TY - JOUR
T1 - State dissociation, human behavior, and consciousness
AU - Mahowald, Mark W.
AU - Bornemann, Michel A Cramer
AU - Schenck, Carlos H.
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - Sleep is clearly not only a whole-brain or global phenomenon, but can also be a local phenomenon. This accounts for the fact that the primary states of being (wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep) are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and components of these states may appear in various combinations, with fascinating clinical consequences. Examples include: sleep inertia, narcolepsy, sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, REM sleep behavior disorder, sleepwalking, sleep terrors, out-of-body experiences, and reports of alien abduction. The incomplete declaration of state likewise has implications for consciousness - which also has fluid boundaries. Fluctuations in the degree of consciousness are likely explained by abnormalities of a "spatial and temporal binding rhythm" which normally results in a unified conscious experience. Dysfunctional binding may play a role in anesthetic states, autism, schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative disorders. Further study of the broad spectrum of dissociated states of sleep and wakefulness that are closely linked with states of consciousness and unconsciousness by basic neuroscientists, clinicians, and members of the legal profession will provide scientific, clinical and therapeutic insights, with forensic implications.
AB - Sleep is clearly not only a whole-brain or global phenomenon, but can also be a local phenomenon. This accounts for the fact that the primary states of being (wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep) are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and components of these states may appear in various combinations, with fascinating clinical consequences. Examples include: sleep inertia, narcolepsy, sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, REM sleep behavior disorder, sleepwalking, sleep terrors, out-of-body experiences, and reports of alien abduction. The incomplete declaration of state likewise has implications for consciousness - which also has fluid boundaries. Fluctuations in the degree of consciousness are likely explained by abnormalities of a "spatial and temporal binding rhythm" which normally results in a unified conscious experience. Dysfunctional binding may play a role in anesthetic states, autism, schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative disorders. Further study of the broad spectrum of dissociated states of sleep and wakefulness that are closely linked with states of consciousness and unconsciousness by basic neuroscientists, clinicians, and members of the legal profession will provide scientific, clinical and therapeutic insights, with forensic implications.
KW - Central pattern generators
KW - Disorders of arousal
KW - Hallucinations
KW - Lucid dreaming
KW - Narcolepsy
KW - REM sleep behavior disorder
KW - Sleep inertia
KW - State dissociation
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80053525098&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2174/156802611797470277
DO - 10.2174/156802611797470277
M3 - Article
C2 - 21906025
AN - SCOPUS:80053525098
SN - 1568-0266
VL - 11
SP - 2392
EP - 2402
JO - Current topics in medicinal chemistry
JF - Current topics in medicinal chemistry
IS - 19
ER -