A good night of sleep lightens the mind, and for scientists it is like turning on the dishwasher before going to bed and waking up with a clean brain.
An international scientist team described the process that occurs after a night of deep sleep like the “Waste washing“Which accumulate in the brain during the vigil hours.
Their results they also offer ideas on how i sleeping pills can stop the “brain washing” system, potentially influencing the cognitive function long -term.
The researchers already know that the brain has an integrated waste removal process called “glinfatic system“, Which circulate the fluid in the brain and in the spinal cord to eliminate it.
The process helps remove toxic proteins which form sticky plates linked to neurological disorders, such as the disease Alzheimerbut what guides the system had remained unclear, so far.
Danish scientists from the University of Copenhagen have discovered that a molecule called norepinephrine plays a key role in cleaning the brain.
During deep sleep, the brain trunk releases small waves of norepinefrine about once every 50 seconds.
The senior author of the study, Professor Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester in New York, explained that Norepinefrine triggers the contraction of the blood vessels, generating slow pulsations that create a rhythmic flow in the surrounding fluid to take away the slag.
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The study
To find clues, they examined what happens when the brain sleeps. They focused on relationship between norepinephrine and blood flow during periods of deep sleep.
They discovered that the waves of norepinephrine are related to the variations of the volume of the brain blood, suggesting that norepinephrine triggers a rhythmic pulsation in the blood vessels.
The researchers then compared changes in Blood volume with the flow of the brain fluiddiscovering that the fluctuations of the flow of the cerebral fluid correspond to the changes of the volume of the blood. The vases act as pumps to push the surrounding cerebral fluid to eliminate waste.
The scientists then wanted to know if all the sleeps are the same. To find out, the research group has administered the zolpidema common drug to encourage sleep.
They discovered that the waves of norepinephrine during deep sleep were 50% lower in subjects treated with zolpidem despite falling asleep faster.
The researchers say that their results show that i Sonniferi probably interrupt the elimination of waste led by norepinefrine during sleep.
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