Sleep whistling and replaying a melody during N3 sleep: a new form of disorder of arousal.

Vocalizations are common during arousal disorders, but producing a recognizable whistled melody has not been described. A 30-year-old man with a history of childhood sleepwalking, occasional sleep talking and confusional arousals exhibited an unusual musical behavior during a spontaneous slow-wave arousal from N3 sleep. This behavior consisted of rhythmic upper-body movements that kept time with the whistling of the recognizable melody "Take Me Home, Country Roads." He had complete amnesia for the event but later recognized the melody as one he had recently learned. This observation expands the behavioral repertoire of arousal disorders. The coordination of forced and prolonged expiration, lip movements, and torso and hand co-singing gestures, which lead to correct rhythms and melodies, may be maintained (and possibly automatized) during partial sleep.