Where Do My Eyes Go When I Sleep?

Also known as paradoxical sleep

paradoxical sleep

REM sleep is coined "paradoxical" because of its similarities to wakefulness. Although the body is paralyzed, the brain acts as if it is somewhat awake, with cerebral neurons firing with the same overall intensity as in wakefulness.

› wiki › Rapid_eye_movement_sleep

, REM sleep causes the eyes and brain to act in a way similar to a waking state. During non-REM sleep, the eyes may move in the opposite direction from one another. During REM sleep, the eyes tend to “look” at the same area, just like they would in a fully awake state.

Where do your eyeballs go when you sleep?

During stage 1 of sleep, our eyes roll slowly, opening and closing. During stages 2-4 you are in deep sleep and your eyes are still. There's a stage of our sleep cycle called rapid eye movement (REM). During REM sleep, our eyeballs move rapidly behind our eyelids and our bodies become more still.

Do your eyes roll back when we sleep?

During stage 1, your eyes roll slowly, opening and closing slightly; however the eyes are then still from stages 2-4 when sleep is deeper. During REM sleep, your eyes move around rapidly in a range of directions, but don't send any visual information to your brain.