Cheyne attributes these to the brain, essentially, freaking out on a major scale.
In fact, two of Cheyne's research assistants started having episodes while studying the condition.
As a teenager, James Allan Cheyne woke up one night unable to move or speak.
When you sleep, your body prepares for its dream-state REM
cycle by“turning off” your muscles to protect you, Cheyne says.
Adolescents and
young adults seem particularly prone to these episodes, Cheyne notes, most likely because they tend to have the worst sleep habits-
like irregular sleep schedules.
Cheyne Flanagan, clinical director of the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in Australia,
is on the front lines of the effort to rescue and save koala bears from the devastating fires.