There are so many ways to cleanse the human body: soap and water, toothpaste... prune juice. But what about the brain? How do we get all the gunk out of there?
Dr. Maiken Nedergaard and scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center and New York University found that sleep actually allows your brain to clean itself up. (Via Philips)
"Using new technology called 'two-photon microscopy,' the Rochester researchers were able to see the brain's disposal system. They're calling it the glymphatic system." (Via Discovery News)
Nedergaard previously found that the glymphatic system consists of microscopic, fluid-filled channels that clear metabolic toxins from the brain with cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF. That fluid kind of works like Drain-O, collecting and then flushing those toxins out of your brain. (Via Science)
Researchers tested the cleaning system in sleeping mice placed on a two-photon microscope. They injected two different colored dyes into the mice and saw that CSF flowed into the brain more often as the mice slept. (Via Cranial Intelligence)
The results also showed that brain cells shrink up to 60 percent as we sleep, making it easier for CSF to move through our brain.
According to Time, the study "suggests that while the body powers down, the glymphatic system ramps up, becoming 10 times more active than when the brain is awake."
The study gives scientists a better understanding of why humans and animals sleep, even if it puts us in harm's way. (Via Animal Planet)
Scientists know that shut-eye allows you to recharge, and they believe it allows your brain to store memories. But the study’s results also show a correlation between sleep and disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, which are caused by the buildup of toxins in the brain.
NBC reports, "While researchers don't yet know if these plaques are a cause or a result of neurodegenerative disease, the new insights about the way sleep clears waste from the brain could lead to new treatment approaches."
Moving forward, Nedergaard and her colleagues hope to find out if nightly cleansings happen in other animals species and to what extent. The study was published in the journal Science.
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