Working Double Duty
Dr. Maiken Nedergaard led the study. The brain expert says our brains perform two very different jobs. It seems they have daytime jobs. Later they “moonlight” at a nighttime job.
“Moonlighting” is working a nighttime job in addition to a day job. And this study says that is what our brains seem to be doing – working an extra job at night without additional pay for overtime.
“When we are awake, the brain cells are working very hard at processing all the information about our surroundings. Whereas during sleep, they work very, very hard at removing all the waste that builds up when we are awake."
The researchers say that the waste material includes poisons, or toxins, responsible for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
It is not just beauty sleep. The brain needs us to sleep so it can get to work.
It is not just beauty sleep. The brain needs us to sleep so it can get to work.
They also found that during sleep, the brain’s cells shrink, or become smaller. This shrinking permits waste to be removed more effectively.
Dr. Nedergaard says these toxins end up in the liver. There, they are broken down and then removed from the body.
"So our study suggests that we need to sleep because we have a macroscopic cleaning system that removes many of the toxic waste products from the brain."
The brain’s cleaning system could only be studied with new imaging technologies. The test animal must be alive in order to see this brain process to be seen as it happens.
Dr. Nedergaard says the next step is to look for the process in human brains. She said the results demonstrate just how important sleep is to health and fighting disease. The research may also one day lead to treatments to prevent or help fight neurological disorders.