According to a new study from Washington University in St. Louis, individual neurons work together to generate rhythmic waves that propel fluid through dense brain tissue, cleaning it in the process.
Accumulation of metabolic waste products is a major cause of many neurological diseases, but there is still limited knowledge about how the brain performs self-cleaning.Jean Xie other. They demonstrate that neural networks synchronize individual action potentials to generate large-amplitude, rhythmic, self-perpetuating ion waves within the brain's interstitial fluid. Image credit: Jiang-Xie other., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07108-6.
“These neurons are miniature pumps,” said Dr. Li-Feng Jiang-Xie, lead author of the study.
“Synchronized neural activity facilitates fluid flow and removal of debris from the brain.”
“If we can develop this process, we could slow or prevent neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, where excess waste products such as metabolic waste and junk proteins accumulate in the brain and cause neurodegeneration. It may be possible.”
Brain cells form a dynamic network that coordinates thoughts, emotions, and body movements and is essential for memory formation and problem solving.
But to perform these energy-intensive tasks, your brain cells need fuel. When you take in nutrients from your diet, metabolic waste products are produced in the process.
“It is important that the brain processes metabolic waste products that can accumulate and contribute to neurodegenerative diseases,” said Professor Jonathan Kipnis, senior author of the study.
“We knew that sleep is a time when the brain begins a cleansing process to flush out waste and toxins that have accumulated during wakefulness. But how does that happen? I didn't understand.”
“These findings may point us to strategies and potential treatments to accelerate the removal of hazardous waste and remove it before it leads to dire consequences.”
However, cleaning the dense brain is not an easy task. The cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain enters a complex network of cells, collecting toxic waste as it passes through it.
On leaving the brain, contaminated fluids must pass through a barrier in the dura mater (the outer layer of tissue that surrounds the brain under the skull) before flooding into the lymph vessels.
But what powers the flow of fluid into, into, and out of the brain?
“Researchers studied the brains of sleeping mice and discovered that neurons work together to fire electrical signals that generate rhythmic waves in the brain, prompting cleaning efforts,” says Jean. Dr. Shi said.
The study authors determined that such waves drive fluid movement.
They silenced certain brain areas so that neurons in those areas no longer produced rhythmic waves.
Without these waves, fresh cerebrospinal fluid cannot flow through the silenced brain areas and trapped waste products cannot exit the brain tissue.
“One of the reasons we sleep is to cleanse the brain,” Professor Kipnis says.
“And if we can enhance this cleansing process, perhaps we can sleep less and stay healthy.”
“Not everyone can benefit from eight hours of sleep each night, and lack of sleep can affect your health.”
“Other studies have shown that mice genetically short-sleeping have healthier brains.”
“Is it to remove waste products from the brain more efficiently?”
“Is it possible to strengthen the brain purification ability of people suffering from insomnia so that they can live with less sleep?”
of study Published in the Journal on February 28, 2024 Nature.
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LF.Jean Xie other. Neurodynamics directs cerebrospinal fluid perfusion and brain clearance. Nature, published online on February 28, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07108-6
Source: www.sci.news
