No they don't! Humans report being conscious half of the time when awoken from NREM sleep.
The NREM/REM, conscious/unconscious dichotomy has been thoroughly debunked.
It's time we stop oversimplifying the relationship between sleep and consciousness!
Thomas Andrillon
Thalamic oscillations distinguish natural states of consciousness in humans
Nature Human Behaviour, Published online: 27 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41562-026-02446-zChowdhury et al. report the discovery of a 19–45-Hz thalamic oscillation that is present during human wakefulness and REM sleep, but not NREM sleep.
