It may be worth working a little harder to achieve that coveted, but often elusive goal good night’s sleep.
Deep sleep cleanses the mind of waste, just as a ‘dishwasher’ cleans dirty plates and glasses, just-published research suggests – and there’s more.
The findings also provide insight into how sleeping pills can disrupt – and potentially influence – the ‘brainwashing system’ cognitive function for people in the longer term.
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Study senior author Professor Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester, New York, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said norepinephrine (a neurotransmitter and hormone) triggers blood vessels contract – generating slow pulsations that create a rhythmic flow in the surrounding fluid to carry away waste, SWNS news agency noted.
Nedergaard said: “It’s like turning on the dishwasher before you go to bed and waking up with a clean brain… We essentially ask ourselves what drives this process and try to define restorative sleep based on “this” glymphatic clearance .”
“It’s like turning on the dishwasher before you go to bed and waking up with a clean brain.” (iStock)
The brain has a built-in waste removal process – the glymphatic system – that circulates fluid in the brain and spinal cord to clear away waste, the scientists said.
The process helps remove toxic proteins that form sticky plaques associated with neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
But the scientists indicated that according to the research so far it was unclear what drives the system.
Is all sleep created equal? The researchers wanted to find out.
To find clues, Nedergaard and her team examined what happens in mice when the brain sleeps, as SWNS reported on the study. The team focused on the relationship between norepinephrine and blood flow during deep sleep.
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They found that norepinephrine waves correlate with variations in blood volume in the brain, indicating that norepinephrine causes a rhythmic pulsation in the blood vessels. The researchers then compared the changes in blood volume for cerebral fluid flow.
Cerebrospinal fluid flow fluctuates in accordance with changes in blood volume – suggesting that blood vessels act as pumps to propel surrounding cerebrospinal fluid to flush out waste.
During deep sleep, toxic proteins that form sticky plaques linked to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease are removed, scientists say in a new study. (iStock)
Natalie Hauglund of the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford, the lead author of the study, said: “You can think of norepinephrine as (the) conductor of an orchestra.”
She added: “There is a harmony in the constriction and dilation of the arteries, which then drives the cerebrospinal fluid through the brain to remove the waste products.”
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Hauglund said she wanted to understand whether all sleep is equal.
To find out, the research team administered zolpidem, a commonly used drug to promote sleep, to mice.
“If people are not taking full advantage of the benefits of sleep, they need to be aware of it so they can make informed decisions.”
They found that norepinephrine waves during deep sleep were 50% lower in zolpidem-treated mice than in naturally sleeping mice.
Although the zolpidem-treated mice fell asleep faster, fluid transport to the brain decreased by more than 30%, SWNS reported.
Two new studies point to the importance of a good night’s sleep. One study says a lack of sleep can sabotage the brain’s ability to keep intrusive thoughts at bay. (iStock)
The researchers say their findings, published in the journal Cell, suggest that the sleep aid may disrupt norepinephrine-driven waste disposal during sleep.
Hauglund said, “More and more people are using sleep medicationand it is very important to know whether that is healthy sleep. If people are not taking full advantage of the benefits of sleep, they need to be aware of it so they can make informed decisions.”
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The research team said the findings likely apply to humans, who also have a glymphatic system, although this needs further testing.
Nedergaard added: “Now that we know that norepinephrine cleanses the brain, we can figure out how to give people a long and refreshing sleep.”
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Meanwhile, a lack of sleep can do more damage than just making people dizzy.
It could sabotage the brain’s ability to keep intrusive thoughts at bay.
Anyone who suffers from sleep deprivation may find that the brain’s defenses against unwanted memories are weakened, experts say. (iStock)
Another new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that sleep deprivation weakens the brain’s defenses against unwanted memories, allowing them to flood the mind, the researchers said. New York Post.
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“We show that sleep deprivation disrupts prefrontal inhibition of memory retrieval, and that nighttime recovery of this inhibitory mechanism is related to time spent in REM sleep,” the scientists said.
