What is atonia?

What is atonia?

Chris Idzikowski (Director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre) gives expert video advice on: What happens to my brain when I sleep?; What happens to my muscles when i sleep?; What happens to my breathing when I sleep? and more...

Atonia is a lack of muscle tone. The phrase muscle atonia during rapid eye movement sleep means that the muscles are paralyzed during rapid eye movement sleep. And it's a real paralysis. The brain's activity centers, movement centers, are trying to get to do things but there's a center low down in the brain that's actively blocking those signals and the antonia results.