“Exploding head syndrome” is a real thing suffered by many college students, and it may not be what you think.
Symptoms don’t include one’s head actually exploding, but it refers to the startling illusion of hearing a massive blast inside your head just as you are falling asleep.
According to a study published by Washington State University psychologists, it’s most often found among college students. Overall, one-in-five of the 211 undergraduate college students interviewed for the study suffer from the syndrome, the researchers found.
“At present there are little systematic data on exploding head syndrome, and prevalence rates are unknown,” said the U.S. National Health Institute agency. “Exploding head syndrome episodes were accompanied by clinically significant levels of fear,” it added.
The researchers think the disorder takes place due to problems when the brain is shutting down for sleep, and one’s auditory neurons fire all at once.
Professor Brian Sharpless said this could be behind “why you get these crazy-loud noises that you can’t explain, and they’re not actual noises in your environment,” according to the university’s WSU News.
