11 Weird Things You Do While You're Asleep That You Probably Didn't Know About

It's not just your imagination and it may be the explanation for the covers tug-of-war that happens while you and your partner sleep. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist, told Woman's Day that your body temperature drops while you sleep. This happens because because it signals your brain to release sleep-inducing melatonin. No wonder people hog the blankets at night!

Before you get your hopes up, this doesn't mean that you can magically study in your sleep. But, due to new research, there may be more to learning than previously thought. According to a study in Nature Neuroscience, your brain does retain information while you're asleep, like the link between sounds and smells.

Not everyone does this, but it's actually not too uncommon for people to clench their jaw or grind their teeth while they are asleep. Noted in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, grinding teeth can largely go unnoticed by the sleeping person. Some telltale signs, though, are if you are consistently waking up with a sore jaw, an earache, or stiffness in the muscles around your jaw and face. Of, if your sleep partner asks if you heard that weird sound last night.

Although this is pretty rare, The American Association of Sleep found that, out of the people who identify as having some type of sleep disorder, eight percent have had sex while fully asleep. And there are those that just fall asleep during sex. Hey, no judgements.

Have you ever woken up, slightly confused, and feeling angry but you're not quite sure why? If so, you're not alone. According to Sleep, people who wake up mad suffe from confusional arousal disorder. And before you brush this off, you should know that it affects three to four percent of the adult U.S. population. If you don't have a calculator, that's somewhere around twelve million people.

Perhaps we're not so different from animals. Just like the viral video where a dog is trying to run in his sleep, BBC reports that humans move their limbs while sleeping too. These movements are referred to as hypnic jerks and occur because it's your body's way of slowing down the part of your brain that controls motor function.

As spooky as this sounds, it's actually a completely normal part of your body's sleep cycle. Lisa Shives, an internist and sleep medicine specialist, told Woman's Day that it's the brain's way of making sure you don't hurt yourself by acting out dreams. Rest easy, though, because this temporary paralysis of your muscles occurs when you aren't even aware.

Though stress, age, and having children can all be factors in not remembering information, your sleeping brain may be to blame. Dr. Christopher Colwell at the UCLA School of Medicine told The Houston Chronicle that your brain sorts data from the day while you sleep and basically tosses what's deemed unnecessary so you can make room for new and important information.

Remember how some people can have sex while asleep? According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, you can actually have a full-blown orgasm while completely asleep, too. Though most of the pioneering research done by Alfred Kinsey in the '40s focused on male nocturnal emissions, recent research shows 4 percent of both genders have orgasms during sleep.

Your mom was right when she said that a good night's sleep will keep you healthy. As written in the The National Center for Biotechnology Information, your body secretes a growth hormone during sleep. This growth homone is basically your body's way of repairing itself.

And if you feel a little taller in the morning, there's a reason for that. Breus told Woman's Day that your spinal disks finally get the chance to rehydrate and expand while you sleep because you're horizontal and don't have the gravity of standing pressing on your spine. So that's why you're a bit taller in the morning.

There's nothing to be ashamed of because, let's be honest, everyone does it. While some may have a more fibrous diet than others, everybody passes gas while they are asleep. William Kohler, medical director of the Florida Sleep Institute, told WebMD that flatulence is totally normal during sleep, but admitted it can be a bit embarrassing if your partner notices your "nocturnal noises."

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