Psalm 139:14
"The human brain is one of the most complex structures nature has ever devised, and that means there’s a lot we still don’t know about the three pounds of neurons and fat that rests between our ears.
Case in point, scientists only discovered how the organ removes
waste from the deep brain in 2013. The glymphatic system is responsible for removing waste that builds up in the brain while we sleep. First discovered in 2013, scientists are still trying to understand how it works.
In a series of new papers, experts have pieced together the mechanism that “pumps” cerebrospinal fluid through the brain, as well as how the waste traverses the barrier separating brain tissue and the bloodstream.
In a series of new papers, experts have pieced together the mechanism that “pumps” cerebrospinal fluid through the brain, as well as how the waste traverses the barrier separating brain tissue and the bloodstream.
Named the “glymphatic system,” this waste system uses cerebrospinal fluid to wash away waste products in the brain. It is especially good at clearing out protein aggregates called amyloids.
“We knew that sleep is a time when the brain initiates a cleaning process to flush out waste and toxins it accumulates during wakefulness. But we didn’t know how that happens,” Kipnis said in a press statement. “It is critical that the brain disposes of metabolic waste that can build up and contribute to neurodegenerative diseases.”
While that answers how waste migrates from the deep brain to its outer edges, it still doesn’t put together how the waste was then entering the bloodstream (and eventually being filtered by the liver and kidneys).
In another study published earlier this year, Kipnis announced the discovery of structures similar to “airport security checkpoints” that allow molecules and fluid to move across the arachnoid barrier separating brain tissue and the bloodstream."
Popular Mechanics
