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Anomalous Phenomena
and Sleep Paralysis
By Caryn Anscomb
Extensive research into sleep
paralysis has gone along way in offering some explanations
concerning night-time anomalous phenomena. Sleep paralysis has
been singled out as the most likely source of the belief in
alien abductions and other forms of night-time encounters. The
purpose of this paper is to highlight clinical prognosis
relating to sleep disorders in contrast to anomalous events that
may fall outside of this paradigm.
Sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone, most often lying in a supine
position (on their back) usually just about to drop off to sleep, or upon waking
from sleep, realises that he/she is unable to move, or speak, or cry out.
People frequently report sensing a "presence" that is often described as
malevolent or threatening. This presence may be vaguely felt or sensed to be
just out of sight and to be watching or monitoring, or in some cases attacking
or sitting on the subject. People also report auditory hallucinations, music,
voices, whispering, along with sensations of floating out-of-the-body. These
sensory experiences have been referred to collectively as hypnagogic and
hypnopompic experiences. Sufferers will commonly try, unsuccessfully, to cry out
for help, usually seconds or a few minutes later the sufferer will feel suddenly
released from the paralysis, but may be left with a lingering feeling of
anxiety. Effort to move may produce phantom movements in which the person
believes they are or have moved, even getting out of bed, to suddenly find
themselves back in bed still in a state of paralysis. Around 25-30% of the
population reports that they have experienced at least a mild form of sleep
paralysis at least once, and about 20-30% of these have had the experience on
several occasions. It was thought until recently that sleep paralysis was part
of the "narcoleptic tetrad", but recent surveys of non-clinical populations
suggest that the prevalence may be as high among the general population as among
diagnosed narcoleptics. (Dept. psychology, University of Waterloo)
Paralysis
Paralysis (atonia) during REM (rapid eye movement) Dream State, is a natural
process in which a type of self-defence mechanism is employed in which all the
large muscle groups of the body are paralysed, resulting in an atonic state of
muscle tension. This act of paralysis protects the sleeper against acting out
dreams, and is caused by the inhibition of alpha and gamma motoneurons mediated
by the neurotransmitter glycine.
Glycine is the simplest of amino acids, consisting of an amino group and a
carboxyl (acidic) group attached to a carbon atom. Glycine's function as a
neurotransmitter is also fairly simple. When released into a synapse, glycine
binds to a receptor, which makes the post-synaptic membrane more permeable to Cl-
ion. This hyperpolarizes the membrane, making it less likely to depolarize.
Thus, glycine is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. It is de-activated in the
synapse by a simple process of re-absorption by active transport back into the
pre-synaptic membrane. In some cases, the inhibitory neurotransmitter is still
suppressing the body’s motor functions as the sleeper wakes to find his/herself
paralysed. The brain activity during REM begins in the pons, a structure in the
brainstem and neighbouring midbrain regions that control REM and NREM sleep. The
pons sends signals to the thalamus and to the cerebral cortex, which is
responsible for most thought processes. In normal REM sleep the pons strongly
activates the inhibitory centre in the medulla, an enlarged continuation of the
spinal cord extending up into the "pons" (a large bulge under the brain stem).
On each side of the medulla oblongata is an oval swelling, called the "olive",
from which a large bundle of nerve fibres arises and passes up into the
cerebellum. All ascending and descending nerve fibres connecting the brain to
the spinal cord pass through it. The midline inhibitory zone in the pons
inhibits the lateral locomotor strip. The result is complete paralysis. In REM
sleep the pons is activated, exciting the medullary inhibitory area by
projections along the tegmento-reticular tract, which connects the pons to the
inhibitory centre. The medullary centre inhibits the motor neurones and gives
rise to atonia. A lateral locomotor strip, down the outside of the brain stem,
plays an important role in the reduction of motor drive and is connected to
structures in the spinal cord.
Dr Cheyne cites another study that theorises that the profound feeling of
paralysis could be a latent human form of “tonic immobility,” the action of
feigning death that prey animals often rely on when stalked, chased, seized, and
attacked – a strategy of last resort induced by fear or restraint.
Tonic Immobility or thanatosis is a form of defence behaviour in which an animal
becomes immobile as if dead. Numerous investigators have focused on the sign
stimuli and typical response patterns associated with death feigning in animals.
There are large variations in death feigning behaviour among species and among
individuals of the same species. Investigations into the behaviour of thanatosis
have shown that the response has adaptive value. For example, Sargent and
Eberhardt (1975) found that 29 of 50 ducks that feigned death as a response to
the predation by the red fox survived the attack. From these results, it was
shown that ducks had a better chance of surviving capture if they exhibited
tonic immobility than when they struggled, and immobility seemed to minimise
stimulation for further attack. The patterns seen among these different
organisms suggest that individuals who exhibit death-feigning behaviour maximise
their probability of survival.
Tonic Immobility in humans has seldom been studied but Suarez and Gallup (1976)
proposed that freezing reactions during rape may be an instance of tonic
immobility in human beings. The strong association of felt presence and fear and
terror as well as the perception of a presence as posing a threat within sleep
paralysis seems consistent with the association of immobility states in flight
or fight situations.
The human physiological changes activated by a stressful event are unleashed in
part by activation of a nucleus in the brain stem called the locus ceruleus.
This nucleus is the origin of most norepinephrine pathways in the brain.
Norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter, is also involved in the muscle paralysis
during REM sleep. Neurons using norepinephrine as their neurotransmitter project
bilaterally from the locus ceruleus along distinct pathways to the cerebral
cortex, limbic system, and the spinal cord. The chemical compound norepinephrine,
also known as noradrenaline, is a catecholamine, also called adrenaline and
noradrenaline, two separate but related hormones secreted by the medulla of the
adrenal glands.
ASP (Awareness during Sleep Paralysis)
ASP can be distinguished from seizures, syncopal episodes, and periodic
paralysis by its association with the beginning and end of sleep, by its
termination with noise or touch, and by the immediate return to full
consciousness when the episode ends.
Episodes of Awareness during Sleep Paralysis are
typically short, a matter of minutes, whereas periodic paralysis attacks may
last from less than one hour to several days. (Terionic Research Institute).
Periodic Paralysis
Periodic Paralysis is characterised by episodes of flaccid muscle weakness
occurring at irregular intervals. Most of the conditions are hereditary and are
more episodic than periodic. They can be divided conveniently into primary and
secondary disorders.
General characteristics of primary PP include
the following: (1) they are hereditary; (2) most are associated with alteration
in serum potassium levels; (3) myotonia sometimes coexists; and (4) both
myotonia and PP result from defective ion channels. (Dr Naganand Sripathi,
Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University)
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a disabling neurological disorder of sleep regulation that
affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. It may be described as an
intrusion by the dreaming state of sleep (called REM or rapid eye movement
sleep) into the waking state.
Symptoms generally begin between the ages of 15
and 30. The four classic symptoms of the disorder are excessive daytime
sleepiness; cataplexy; sleep paralysis; (Sleep paralysis is reported in 60% of
patients with narcolepsy) and hypnagogic hallucinations (vivid dream-like images
that occur at sleep onset). Disturbed nighttime sleep, including tossing and
turning in bed, leg jerks, nightmares, and frequent awakenings, may also occur.
The development, number and severity of symptoms vary widely among individuals
with the disorder. It is probable that there is an important genetic component
to the disorder as well. Unrelenting excessive sleepiness is usually the first
and most prominent symptom of narcolepsy. Patients with the disorder experience
irresistible sleep attacks, throughout the day, which can last for 30 seconds to
more than 30 minutes, regardless of the amount or quality of prior nighttime
sleep. These attacks result in episodes of sleep at work and
social events, while eating, talking and driving, and in other similarly
inappropriate occasions. Although narcolepsy is not a rare disorder, it is often
misdiagnosed or diagnosed only years after symptoms first appear. Early
diagnosis and treatment, however, are important to the physical and mental well
being of the affected individual. (National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke)[1]
Cataplexy
Cataplexy is a pathological equivalent of REM sleep atonia unique to
narcolepsy, is a striking, sudden episode of muscle weakness triggered by
emotions. Typically, the patient's knees buckle and may give way upon laughing,
elation, surprise or anger. In other typical cataplectic attacks the head may
drop or the jaw may become slack. In severe cases, the patient might fall down
and become completely paralysed for a few seconds to several minutes. Reflexes
are abolished during the attack. (Centre for narcolepsy, Stanford school of
medicine)
It is estimated that 60% of all patients with
narcolepsy experience cataplexy.
Sleep Paralysis Study
An ongoing study at the Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, has
yielded these statistics to date:
Sleep paralysis most often has an adolescent
onset. Earlier research had generally studied student populations leaving open
the possibility that this might have been an artefact of the fact that only
young people were surveyed. In several surveys with older samples, (Mean age of
approximately 30) we have corroborated a very clear tendency for people at all
ages to report an adolescent onset for their episodes. Several large samples
have produced consistent means of 17 years of age, with a sharp increase after
10 and an even sharper decline from 17 to the mid-twenties. The results do
suggest, however, that sleep paralysis episodes may begin at virtually any age,
although it is rare for this to happen after 30.
(Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo) [2]
In a communication to Dr Cheyne, I asked for clarification as to the percentage
of SP sufferers within the age group of 35 to 45. Dr Cheyne advised that around
7-8% of their sample, who have had SP experiences recently, are between 35 and
45. This can be compared to over 50% for the age range between 15 and 25.
Anomalous Phenomena
Researchers at Harvard University devised an experiment to determine if
memories of abduction by space aliens would provoke the same physiological
reactions that occur with people who had lived through other traumatic
experiences, such as fatal car accidents, and Vietnam veterans.
Professor of psychology, Richard McNally, along with his colleagues recruited
six women and four men who claimed they had been abducted by extraterrestrials.
Under hypnosis, seven of the ten reported having had their sperm or eggs
extracted for breeding purposes, or experiencing direct sexual contact
with the space aliens. Each was asked to write a script detailing their
experiences concerning their abduction. The research team then made audiotapes,
spoken in a neutral voice, from the scripts. The abductees listened to these
tapes in the laboratory of Scott Orr at the Veteran's Affairs Medical Centre in
Manchester, N.H. As the tapes played, the researchers recorded their emotional
responses using such measures as heart rate and sweat on the palms of their
hands.
The same procedure was carried out with eight people haunted by traumatic
experiences unrelated to abduction by aliens. When the two sets of measurements
were compared, the results were evidently striking. The abductees showed
surprisingly strong physiological reactions to the tapes of their alien
encounters. Their reactions were as great as those of individuals who had
experienced trauma as a result of sexual abuse, combat, accidents and other
mentally traumatic experiences.
"In fact, the actual magnitude of the reactions
was at least as great as those reported in previous studies on people with
post-traumatic stress disorder," says McNally. "It seems to underscore the power
of emotional belief, that if you genuinely believe these things have happened,
these terrifying events have happened, then you tend to show the emotional
profile, the physiological profile consistent with that belief."
McNally announced these findings on Feb. 16 at a meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. "The results underscore
the power of emotional belief," he noted. "People who sincerely believe they
have been abducted by aliens show patterns of emotional and physiological
response to these 'memories' that are strikingly similar to those of people who
have been genuinely traumatised by combat or similar events." (Harvard
University Gazette, Feb. 20, 2003)[3]
Budd Hopkins, executive director of the Intruders Foundation, thinks this
validates their stories. "I thought this was quite a wonderful thing, because
it's exactly the results we thought the scientific community would present if
they actually looked into the cases."
But McNally believes these are false memories formed during sleep paralysis.
"Merely because someone experiences intense emotions surrounding a particular
memory does not itself confirm that the memory actually indicates something
happened."
Budd Hopkins counters the sleep paralysis claim with the fact that not all
abductions are reported to happen at night, and that there are also reports of
physical marks left after abductions, known as "scoop marks." [4]
Many of these ‘scoop marks’ are in fact
consistent with spider bites. The Loxosceles reclusa (brown recluse, or violin
spider) indigenous to the Americas, does in fact leave such a mark. Their bites
can be mild to serious and occasionally fatal. As of 1984, at least 5 deaths had
been reported from their bites in the USA. Their haemolytic venom is dangerous.
The toxins in the bite kill the cells surrounding the puncture, producing a
black gangrenous spot. Often, the skin proceeds to peel away from the area
around the wound, exposing the underlying tissues. In extreme cases, an area 6
inches across can be severely affected and, since the wounds are slow to heal,
they leave a very unpleasant scar. This process takes a few days, from the onset
of a blister within the first few hours to the ulcerated area a few days later.
In the UK we have the Steatoda nobilis and the Dysdera crocata, both can be
aggressive, but their bites are little different to a bee sting and pretty rare.
There are currently only 5-recorded occurrences in Britain since 1979.
Deep Triangular and circular indentations that remain for years, which have
appeared over night without first being an obvious lesion, are indeed a mystery.
Immediately after wounding the release of vasoactive substances, including
histamine, serotonin, and cytokines occur. The series of healing is as follows:
Coagulation process (hours), inflammatory process (hours to days), migratory/proliferative
process (days to weeks) then the remodeling process (weeks). To wake and find a
deep but already healed wound with scar tissue would be extremely irregular.
This would require some process yet unknown to medical science, of accelerating
the healing process and tissue growth, condensing the normal healing process of
around three weeks to a matter of hours/possibly less. Yet there are valid
accounts of this having occurred, which seem to defy logical explanation, to
date.
Although a vast majority of claims of abduction, or ‘night visitors’ by
experiencers, would be consistent with the effects of sleep paralysis, there is
a clear indication of a group that fall outside of this hypothesis. As has
already been stated, the onset of sleep paralysis is most common in adolescence,
with a sharp decline between the ages 17 to 25, and with only 7 to 8 % of SP
sufferers between the ages of 35 to 45. Yet in recent research I have conducted
there are a significant amount of accounts of sudden onset of SP during the
subjects mid 20’s to 30’s and increasing with age.
Personal History
To enable me to make what I deem to be a valid point it will be necessary to
volunteer some personal history in relation to Sleep Paralysis and hypnagogic/hypnopompic
mind states.
In 1985, at the age of 25, I had my first experience of ASP (awareness during
sleep paralysis). I did not experience any sensations of a malevolent presence,
often associated with ASP but suffered a good degree of anxiety due to the fact
that I couldn’t move. This occurred some 15 times over a period of 6 months,
each time I would try to call out, or attempt to get to the edge of the bed to
drop myself to the floor, believing this manoeuvre would somehow break the
paralysis.
One evening the experience developed further. Having just gone to
bed, and turning the light off, I felt the pressure in the room change. I tried
to sit up, but again as on previous occasions I was totally paralysed. I
struggled to reach up to pull the light cord hanging above the bed, and after
much effort I managed to turn the light on. I was still virtually fully
paralysed, but was able to see around the room clearly. As I looked at the
wardrobes facing me I realised they were distorted, there was an obvious ripple
effect, almost as though I was looking through moving water. I felt pretty
anxious, and said (or thought), ‘whatever you are go’. I watched as what
appeared to be a ‘plasma’ type substance disbursed out through the open bedroom
window. Once it had completely gone I found I was able to move. I got up and
went down stairs, still pretty shaken by the event, to some friends who were
still awake. As I entered one of them asked if I was OK, ‘you look dreadful’ he
said, another friend mentioned that the T.V was working now. Whilst this had
been occurring upstairs, the T.V had evidently lost all reception. It may be of
interest to note that the T.V aerial was situated immediately outside of the
bedroom window.
On another occasion one evening in 1989, at a different location to the above
events, I had just got into bed, and was pulling the duvet over myself when I
felt the pressure in the room change. My ears popped, and I sensed an imminent
event as I had done on previous occasions. I tried to sit up, thinking to myself
if something is going to happen I want to be fully conscious and able to make
mental notes. I found I was completely paralysed again but my eyes were open and
I could see around the room clearly. I noticed the ‘plasma’ substance in the
room again, but as I studied it I became aware that rather than a substance
filling the room, I was viewing an effect of ‘something’ causing a distortion of
the physical layout of the room. It stuck me that it was almost as though the
dimensions had slipped apart, rather like an image on transparency film overlaid
with another sheet of transparency film with the same image. Slightly sliding
them apart would give a distorted image, and this seemed to be what I was
witnessing occurring in the room. The ripple effects were obvious again and an
eerie type of bioluminescence. I struggled to get to the edge of the bed, to
drop myself to the floor. I eventually managed this but was still having
tremendous difficulty moving. I was able to slowly drag myself out of the
bedroom and down the hallway to the living room; it took a lot of effort and
time, as though I was trying to crawl through thick molasses. I stumbled in
through the living room doorway to where my fiancé 'G' was sitting on the sofa
watching TV. He was shocked when he saw me. There was some sort of commotion
around me and I remembered 'G' telling me I seemed to be in the middle of a
whirlwind.
This comment was recently kindly forwarded by ‘G’:
“I'd say that what
surrounded you on the night was like intelligent smoke. It did swirl around you
like a whirlwind and you had a strange look on your face (have you ever seen the
X-Files where 'ghosts' are appearing to portend death? Well, the look the ghosts
had when they were mouthing their warnings is it).”
A respected physicist, whose name I will
withhold for privacy, sent the following to me after I approached him,
highlighting the above observable effects and a few not listed above:
“The "wavy" part accords with my modeling of general relativistic (GR) effects
as being analogous to changes in the refractive index of the vacuum, mimicking
exactly what you see when water waves, or when atmospheric heat waves over a
road cause ripples. Most interesting.
Generally speaking, your description indicates physicality, which is of
interest. And even the surreal shifts I could interpret in terms of a change in
the properties of the vacuum along GR lines.”
I contacted Dr Cheyne, of the University of Waterloo, to ask how common were
accounts of people being able to physically move whilst in SP, and having
witnesses to the fact. His response was, “That would be very unusual indeed.”
A couple of weeks after the above event I found myself in the same situation
again. This time, unfortunately, I was unable to break free of the paralysis. As
I was on the edge of loosing consciousness my 7-year-old daughter woke to
witness me struggling with whatever had a grip on me. I tried to shout out to
tell her to get out of the room. My last recollection is of seeing her pass out
and flopping on the bed. I woke the next morning to find my daughter having a
grand mal seizure. Some few weeks later she was diagnosed with generalised
epilepsy. There had been no signs of epilepsy leading up to this event and no
family history of epilepsy.
The above is an example of ongoing anomalous events, which continue to this day.
I have used my own personal accounts of events because I know these to be true,
but I am in contact with many people who also experience similar phenomena on a
regular basis.
Summary
Categorising all night-time anomalous phenomena as a sleep disorder such as
sleep paralysis, is just as erroneous as stating that all anomalous effects of
sleep disorders are a result of alien abduction. We require far more conclusive
research into all aspects of this phenomenon before any definitive statements
should be made. As someone who has experiential knowledge of these ‘night-time’
and indeed daytime encounters, my conclusion at this moment is as follows; some
of the ‘alien abduction syndrome’ experiencers are indeed having experiences
outside of medical or scientific explanation. Possibly not ‘abduction’ per se,
but they are most certainly encountering a form of Exo-Intellegence we have yet
to clearly define.
I would welcome any member of the medical profession who may be in a position to
offer a valid prognosis relating to my personal experiences indicated above.
This, in part, is written for those ‘publicly silent’ but brave personal
correspondents – always thinking of you.
Acknowledgements:
With special thanks to Dr Cheyne, University of Waterloo
References:
Dr Cheyne, Dept. psychology, University of Waterloo:
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/index.html
Terionic Research Institute:
www.trionica.com
Dr Naganand Sripathi, Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University:
http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic308.htm
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/
Centre for Narcolepsy, Stanford School of Medicine:
http://www-med.stanford.edu/school/Psychiatry/narcolepsy
Budd Hopkins, executive director of the Intruders Foundation:
http://www.intrudersfoundation.org
Richard McNally: Harvard University
Links:
[1]:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/narcolep_doc.htm
[2]:
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P2.html#pp
[3]:
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/02.20/01-alien.htm
[4]:
http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392122&language=english
Copyright (c) 2006 by Caryn Anscomb. All rights
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