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You've heard the stories: late at night a man is awakened1 in a state of unexpected anxiety, to find himself suddenly unable to move.
Weird2, humanoid-looking figures stand around, looking on while the terrified fellow is caught in an eerie3 state of immobility. Sometimes fantastical events follow: he is taken away from his home, shown strange sights, even flown through outer space. Could this really be alien abduction?
While it wouldn't be fair to completely rule out those aliens, modern sleep-researchers are more familiar with these same kinds of experiences under a different name: sleep paralysis4.
Sleep paralysis is a recognized form of sleeping disorder5 that often affects young people, but can occur at any point in life. It's a condition whereby the normal sleep cycle is interrupted and the sleeper6 arises to a state of partial consciousness, rather than being either completely awake or asleep. In other words, the brain regains7 sensory8 awareness9, but motor control remains10 "off line."
The half-and-half mental state of sleep paralysis is often associated with a sense of creeping anxiety as well as strong visual, auditory, and even olfactory11 hallucinations. It seems that people with this disorder are partially12 awakened during what would have been a dream episode -- the contents of which may then invade consciousness as a series of disturbing visions. To top it off, not infrequently there is a deluded13 sense of being viewed, or even controlled, by some unseen entity14.
All of this matches closely with many modern-day UFO abduction scenarios15. So, while it isn't as exciting as a visit from space, sleep paralysis may in fact provide a more down-to-earth explanation for those close encounters that come in the night.
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1 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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2 weird | |
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的 | |
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3 eerie | |
adj.怪诞的;奇异的;可怕的;胆怯的 | |
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4 paralysis | |
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症) | |
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5 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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6 sleeper | |
n.睡眠者,卧车,卧铺 | |
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7 regains | |
复得( regain的第三人称单数 ); 赢回; 重回; 复至某地 | |
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8 sensory | |
adj.知觉的,感觉的,知觉器官的 | |
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9 awareness | |
n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智 | |
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10 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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11 olfactory | |
adj.嗅觉的 | |
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12 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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13 deluded | |
v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14 entity | |
n.实体,独立存在体,实际存在物 | |
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15 scenarios | |
n.[意]情节;剧本;事态;脚本 | |
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