According to a recent report, sleep facilitates cleaning of the brain.* Based on studies of mice, researchers have learned sleeping opens a "faucet" to bath the brain in fluids that carry away garbage proteins and other nasties from the brain that accumulate during waking hours.
During sleep periods, this drainage service, called the glymphatic system, uploads brain and spinal cord fluids into spaces between brain cells to flush out waste products. The fluids and waste then are carried to the liver for eventual removal.
In waking periods, the drainage system essentially shuts down. The brain cells swell to reduce the channels between the cells, thus blocking the flow of fluids. When sleep occurs, the opposite process occurs.
So, it seems, when brain waste exits a body, it ultimately enters the wastewater stream to the local treatment plant. One can speculate whether the brain cleansing system can remove more than tiny particles. Next time you have a brain storm, or are perplexed by an issue, remember the old adage..."Sleep On It." By morning, the brain storm or the issue may have passed to the liver and beyond.
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*Tina Hessman Saey, Sleep Allows Brain To Wash Out Junk, Science News, November 16, 2013, p. 7
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