Brainstem · Structure
Pons
The bridge — and the gateway to dreaming.
The pons ferries signals between cortex and cerebellum and contains the switches that launch REM sleep, including the ones that paralyze your muscles while you dream.
What it does
- Relaying cortex-to-cerebellum traffic
- Triggering REM sleep and dream paralysis
- Controlling facial sensation and expression
In the real world
Sleep paralysis explained
When pontine muscle-blocking outlasts waking by a few seconds, you experience the terrifying but harmless state of sleep paralysis.