Fun Fact

That strange sensation of suddenly jerking awake as you’re falling asleep? That’s a hypnagogic jerk, also called a hypnic jerk. The hypnagogic state is when your brain produces its weirdest content—fleeting visions, hearing your name called, feeling like you’re floating or falling, or experiencing impossible geometric patterns. Artists and inventors have credited hypnagogic experiences with creative breakthroughs: Salvador Dalí would hold a key over a plate while dozing, letting it drop and wake him to capture his hypnagogic visions. Thomas Edison used a similar technique with ball bearings. Your brain during this twilight state is uniquely uninhibited, making connections it would never make while fully awake.