Huberman says REM sleep acts like ‘trauma therapy’ by removing adrenaline

What was said

"During rapid eye movement sleep, there's an inability to move the body. We call this atonia. It's a literally a a sleep-induced paralysis that's healthy, and a complete failure of the nervous system to release adrenaline, epinephrine. This is sort of like a trauma therapy in some sense."

Huberman describes REM sleep as a period when the body is paralysed (atonia) and, he says, the nervous system does not release adrenaline/epinephrine. He argues this allows emotional events to be replayed in dreams without the same bodily stress chemistry, and adds that REM sleep deprivation has been shown to impair the ability to shed negative emotions from prior days.