# What is this sensation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-sensation/500547 "2009-06-22T02:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Novalyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@Novalyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novalyne)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-sensation/500547/1 "2009-06-22T02:20:14Z")
Today I was on a plane. First off, pretty much all moving vehicles put me to sleep. So as the plane started to taxi, I immediately relaxed into a drowsy “in-between sleep and awake” state. It was not just drowsiness, though - there was a vague sensation of pleasure that felt like a not-quite tickle or tingle on the back of my head, from the nape of my neck around to the top of my forehead, only in the center though. I have felt this before in moving vehicles, and also sometimes when someone with a perfectly melodious voice puts me into that “in-between” zone. Also I’ll get the same tingles on the back of my head when someone very lightly strokes my skin. It’s not anything erogenous, it’s just a very pleasant state where I’m half asleep and I get the tingles on the head. Any ideas what this is? Or am I just a weirdo? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-sensation/500547/2 "2009-06-22T02:56:53Z")
I think you’re a weirdo, I’ve never felt anything like that before (without drugs, that is). Wish I could summon it though, sounds nice. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-sensation/500547/3 "2009-06-22T03:24:13Z")
Hehe. Aren’t large moving vehicles fun for discovering new and interesting things about your head? Many moons ago, while on a plane, my mother advised me to pop my ears by swallowing some spit. I soon discovered that I could do this on cue _without_ the need for swallowing. _momentary break to wiki “Eustachian tube”_ Yes. As it turns out, I can open my eustachian tube at will. Can anyone else do that? Huh? === Upon further reading, I’ve discovered that I’m not all that unique. _sulks_ I agree with **cmyk** , those sensations you describe sound delightful 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-sensation/500547/4 "2009-06-22T03:42:52Z")
[Hypnogogia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnagogia) > [@](#): > > **Hypnagogia** … is a term coined by [Alfred Maury](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Ferdinand_Alfred_Maury) for the transitional state between [wakefulness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakefulness) and [sleep](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep) My favorite sensation. I frequently feel this when I doze off in the recliner with the TV on. Not quite asleep, not quite awake; much like some drug experiences I had in my misspent youth. Time especially is distorted; sometimes it feels like hours pass, but when I come out of it, only 10-15 minutes has elapsed. I induce it whenever I have the occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-sensation/500547/5 "2009-06-22T04:27:28Z")
I have had a similar sensation. It was at the airport at night. I felt like I was experiencing the day backwards; getting off, the plane, walking on the terminal, walking out of the Las Vegas strip. Except, I had no experience of “movement”, as if I was going back in time. Maybe it was all the lights.