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Many of us know people who have sleepwalked or who have sleepwalked themselves. However, despite the fact that it is fairly common, it is not particularly well-understood. Researchers from the Sacre-Coeur Hospital at the Université de Montreal sought to debunk many of the myths surrounding sleepwalking. By analyzing studies conducted over the past 15 years on the subject, researchers were able to debunk many prominent myths about sleepwalking.

Myth: It's random.

Studies on the subject have found that, most of the time, a family history of sleepwalking exists for people who are sleepwalkers. In fact, 80 percent of sleepwalkers have such a family history. In addition, in twins, it is five times more common in identical twins for both members of the pair to sleepwalk than it is for fraternal twins.

Myth: It's dangerous...most of the time.

Most of the time, sleepwalking wanderings are short and pose no danger to the person having them or anyone surrounding them. In rare cases, the wanderings can be longer and can lead sleepwalkers to injure themselves. In quite a number of cases, people have driven cars in their sleep.

Myth: Sleepwalking mainly occurs in adults.

Sleepwalking occurrences tend to diminish with age. Many children sleepwalk between the age of six and 12, and 75 percent of the time, this tendency disappears as the children become adults. However, older adults have decreased sleepwalking episodes; sleepwalking occurs during deep slow-wave sleep and, as you become older, that stage of sleep becomes increasingly shorter.

Myth: Sleepwalkers don't remember sleepwalking.

Different portions of the brain can fall asleep at different times, so often people who sleepwalk are both awake and asleep at the same time. While children are more likely to report that they do not remember their actions, adults can sometimes remember what actions they performed in their sleep.

Myth: Sleepwalkers do things for no reason.

Even though the reasons that sleepwalkers perform actions may not make sense in the light of day, there is generally some rationale behind them. As Antonio Zadra says in a statement, "[There] is a significant proportion of sleepwalkers who remember what they have done and can explain the reasons for their actions. They are the first to say, once awake, that their explanations are nonsensical. However, during the episode, there is an underlying rationale. For example, a man once took his dog that had been sleeping at the foot of his bed to the bathtub to douse it with water. He thought his dog was on fire! There was neither the logic nor the judgment typical of wakefulness. But the [behavior] was not automatic in the sense that a motivation accompanied and explained the action."

Myth: Sleepwalking has no effect on daytime behavior.

Due, in part, to the fact that sleepwalking is often caused by stress and lack of sleep, 45 percent of sleepwalkers are drowsy during the day. If they have a chance to take a nap, they fall asleep more quickly than controls do.

The study was published in the journal Lancet Neurology.