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It might be worth working a little harder to achieve that long-desired but often elusive one. good night’s sleep.
Deep sleep cleanses the mind of debris the way a “dishwasher” cleans dirty dishes and glasses, newly published research suggests, and there’s more.
The findings also offer insight into how sleeping pills can disrupt the “brainwashing” system, potentially affecting cognitive function for people in the long term.
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The study’s lead author, Professor Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester, New York, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said that norepinephrine (a neurotransmitter and hormone) triggers blood vessels contract, generating slow pulsations that create a rhythmic flow in the surrounding fluid to remove 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… Basically, we ask ourselves what drives this process and try to define restful sleep based on” this “glymphatic clearing.”
“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 removal process, the glymphatic system, which circulates fluid in the brain and spinal cord to remove waste, according to scientists.
The process helps remove toxic proteins that form sticky plaques linked to neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
But scientists said it was unclear until now what drives the system, according to the study.
Are all dreams the same? The researchers wanted to find out.
To find clues, Nedergaard and his 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 brain 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 in correspondence with changes in blood volume, suggesting that the vessels act as pumps to pump 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 of the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford, lead author of the study, said: “You can see norepinephrine as (the) conductor of an orchestra.”
He added: “There is a harmony in the constriction and dilation of the arteries, which then drives cerebrospinal fluid through the brain to remove waste products.”
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Hauglund said he wanted to understand if all sleep is the same.
To find out, the research team gave zolpidem, a common sleep aid drug, to mice.
“If people are not getting the full benefits of sleep, they need to be aware of that so they can make informed decisions.”
They found that norepinephrine waves during deep sleep were 50% lower in mice treated with zolpidem than in naturally sleeping mice.
Although mice treated with zolpidem fell asleep faster, fluid transport to the brain decreased by more than 30%, as reported by SWNS.
Two new studies indicate the importance of getting a good night’s sleep; A study says that lack of sleep may be sabotaging 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 alter norepinephrine-driven waste elimination during sleep.
Hauglund said: “More and more people are using sleeping medicationand it is very important to know if that is healthy sleep. “If people are not getting the full benefits of sleep, they need to be aware of that 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 it requires further testing.
Nedergaard added: “Now that we know that norepinephrine drives brain cleanup, we can figure out how to get people to have long, restful sleep.”
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Meanwhile, lack of sleep may be doing more harm than just making people groggy.
You could be sabotaging your brain’s ability to keep intrusive thoughts at bay.
According to experts, anyone suffering from sleep deprivation may find the brain’s defenses against unwanted memories weakened. (iStock)
Another new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sleep deprivation 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 impairs prefrontal inhibition of memory retrieval, and that nocturnal restoration of this inhibitory mechanism is associated with time spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep,” the scientists said.
