Sleepwalking

Definition:
Sleepwalking is a disorder that causes people to get up and walk while they're asleep. It usually happens when a person is going from the deep stage of sleep to a lighter stage or into the awake state. The sleepwalker can't respond during the event and usually doesn't remember it. In some cases, he may talk and not make sense.

Symptoms:
When someone sleepwalks, they might quietly walk around their room. Or they might run or attempt to "escape." Typically, the sleepwalker's eyes are open with a glassy stare as he roams the house. If you question him, he'll be slow to respond or not respond at all. When you get him back to bed without waking him up, he usually won't recall the event. Older children may wake up more easily at the end of a sleepwalking episode.

Statistics:
Sleepwalking was inherited as an autosomal dominant disorder with reduced penetrance in this family. Genome-wide multipoint parametric linkage analysis for sleepwalking revealed a maximum logarithm of the odds score of 3.44 at chromosome 20q12-q13.12 between 55.6 and 61.4 cM.