Myoclonic movements in sleep

Sep 23, 2025
 

This is a teenager who has developed multiple, nightly "jerks" in sleep, keeping her mother and the referring paediatric neurologist awake at night!

 

The EEG correlate of this video:

 

 

This is a good example of hypnic jerks or physiological myoclonus of sleep. Other than the EMG and movement-related artefact, the EEG is normal. The artefact resembles polyspikes. Multiple such movements were marked by her mother during the night and on other occasions there was no such artefact and the EEG was normal. The EEG is normal during wakefulness and sleep.