#glymphatic

Pumping Out Waste

The glymphatic system is the brain’s very own rubbish collection service. Using perivascular channels, the space surrounding the brain’s blood vessels, the glymphatic system is driven by the pulses emitted by these vessels to quickly carry healthy cerebrospinal fluid into the brain and clear out waste. Importantly, the system is thought to remove peptides that form the amyloid plaques found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Since the glymphatic system relies on the brain’s network of blood vessels, scientists sought to find out more about the system by studying a rat model of hypertension [high blood pressure]. By tracking the movement of a tracer through the cerebrospinal fluid (illuminated here in red), the team found that the glymphatic system was compromised in rats that had both early and late stages of hypertension. These findings shed new light on the importance of healthy blood vessels in the ageing population to potentially protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

Written by Gaëlle Coullon

Image by Kristian Nygaard Mortensen and colleagues, published on the cover of Journal of Neuroscience

Center for Translational Neuromedicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Image reproduced with permission from the Journal of Neuroscience

Published in Journal of Neuroscience, August 2019

The glymphatic system is like the brain’s nighttime cleaning crew.

When you sleep—especially during deep sleep—your brain cells shrink a little, which creates space for cerebrospinal fluid to flow more freely through your brain. This fluid flushes out waste, toxins, and leftover proteins that build up during the day (like beta-amyloid, which is linked to Alzheimer’s).

Think of it like your brain running a dishwasher cycle while you sleep. If you skip sleep, the mess piles up.

We’re still learning how this system works, but one thing is clear: good sleep isn’t just about rest—it’s how your brain takes out the trash.

Accumulating sleep deficiency has dangerous implications for your brain. Having less than seven or eight hours of sleep has been link to cognitive decline, memory loss and possibly Alzheimer’s. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to irreversible brain damage.

Here is what your brain does during sleep:

Clears toxins

  The glymphatic system helps to clears out and recycle all your brain’s toxins. One protein involved in developing amyloid plague, which can lead to Alzheimer’s, is very actively recycled during sleeping.

Repairs daily wear and tear

  Chemicals are secreted during deeper stages of sleep that are crucial for repairing the body. Prolonged wakefulness can injure neurons essential for alertness and cogonition. It may also be link to shrinking brain volume.

Makes chaos form into order

  During daily activities, your brain is exposed to all kinds of stimuli. Your brain can’t possibly process it all as it comes in. While you’re sleeping at night, your brain is process and archive all your memories. So just sleeping five hours a night your memory aren’t functioning optimally.

Creates memories