May 14, 2024 23:00:00It is pointed out that the brain's ability to flush out waste products is weakened during sleep and anesthesiaIn March 2024, researchers from the University of Washington published a paper claiming thatthey had elucidated the mechanism by which sleep flushes waste products from the brain . However, a team of researchers from Imperial College London has made the exact opposite point, that the ability to flush waste products is actually weakened during sleep. It has been confirmed that if rhythmic brain waves are inhibited, fresh cerebrospinal fluid is not sent and waste products remain. Although there has been an increasing number of studies linking sleep deprivation to the risk of Alzheimer's disease in recent years, it remains unclear whether sleep deprivation causes Alzheimer's disease or whether sleep deprivation is an early symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Another aspect of this study is that it shows that the brain's ability to clear waste products is more efficient when you're awake.
Source: The Guardian May 14, 2024 15:24 UTC