The title sounds like an idea for a third-rate horror movie, but researchers at Washington State University argue that the so-called "exploding head syndrome" is a real mental disorder that most often goes undiagnosed.
"This phenomenon has hardly been studied," says Brian Sharpless, an assistant professor at the University of Washington. “I have met in my practice people who have symptoms of this disorder seven times a night.”
Sufferers of this syndrome hear sudden, very loud sounds - like a door slamming, a firecracker exploding, or a shot being fired. This usually happens when a person is getting ready for bed. Pops are not physically harmful, but they can be very scary.
Some people think that the "explosion" occurs in one ear, some - that in both ears, but most are sure that the popping occurs inside the head. At the same time, some of the sufferers see bright flashes, like lightning.
“As a result, some people have fear every time they approach bedtime,” Sharpless explained.
While researchers do not know how common this problem is, they suggest that in many cases, doctors simply do not pay due attention to such stories of their patients.
For the first time the term "exploding head syndrome" appeared in one of the articles of the scientific journal "Lancet" in 1988, but the description of "pops in the brain" appeared in 1920.