Research Hit: How Your Brain Flushes Out Toxins During Sleep
Your brain cells coordinate to pump fluid through your brain and flush out toxins when sleeping
I like the idea of my brain flushing out toxins during sleep!
I think we all do - it was first discovered a few years ago that the brain does indeed flush out toxins during sleep. This also highlights the importance of sleep - you don’t want those toxins building up in your brain!
If this was discovered a few years ago, what is new about this research you are reporting on?
Good question: this particular research has gone into the details of the mechanisms that drive this detoxification through research into mice. And is similarly fascinating.
So what is happening in the brain?
First off, let’s understand that all metabolic processes - anything done by cells to keep alive, and keep you alive - generate toxins. These then need to be disposed off otherwise they will build up and cause dysfunction or even cellular death.
If you didn’t know, your brain sits in cerebrospino fluid, and this also transports these toxins out of your brain.
This, however, also needs to get to more dense parts of the brain and this is where Jian-Xie et al. of Washington University School of Medicine have given us more insights.
They observed how brain cells, neurons, coordinate their activity to generate slow brain waves and these slow brain waves act like a pump, pushing the cerebrospinal fluid through the brain, and particularly the more dense parts, thereby helping to flush out toxins.
So, these slow brain waves that we have known about for decades are not just an indicator of sleep but a functional part of washing your brain.
Oh wow - so our brain cells act like pumps!
Precisely - this slow wave pattern is not just to slow down and rest, but to pump out toxins accumulated during active hours.
The researchers also discovered that certain brain waves, those with higher amplitude, generated more force. So, it is not just the speed but also how high the curve, the amplitude, is.
The researchers aim to investigate further on more precise functions of different brain wave patterns during sleep and also across the different brain regions.
Amazing - so this shows the importance of sleep
Yes, as you know I have written plenty on sleep (see here for a short review). But get your sleep to get those toxins out of your brain. Your brain will thank you - and so will your health.
Reference:
Li-Feng Jiang-Xie, Antoine Drieu, Kesshni Bhasiin, Daniel Quintero, Igor Smirnov, Jonathan Kipnis.
Neuronal dynamics direct cerebrospinal fluid perfusion and brain clearance.
Nature, 2024
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07108-6