Sleepwalking - Concept and Causes

Directions: A passage has been given, in which, [A] has a highlighted word,
[B] has two fillers and [C] has four underlined words whose position may not
be correct. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions accordingly.
Sleepwalking is a so-called “arousal disorder”—a form of partial awakening during sleep— that affects
around 2.5% of adults and as many as 14% of children.
Each night, you go through 90-minute cycles of sleep, moving through unique stages. During “light
sleep” (known as Stages 1 and 2) your heart rate and body temperature drop, a sort of transition
phase between wakefulness and sleep. But it’s in “deep sleep” (Stage 3) that your brain engages in
critical housekeeping chores for your body. These include releasing hormones to repair your skin,
replenishing your cardiovascular and immune system, and creating new memories. Deep sleep is a
form of restorative sleep, and oftentimes, it is difficult to awaken the sleeper. The fourth stage, the
so-called rapid-eye-movement sleep or “REM” sleep for short, is called “paradoxical sleep.” And for
good reason: your blood pressure, heartbeat, and breathing quicken, and your brain waves speed up.
If we eavesdrop on the activity of neurons during REM, they resemble those of wakefulness. We have
our most crisp, life-like, and emotional dreams during REM sleep. To prevent you from acting out
these REM dreams and hurting yourself, your brain temporarily paralyzes your entire body. [A] This
transition is tightly controlled by chemicals released from the lower part of the brain that tilt you
among sleep and wakefulness. Interestingly, sleepwalking occurs not during REM but deep sleep,
dispelling the commonly held myth that the sleepwalker is a confused dreamer roaming around the
house and acting out bizarre dreams.

While it is not known what exactly would trigger the brain to go into this odd sleep and awake state
simultaneously, genes play a substantial role. In fact, a person can experience sleepwalking 10 times
more frequently if a close family member also experiences it. Stress can also trigger sleepwalking, or
at least make it more frequent and severe. Mental anguish is a major source of brain arousal which is
difficult to switch off at night, known as nocturnal arousal. A striking example is those who’ve
experienced trauma. [B] A recent study showed that (1)/ patients with PTSD have (2)/ more and long
awakenings than healthy people do— (3)/ they simply cannot sustained their sleep (4)/ No error (5)/.
Because of an aroused “emotional brain,” in particular an almond-like structure buried behind the
ears called the amygdala, a person who has experienced trauma tends to pop in and out of sleep. The
amygdala, which makes us feel [C] _________ and __________, is dancing with activity in those with
trauma—and astonishingly, has often ballooned in size compared to those without trauma.

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 Practice Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the causes of sleepwalking in the
passage?

1. Genetic involvement
2. Mental agony and trauma
3. Physical exertion
4. Acute insomnia

A. Both 1 and 3
B. Both 1 and 2
C. Only 2
D. Only 1
E. Both 3 and 4

Q2) Fill in the blanks to make the statement grammatically and contextually sound.

The amygdala, which makes us feel [C] _________ and __________, is dancing
with activity in those with trauma—and astonishingly, has often ballooned in size
compared to those without trauma.

A. Gaiety and verve

B. Trepidation and fear
C. Dread and vivacity
D. Gusto and zest
E. Reliance and contortion

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Q3) Why is REM sleep called paradoxical sleep?

1. Because the activity of the neurons during the REM sleep is similar to that of
wakefulness
2. Because the REM sleep is a restorative sleep
3. Because the heartbeat, blood pressure and breathing slow down during the REM
sleep

A. Both 2 and 3
B. Both 1 and 3
C. Only 3
D. Only 1
E. All of the above

Q4) Identify the erroneous part(s) in the given statement.

[B] A recent study showed that (1)/ patients with PTSD have (2)/ more and long
awakenings than healthy people do— (3)/ they simply cannot sustained their sleep
(4)/ No error (5)/.

A. Both 3 and 4
B. Only 1
C. Both 2 and 4
D. Only 3
E. No error

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Q5) Which of the following set(s) of words from the passage fall under the category
of synonyms?

1. Stress, anguish, trauma

2. Astonishingly, interestingly, simultaneously
3. Critical, substantial, paradoxical
4. Arousal, awakening, wakefulness
5. Restorative, replenishing, dispelling

A. Only 2
B. Both 3 and 5
C. Both 1 and 4
D. Only 4
E. Only 5

Q6) Choose the correct replacement for the underlined part of the sentence to make
the sentence grammatically & contextually right.

[A] This transition is tightly controlled by chemicals released from the lower part of the
brain that tilt you among sleep and wakefulness.

A. Who tilt you between sleep and wakefulness.

B. Which tilts you among sleep and wakefulness.
C. That tilts you among sleep and wakefulness.
D. That tilt you between sleep and wakefulness.
E. That tilt you between sleep or wakefulness.

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 Answers:
Q1. B Q2. B Q3. D Q4. A Q5. C Q6. D

Passage Vocabulary
1. Paradoxical (adj) – self contradictory

2. Eavesdrop (n) – secretly listen to a conversation

3. Bizarre (adj) - very strange or unusual

4. Nocturnal (adj) - active and awake at night rather than during the day

5. Striking (adj) - very attractive or noticeable

6. Gaiety (n) - happiness and excitement

7. Verve (n) - energy, excitement or enthusiasm

8. Trepidation (n) - a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen

9. Dread (n) - great fear

10. Vivacity (n) - the quality of being attractively lively and animated

11. Gusto (n) - great enjoyment, energy and enthusiasm

12. Zest (n) - great enthusiasm and energy

13. Reliance (n) - ability to trust somebody/something

14. Contortion (n) - the action of twisting or bending violently and unnaturally into
a different shape or form

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