (32).
Sleepwalking episodes can be 30 seconds, 30 minutes, or even longer in duration. Sleepwalking may also occur more than one time during a period of sleep. Sleepwalking occurs during the period of sleep known as deep non-REM sleep. Since children experience more deep sleep than adults, researchers believe the distinction is caused by the fact that adults seldom experience the deep non-REM sleep of children. In children, researchers believe that sleepwalking is manifested by physiological factors while in adults the onset of sleeping is often attributable to substance abuse (particularly alcoholism) and psychological factors like being under high levels of stress (Meara 33).
As researchers continue to map the human genetic code, new technologies have permitted research into the potential genetic link to sleepwalking. In adolescence there is often observed a genetic tendency for sleepwalking, where all children in one family sleepwalk or parents and other relatives were also afflicted by the disorder. Children of sleepwalkers are
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