WEBVTT - Can You Sleep With Your Eyes Open?

0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:04.320
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:10.080
<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Bobi Bam here. The old saying

0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:13.680
<v Speaker 1>sleep with one eye open isn't so metaphorical for everyone.

0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.759
<v Speaker 1>Take for example, Mel mom in Kansas whom How to

0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:19.880
<v Speaker 1>Work spoke with via email for the article that this

0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.560
<v Speaker 1>episode is based on. Well, she has a son who

0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:26.800
<v Speaker 1>regularly sleeps with both eyes about half open, and she said, oh,

0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:28.920
<v Speaker 1>we joke around and say that Jack is afraid he's

0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.240
<v Speaker 1>going to miss something. The family wasn't too weird a

0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.199
<v Speaker 1>doubt when he started doing it, though, as they had

0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.480
<v Speaker 1>experienced it with an older daughter. Mel said, a long

0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.320
<v Speaker 1>time ago, we asked the doc. He said kids usually

0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.480
<v Speaker 1>grow out of it. In her daughter's case, this wound

0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:46.479
<v Speaker 1>up being true, but it's not unusual for people to

0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:51.320
<v Speaker 1>sleep with an eye or two open indefinitely. The condition

0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:54.960
<v Speaker 1>is known in medical circles as nocturnal lack ofthalmus, and

0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.240
<v Speaker 1>is characterized by the inability to completely close the eyelids

0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:01.680
<v Speaker 1>while sleeping. Most people are unaware that they're sleeping this

0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.560
<v Speaker 1>way until someone tells them, but they may wake up

0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:09.720
<v Speaker 1>feeling tired or experiencing eye pain. As much as of

0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.320
<v Speaker 1>the population has experienced nocturnal lack of thalmus. It's a

0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.399
<v Speaker 1>variation of the wider condition of lack of thalness, which

0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.800
<v Speaker 1>describes any circumstance where you can't close your eyelids completely

0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.479
<v Speaker 1>even when you're trying. It's usually caused by an improperly

0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.520
<v Speaker 1>functioning seventh cranial nerve, the facial nerve that's responsible for

0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:31.120
<v Speaker 1>the muscles that control the movement of both eyelids and eyebrows.

0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:36.400
<v Speaker 1>That improper functioning can be triggered by a litany of issues,

0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:40.720
<v Speaker 1>like trauma to the face or the skull, a thyroid disease, tumors,

0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.840
<v Speaker 1>or damage from infections, among other things. Sometimes simple heredity

0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:49.120
<v Speaker 1>is the culprit. Whatever the cause, it's unlikely that anyone

0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.760
<v Speaker 1>is able to get good sleep with their eyes wide open.

0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.640
<v Speaker 1>That's because your eyes need to close or at least blink,

0:01:55.920 --> 0:02:00.160
<v Speaker 1>in order to keep your eyes lubricated and healthy. House

0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:03.160
<v Speaker 1>of Works also spoke by email with Dr Ivan Schwab,

0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:07.840
<v Speaker 1>a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Optimology. He explained,

0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:10.600
<v Speaker 1>as far as I know, few people, if any, could

0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.520
<v Speaker 1>sleep with their eyes fully open, because as you sleep,

0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.040
<v Speaker 1>the upper lid muscles will relax and close, but if

0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.400
<v Speaker 1>there were no upper lid coverage available, it might be possible,

0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.239
<v Speaker 1>but would be difficult to sleep and quite detrimental to

0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.720
<v Speaker 1>the eye with drying on the surface I surface drying

0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.320
<v Speaker 1>is an uncomfortable problem that causes a burning sensation that

0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.280
<v Speaker 1>may even wake you up in the middle of the night.

0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:38.440
<v Speaker 1>This drying and irritation is called exposure carrotitis. If it

0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.560
<v Speaker 1>becomes really problematic, there are options. The Schwab said the

0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.560
<v Speaker 1>best way medically is to apply ointment and tape the

0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:49.359
<v Speaker 1>lids closed, over that these measures must be done each night.

0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.079
<v Speaker 1>In many, but not all cases, there are surgical options

0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.680
<v Speaker 1>to raise the lower lid or lower the upper lid.

0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:58.919
<v Speaker 1>There are also special eye goggles that can be worn

0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:03.480
<v Speaker 1>at night to keep the eyes moist. However, although this

0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.640
<v Speaker 1>is a problem in humans, a number of other animals

0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:10.000
<v Speaker 1>evolutionarily developed the ability to sleep with one eye open.

0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.320
<v Speaker 1>This is called un hemispheric sleep. Half the brain stays

0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:18.240
<v Speaker 1>awake while the other half sleeps. Animals like fruit backs, porpoises,

0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.639
<v Speaker 1>bottlenose dolphins, and birds are known to do this, likely

0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.359
<v Speaker 1>because as potential prey, they need to be able to

0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:28.200
<v Speaker 1>stay partially alert in order to stay safe. In these cases,

0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.239
<v Speaker 1>the open eye blinks as normal so it doesn't dry

0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:38.400
<v Speaker 1>out in today's episode is based on the article can

0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.440
<v Speaker 1>You Fall Asleep with your Eyes Open? On how stuff

0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.040
<v Speaker 1>Works dot com written by Leo Hoyt. A brain Stuff

0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:44.960
<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how

0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:47.160
<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang.

0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:50.240
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart

0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:52.880
<v Speaker 1>Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

0:03:52.920 --> 0:04:01.680
<v Speaker 1>favorite shows.