News Neuroscience

Sleep allows brain to wash out junk

Discovery could lead to better treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

WIDE ASLEEP  Colored tracers penetrate more deeply into a mouse’s brain when it’s asleep (left, red tracer) than awake (right, green tracer). The finding indicates that channels between brain cells open up during sleep and allow cerebrospinal fluid to wash debris out of the brain. Blood vessels are shown in blue.

L. Xie, H. Kang and M. Nedergaard

By Tina Hesman Saey

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