Eli5: When we sleep, spinal fluid washes waste from our brain. What exactly is “waste” in the brain?
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(Edit: Yes this is not truly a 5 year old explanation but I hope I explained it enough that a high-school student can understand)
Basically some byproducts of metabolism that the brain makes throughout the day. Our nerve cells in the central nervous system use a lot of energy and have complex functions that arise from complicated metabolic processes. There are other cells in the brain called glial cells. Astrocytes are a type of glial cell that are the main supporters for nerve cells in the brain. They are very essential to proper nerve function and do a lot/most of the daily cleaning up throughout the day but there are still “waste” products from metabolism that are not taken care of. Although minor compared to what astroctyes and microglia do in the brain (maybe more important than what is recognized in the literature), this nightly cerebrospinal fluid can help to clear out some of these metabolites, remove potentially toxic molecules that impair brain function, and also potentially redistribute hormone and chemical messengers in the brain. It’s hard to research this though since tagging these molecules and proteins in the central nervous system for imaging is hard. But all in all, another reason why a good night’s sleep is important!
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