Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., a neurologist at the University of Rochester, has just published a study on a new understanding of the importance of sleep for brain functioning. She has learned that during sleep, the amount of space in between brain cells increases by 60% allowing for spinal fluid to more easily pass between these cells and wash away toxins accumulated during awake time. One of the waste products of the brain is the protein amyloid-beta, which accumulates and forms plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis had previously shown that levels of amyloid-beta in mice brains dropped during sleep because of a decrease in production of the protein.
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