It may be worth working a little harder to achieve that much-desired, but often elusive, result. good night’s sleep.
Deep sleep rids the mind of trash just like a “dishwasher” cleans dirty plates and glasses, a just-published study suggests — and much more.
The findings also offer insight into how sleeping pills may disrupt the “brainwashing” system, potentially affecting cognitive function for people in the long term.
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Lead study author Professor Maiken Nedergaard, from the University of Rochester and the University of Copenhagen, 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, noted the SWNS news agency.
Nedergaard said: “It’s like turning on the dishwasher before going to bed and waking up with a clean brain. . . . We’re basically asking ourselves what drives this process and trying to define restorative sleep based on ” this “glymphatic clearance”.
“It’s like turning on the dishwasher before going to bed and waking up with a clean brain.” (iStock)
The brain has a built-in waste elimination process – the glymphatic system – which circulates fluid through the brain and spinal cord to remove waste, scientists say.
The process helps remove toxic proteins that form sticky plaques linked to neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
But the scientists said that, according to the study, what drives the system was unclear until now.
Is all sleep created equal? The researchers wanted to know.
To find clues, Nedergaard and his team studied what happens in mice when their brains sleep, as SWNS reported about 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 correlated with changes in cerebral blood volume, suggesting that norepinephrine triggers a rhythmic pulsation in blood vessels. The researchers then compared the changes in blood volume to the flow of cerebral fluid.
Brain fluid flow fluctuates with changes in blood volume, suggesting that the vessels act as pumps to propel surrounding brain fluid to remove 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, from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford, lead author of the study, said: “You can think of norepinephrine as the conductor of an orchestra. »
She added: “There is harmony in the constriction and dilation of the arteries, which then conduct spinal fluid through the brain to remove waste.”
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Hauglund said she wanted to understand if all sleep is equal.
To find out, the research team administered zolpidem, a common medication to aid sleep, to mice.
“If people are not enjoying the full benefits of sleep, they need to be aware 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 dropped by more than 30%, as reported by SWNS.
Two new studies highlight the importance of a good night’s sleep, with one claiming that 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 could disrupt the elimination of waste products caused by norepinephrine during sleep.
Hauglund said: “More and more people are using sleeping pilland it’s really important to know if it’s healthy sleep. If people are not taking full advantage of the benefits of sleep, they need to be aware of this 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 requires further testing.
Nedergaard added: “Now that we know that norepinephrine is involved in cleaning the brain, we can figure out how to give people long, restful sleep.”
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Meanwhile, lack of sleep can do more damage than just make people groggy.
This could sabotage the brain’s ability to keep intrusive thoughts away.
Anyone suffering from sleep deprivation may find that the brain’s defenses against unwanted memories are weakened, experts say. (iStock)
Another new study, this one published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that lack of sleep weakens the brain’s defenses against unwanted memories, allowing them to flood the mind, according to the study . New York Post.
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“We show that sleep deprivation disrupts prefrontal inhibition of memory retrieval and that nighttime restoration of this inhibitory mechanism is associated with time spent in REM sleep,” the scientists said.