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Nearly everyone has a story about people talking in their sleep. Though it tends to be more common in children, it can happen at any age: A 2010 study in the journal Sleep Medicine (opens in new tab) suggested that around two-thirds of people have at least one episode of sleep talking in adulthood. 

Sleep talking is not considered a sleep disorder but a normal variation of human sleep behavior. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders (opens in new tab) lists sleep talking under “isolated symptoms, apparently normal variants and unresolved issues,” along with things like snoring and sleep starts — the sudden jerking motion some people have when falling asleep, also known as hypnagogic jerks.

However, although sleep talking isn’t a disorder, it can have unwanted impacts on a person’s sleep and on the sleep of someone sharing a room or bed with them. Here, we look at the science behind sleep talking.What is sleep talking?

Sleep talking, or somniloquy, is when a person makes vocalizations while asleep. These vocalizations can be full words and phrases, or they can be mumblings, shouts or even laughter.

Children commonly talk in their sleep, with half of all kids talking in their sleep once a year or more, and around a quarter sleep talking at least once a week, according to a 1980 paper in the journal Brain & Development (opens in new tab) . Most children grow out of these episodes of nighttime babble, though sleep talking can recur later in life, brought on by stress or sleep deprivation, Dr. Jennifer Martin (opens in new tab) , a professor of medicine and the president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told Live Science.

Around half of sleep talking is incomprehensible, audio recordings from a 2017 study published in the journal Sleep (opens in new tab) suggested. The same study found that, out of 3,349 understandable recordings, the word that most sleep talkers said was “no.”

As to whether people tell the truth while sleep talking, that’s mostly a myth, Martin said. “It doesn’t seem to be the case that [people say their] deep dark inner secrets,” she said. Dr. Jennifer L. Martin Social Links Navigation

Dr. Jennifer L. Martin serves as president of the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and is board-certified in behavioral sleep medicine by the American Board of Sleep Medicine (ABSM). She is a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Martin received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California, San Diego, as part of the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program.

Some people sleep talk in their dreams, saying phrases that align with what they later remember dreaming about, a 2009 study in the Sleep (opens in new tab) journal found. But most sleep talking is unrelated to dreaming, as it happens while people are in a stage of sleep with fewer dreams, Martin said.

“Sleep talking tends to occur in a stage of sleep that we call non-rapid eye movement, or non-REM sleep,” she said. “During this stage our brain is relatively quiet, compared to what we see during rapid eye movement sleep [where we dream].”

During REM sleep, the body is effectively paralyzed to prevent the acting out of dreams, said Martin, and this paralysis should stop people from talking. If sleep talking does occur during REM sleep, then it could be a sign of something more serious.

“There is a sleep condition called REM behavior disorder where the system that paralyzes your muscles — really so you can’t hurt yourself during your sleep — is not working properly,” Martin said.

If this is the case, an early diagnosis is important, said Dr. Erik K. St. Louis (opens in new tab) , the head of the Division of Sleep Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. “REM behavior disorder often evolves into violent sleep behaviors like screaming, shouting, punching and arm flailing, which may lead to injury to the patient or their bed partner,” he told Live Science. “It may also be the initial presentation of disease in older adults, usually Parkinson’s disease or dementia with Lewy bodies.”  What causes sleep talking?

Researchers still don’t know what causes sleep talking, but studies that measure brain activity can offer some insight.

Recent analyses show similarities between sleep talking and normal awake speech, St Louis said. Linguistic studies, like the 2017 paper in the journal Sleep, have also shown that the properties of sleep talk — the language, patterns, syntax and semantics — follow the same rules as people’s day-to-day conversations and are therefore comprehensible.

These discoveries further neurologists’ understanding of the sleeping brain and the purpose of sleep itself, which remains understudied, St. Louis said.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sleep talking could be linked to memory consolidation, when the sleeping brain revisits experiences to commit the important ones to long-term memory. A 2018 review published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews (opens in new tab) suggested sleep talking could sometimes be a verbal replay of the memories the brain is sifting through at the time.

The cause of sleep talking could be different in children and adults, Martin told Live Science. Sleep talking and other unusual sleep behaviors are much more common in kids, and this could simply be the child’s brain “learning what not to do while it’s asleep,” Martin said. It could also be related to the phases of brain development during childhood, she said.

In adults, however, certain conditions and circumstances make sleep talking more likely. For one, sleep talking can have a genetic component: it runs in families, according to a 2001 study published in the journal Psychiatric Genetics (opens in new tab) . It has also been linked with obstructive sleep apnea — a condition in which people experience pauses in breathing, or shallow breathing during sleep — according to the Cleveland Clinic (opens in new tab) .Can you stop sleep talking?

Sleep talking is usually considered a harmless trait, but it can be unpleasant for anyone in earshot — nearly 10% of sleep talking in the 2017 Sleep study contained profanities and swearing.

“Sleep talking has also been associated with sleep disturbance and shallower sleep, so may not be quite as benign as we presume,” St Louis said.

To stop a person talking in their sleep, Martin advises giving them a little nudge. This gentle interruption can stop the behavior, she said.

Sleep talking, along with other sleep behaviors like sleep walking and snoring, tend to get worse when people are sleep deprived, Martin told Live Science. A 2013 study in the Journal of Sleep Research (opens in new tab) showed sleep deprivation increased disturbance in slow-wave, non-REM sleep, which can lead to sleep talking and sleepwalking. 

“So, making sure that you’re getting good healthy sleep tends to decrease how often it happens,” Martin said. This means that staying up late to let a partner fall asleep first might actually make sleep talking worse.

This article is for informational purposes only, and is not meant to offer medical advice.

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NASA’s Hubble and Webb Discover Bursting Star Formation in Small Magellanic Cloud

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NASA’s Hubble and Webb Discover Bursting Star Formation in Small Magellanic Cloud

Scientists from NASA observed the bursting expansion of gas, stars, and dust from the glittering territory of the dual star clusters using Hubble and Webb space telescopes. NGC 460 and NGC 456 stay in the Small Magellanic Cloud, which are open clusters, with dwarf galaxies and orbit the Milky Way. These clusters are part of the extensive star complex clusters and nebulae that are most likely to be linked to each other. Stars are born upon the collapse of clouds.

Hubble and Webb Reveal Explosive Star Births in Small Magellanic Cloud

As per a report from NASA, the open clusters are from anywhere from a few dozen to many young stars, which are loosely bound by gravity. The images captured by Hubble capture the glowing and ionised gas, which comes from stellar radiation and blows bubbles in the form of gas and dust, which is blue in colour. The infrared of Webb shows the clumps and delicate filament-like structures and dust, which is red in colour.

NGC 460 and NGC 456: A Window into Early Universe Star Formation

Hubble shows the images of dust in the form of a silhouette against the blocking light; however, in the images of Webb, the dust is warmed by starlight and glows with infrared waves. The blend of gas and dust between the stars of the universe is called the interstellar medium. The region holding these clusters is known as the N83-84-85 complex and is home to multiple, rare O-type stars. These are hot and extremely massive stars that burn hydrogen like the Sun.

Such a state mimics the condition in the early universe; therefore, the Small Magellanic Cloud gives a nearby lab to find out the theories regarding star formation and the interstellar medium of the cosmos’s early stage.

With these observations, the researchers tend to study the gas flow from convergence to divergence, which helps in refining the difference between the Small Magellanic Cloud and its dwarf galaxy, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Further, it helps in knowing the interstellar medium and gravitational interactions between the galaxies.

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

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Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance’s CZ threatens to sue Bloomberg over Trump stablecoin report

Binance co-founder CZ has dismissed a Bloomberg report linking him to the Trump-backed USD1 stablecoin, threatening legal action over alleged defamation.

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New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Could Reveal Secrets of Distant Worlds

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New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Could Reveal Secrets of Distant Worlds

The entry of a third known object into our solar system has been confirmed on July 1, 2025 by the astronomers. This object is named 3I/ATLAS, where 3I stands for “Third Interstellar”, having a highly hyperbolic (eccentricity ≈ 6.2) orbit, confirming it is not bound to the Sun but is a true interstellar visitor. Only two such visitors, 1I/ʻOumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019), had been seen before. Notably, 3I/ATLAS appears to be the largest and brightest interstellar wanderer yet discovered.

Comparison with previous interstellars

According to NASA, astronomers from the ATLAS survey first spotted the object on July 1, 2025, using a telescope in Chile. It immediately drew attention for its unusual motion. Shortly after discovery, observers saw a faint coma and tail, leading to its classification as comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS).

This comet-like appearance is shared with 2I/Borisov, the second interstellar visitor. Global observatories now track 3I/ATLAS. It poses no threat but offers a rare opportunity to study alien material. Since 1I/ʻOumuamua was observed only as it was leaving the solar system, it was difficult for astronomers to get enough data on it to confirm its exact nature — hence the crazy theories about it being an alien spaceship — though it’s almost certainly an asteroid or a comet.

Size and Significance

3I/ATLAS is much larger and brighter than earlier interstellar visitors. It is about 15 kilometers (km) [9 miles] in diameter, with huge uncertainty, compared to 100m for 1I/’Oumuamua and less than 1km for 2I/Borisov. This brightness and size makes it a a better target for study. Astronomers are planning to analyze its light for chemical signatures from its home system to get clues about the formation of distant planetary systems.

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