Exploding Head Syndrome Facts, Symptoms, and Treatment: It Affects 1 in 5 People

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Exploding head syndrome is a psychological condition characterized by the hearing of abrupt and very loud noises in the head when going to sleep or waking up. One in five people suffer from it and it is surprisingly common among younger people, according to a study published in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Brian Sharpless, the author of the study and a WSU assistant professor and director of the university psychological clinic, theorizes that the perception of non-existent noise in the head is due to a neural hiccup as the brain goes into sleep mode. He believes that the exploding head syndrome is due to the brain being unable to successfully shut down when going to sleep.

When people go to sleep, the brain's motor, auditory, and visual neurons turn off subsequently. Dr. Sharpless theorized that the noise in the head is caused when auditory neurons activate all at once instead of turning off properly, according to CBS News.

"That's why you get these crazy-loud noises that you can't explain, and they're not actual noises in your environment," he added.

According to Medical News Today, this condition frequently occurs together with isolated sleep paralysis - a condition where individuals, either waking up or falling asleep are temporarily unable to speak, react, or move.

In a large study based on the interviews of 211 undergraduates, nearly 1 out of 5 participants have experienced exploding head syndrome and a third of them have experienced isolated sleep paralysis. Although there is no lasting effect, some people reported feeling fear and distress during the episodes.

When asked why he made the research: "I didn't believe the clinical lore that it would only occur in people in their 50s," Sharpless announced in a press statement. Before Sharpless' research, exploding head syndrome was considered uncommon and was largely believed to only affect older people.

There is no "empirically supported treatments" for exploding head syndrome, cites Medical News Today.

"One of the drugs they gave for exploding head syndrome actually didn't make the noises go away," Dr. Sharpless said. "It just turned the volume down."

Dr. Sharpless added that it is important to conduct more research for this condition. "Given the potential clinical impacts, it is recommended that it be assessed more regularly in research and clinical settings."