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Nature neuroscience
Published

Brain clearance is reduced during sleep and anesthesia

Authors

Andawei Miao, Tianyuan Luo, Bryan Hsieh, Christopher J Edge, Morgan Gridley, Ryan Tak Chun Wong, Timothy G Constandinou, William Wisden, Nicholas P Franks

Abstract

Nat Neurosci. 2024 Jun;27(6):1046-1050. doi: 10.1038/s41593-024-01638-y. Epub 2024 May 13.

ABSTRACT

It has been suggested that the function of sleep is to actively clear metabolites and toxins from the brain. Enhanced clearance is also said to occur during anesthesia. Here, we measure clearance and movement of fluorescent molecules in the brains of male mice and show that movement is, in fact, independent of sleep and wake or anesthesia. Moreover, we show that brain clearance is markedly reduced, not increased, during sleep and anesthesia.

PMID:38741022 | PMC:PMC11156584 | DOI:10.1038/s41593-024-01638-y