Neuroscience · 5 min read
Your Brain Takes Out the Trash While You Sleep
The glymphatic system flushes waste from the brain—mostly at night.
In 2013, researchers found that the space between brain cells expands by about 60% during sleep in mice, letting cerebrospinal fluid wash away metabolic waste.
Among that waste is beta-amyloid, a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease. This raised the question of whether poor sleep contributes to neurodegeneration.
Human studies are ongoing, and some findings have been debated—a reminder that science refines itself over time.