Auditory and visual hallucinations during sleep paralysis often possess a mystical quality. They resemble the experience of using psychedelics and differ from the more plausible, everyday hallucinations associated with schizophrenia. This conclusion was reached by Polish scientists Lena Rudy and Michał Godlewski, who identified three key components of sleep paralysis: the sensation of someone being present (which is often frightening), the feeling of pressure on the chest, and out-of-body travel.
The researchers suggest that certain brain areas are responsible for the perception of one’s own body and the surrounding space. Sometimes, a glitch results in the sensation of an “other” in the room. The authors didn’t conduct surveys or experiments; instead, they analyzed scientific articles from leading databases. From an initial selection of 10,000 articles, they chose 114.
So, there are three primary “culprits” responsible for hallucinations during sleep paralysis:
1. Serotonin and its effects on specific brain regions (5-HT2A).
2. The protein β-arrestin-2, which makes the brain more “ready” for hallucinations.
3. A glitch in the balance of “activity” and “calm” in the brain, which triggers frightening images.
The scientists add that this opens new perspectives not only for solving the problem of sleep paralysis (which frightens many people) but also for treating various neuropsychiatric disorders.
Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? Were your hallucinations mystical or realistic?
The article was published in July 2025 in the International Journal of Molecular Science.
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