How Sleep Removes Toxic Waste from the Brain
Although we don’t know exactly how or why, there is no question that sleep is crucial for our overall health. Most of us just don’t realize how crucial and healing sleep really is for the brain. Sleep is truly one of the best ways for the brain to detoxify.
In a recent study, the researchers looked at something called the glymphatic system of the brain. Injecting dye into the brains of mice, they watched the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and found that the CSF flowed rapidly when the mice were unconscious (whether asleep or sedated) and barely moved when the mice were awake.
The study, published in the journal Science, reveals that your brain has a unique method of removing toxic waste from ‘the glymphatic system’. Even more interesting, it seems that brain cells shrink by about 60% during sleep, allowing for waste to be removed more easily.
“Sleep changes the cellular structure of the brain,” said Maiken Nedergaard, co-author of the study. “It appears to be a completely different state.”
This study shows that the brain has different functional states when asleep and when awake,” said Dr Malcom Nedergaard. “In fact, the restorative nature of sleep appears to be the result of the active clearance of the by-products of neural activity that accumulate during wakefulness.
To your Best health!
Holistic Health Warrior
More Thoughts from Mellisa
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