WE FORGET almost all dreams soon after waking up. Our forgetfulness is generally attributed to neurochemical conditions in the brain that occur during REM sleep, a phase of sleep characterized by rapid eye movements and dreaming.
Sleep inertia is the scientific term for what we commonly call brain fog. Sleep inertia is characterized by that grogginess you feel in the morning after you wake up. It is in part due to the brain functioning very differently than normal during sleep, especially deep sleep.
Sleep inertia is the feeling of grogginess, disorientation, drowsiness, and cognitive impairment that immediately follows waking. View Source . Sleep inertia generally lasts for 15 to 60 minutes. View Source but may last for up to a few hours after waking.
Interestingly, many people with anterograde amnesia describe their experience as feeling like they just woke up. HM, the most famous and frequently studied person with anterograde amnesia, described feeling like he just woke up.
Dysania means an extreme difficulty rising from bed or an inability to leave the bed. Dysania is closely associated with clinomania, which is an obsession with or profound desire for staying in bed. These terms are not widely recognized by the medical community. Some professionals use the term clinophilia.
Confusional arousals can occur at any age, but are more common in children. Sleep disruptions caused by health problems (such as fever), travel, abrupt sleep loss, migraine, and irregular sleep-wake schedules may trigger an episode.
Everyone spaces out from time to time. While spacing out can simply be a sign that you are sleep deprived, stressed, or distracted, it can also be due to a transient ischemic attack, seizure, hypotension, hypoglycemia, migraine, transient global amnesia, fatigue, narcolepsy, or drug misuse.
The cloudy thinking you get with brain fog is also very different from cognitive problems associated with dementia or Alzheimer's disease. The key difference is that diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's disease affect more than memory. They change your ability to function in your daily life.
Signs of dementia
You're unable to recall details of recent events or conversations. You're unable to recognize or know the names of family members. You forget things or events more frequently. You have frequent pauses and substitutions when finding words.
If left untreated, brain fog can impact the quality of your life and lead to other conditions such as Parkinson's disease, memory loss, and Alzheimer's disease.
feel overwhelmed — unable to concentrate or make decisions. be moody — feeling low or depression; feeling burnt out; emotional outbursts of uncontrollable anger, fear, helplessness or crying. feel depersonalised — not feeling like themselves or feeling detached from situations.
Vestibular balance disorders can affect your balance and make you feel disoriented. Common causes include inner ear problems, medicines, infections, and traumatic brain injury. These disorders can occur at any age. But they are most common as you get older.
What is sleep drunkenness? Sleep drunkenness is a casual term for confusional arousal, which is a type of parasomnia. A parasomnia is an unusual behavior that happens while you're asleep or just waking up. Confusional arousal is a problem with sleep inertia when your brain transitions between sleeping and waking up.
Many of us have had the thought, “I feel like I'm losing my mind” at one time or another. This thought may surface in times of heightened stress, but it can also be a manifestation of a mental health condition, such as anxiety,1 panic disorder,2 or depersonalization.
Possible causes of dizziness can include dehydration, ear infections, low blood pressure, and medication side effects. People who regularly wake up feeling dizzy or experience other concerning symptoms alongside the dizziness should see a doctor.
General signs and symptoms caused by brain tumors may include: Headache or pressure in the head that is worse in the morning. Headaches that happen more often and seem more severe. Headaches that are sometimes described as tension headaches or migraines.
A medical exam is the first step to diagnose a potential brain injury. Assessment usually includes a neurological exam. This exam evaluates thinking, motor function (movement), sensory function, coordination, eye movement, and reflexes. Imaging tests, including CT scans and MRI scans, cannot detect all TBIs.
We've all forgotten what day it is or the specific date – that's a sign of normal forgetfulness. So is driving to a familiar place but “zoning out” so you don't necessarily remember exactly how you got there. Signs of “something more” would be an individual losing track of what season it is or even what year it is.
Memory and other thinking problems have many possible causes, including depression, an infection, or medication side effects. Sometimes, the problem can be treated, and cognition improves. Other times, the problem is a brain disorder, such as Alzheimer's disease, which cannot be reversed.