Researchers have tied sleep to clearance of waste products such as excess Aβ. New research suggests this clearance may be driven by a change in the extracellular ion composition, which swells the interstitial fluid. Other work finds an essential role for a signaling pathway involving the kinase complex mTORC1 and the electrical rhythms of REM sleep. Read Madolyn Rogers' two-part series.
Series
To Sleep, Perchance to Clean…the Brain, Make Memories
Sleep and Brain Cleansing—Fresh Insights into Regulation and Disruption
Throughout the arc of human history, sleep has been a mysterious process that has captured the imaginations of both artists and scientists. Researchers are slowly deciphering how sleep restores us, and how its woeful absence makes us ill. Scientis...
In mTORC and Theta Rhythms, New Clues to How Sleep Locks Down Memories
Parents often insist their children get a good night’s sleep before a big exam, and science says they are onto something. Studies have demonstrated that without sleep, memory traces from the day before vanish. Exactly how sleep strengthens m...