Maxwell Gwynn stated in response to Nina Turner's question:
>>>I would tend to be sceptical about the "conversations" held while the
room-mate was asleep. My guess would be that the room-mate is either not
asleep, or your student was exagerating the extent to which the room-mate
was engaged in active conversation.
>>>
I would be skeptical but not dismissive. There are many cases in which people
engage in all sorts of purposive behaviors during sleep--behaviors that require
an acute awareness of the outside world. For example, there is the case of a
man in Canada (I'm not sure where this is, but I think it's somewhere around
here) who drove to his parents'-in law house, murdered his mother-in-law and
wounded his father-in-law. Tests in a sleep lab showed that he had highly
unusual EEG's during sleep that (I am recalling all of this, I don't have refs
right in front of me, so I may be getting details incorrect) indicated
heightened arousal during SW sleep. Other family members also showed similar
patterns. So, I think that the anecdote of your student could be correctly
remembered.
I'm sure others can fill this in: I just can't get the time to look all this
up today. Sorry.
Jeff Ricker
Scottsdale Community College
(where sleepwalkers are welcome)
Scottsdale AZ
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
