Fascinating new research asks why baby mammals twitch in their sleep. It turns out that twitching that occurs during sleep produces far more brain activity than larger movements that happen when the animal is awake.

Researchers confirmed that movements that are unexpected are processed differently, presumably to help map the body: “These results help us make sense of how twitches contribute to development. That is, by treating twitches differently from wake movements, the sensations from twitching limbs are not filtered out. Instead, twitches lead directly to brain activity, which is necessary for brain plasticity, that is the brain’s ability to change.”

Unexpected movements, small and safe, like the twitches of a sleeping baby, are exactly what happen during an individual Feldenkrais session. As a client said to me Friday during an individual session, “It’s amazing the things my arm can do! I had no idea, but now I’ll try it out when I’m working.”

If you haven’t experienced an individual Feldenkrais session, call for an appointment today. Adults don’t twitch as much as babies when they sleep, but they can still benefit from improved brain function.