Sleep deprivation impairs molecular clearance from the human brain | Hacker News Reader

Sleep deprivation impairs molecular clearance from the human brain

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There has been a strong correlation between the build up of amyloid plaques and degenerative brain diseases. I think the expectation has always been that this is a build up over time, and that one all-nighter or a few isn't harmful. Like eating fries, your body will repair itself as long as you don't make it a habit.

This study suggests that the brain does not remove these built up paque over a 4 week period. I'd be very interested to see if the researchers are able to do a further follow-up study, but this is very damning evidence of the importance of quality sleep...always!

My startup (https://soundmind.co) is working on using sound to improve sleep quality, and our DeepWave stimulation is specifically targeting the processes which clear the amyloid plaques discussed in the paper. There is great research regarding improving the capabilities of the brain to clear plaque in a reduced time frame by increasing the power and number of waves in a slow-wave oscillation.

I had been under the assumption that this meant we would be able to repair previous damage to a certain percent. Unfortunately, this appears not to be the case.

As a life-long insomniac who witnessed an uncle die from Alzheimer's, I'm very concerned of the effects.

Please take care of your sleep. I'm working to help you, but until we're able to do it, and prove that we can do it, just don't damage yourself.

Can't you offset this a bit with good diet and/or autophagy via fasting?

That's potentially something to look into. I've been doing IF for a few years. But like I said, I was surprised that the brain doesn't catch-up from just ONE night of sleep deprivation.

I'm not a neurologist, but we consult with one regularly. I'll have to discuss it with him. I wouldn't want to risk it though...

Had to log in to correct a point made above. The paper does -not- say that the plaques are not removed over a 4 week period. The paper and supplement call out that at a 4-week follow up "there was no sign of residual tracer in brain tissue".

Would you be able to put the point and counterpoint into layperson's terms? Does the brain repair itself after 4 weeks or not, or is it still unclear?

Another thing to lose sleep over eh ?

> This study suggests that the brain does not remove these built up paque over a 4 week period.

What? It explicitly says that all of the tracer they used was cleared after 4 weeks:

"After 4 weeks, there were no differences in normalized T1 signal as compared to before intrathecal CSF tracer administration in any of the groups (Supplementary Table 4), i.e. no signs of remaining contrast agent in CSF or brain tissue in any of the groups."

It is still unknown whether or not amyloid plaques are actually a cause of Alzheimer's but... fragments clump together to form plaques, and once they reach a certain size they can become too large to be cleared from the brain and they could remain for long periods of time. It has also been shown that focused ultrasound can be used to temporarily open up the blood brain barrier to help clear plaques from the brain [1]. It may be that sleep deprivation is unsafe at any age and might increase risks long into the future, although older adults are probably at a higher risk if the ability to clear is degraded at older age.

[1] https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/278/278ra33

Yes, this is absolutely true. Which is why I stated "strong correlation", do you feel there is a better way for me to have stated that? I wasn't intending to be misleading. I'm still learning about the field.

What is with the recent string of rehashed studies posted here on HN? These things are dime a dozen and almost never do anything to actually help real people live longer or better lives. We have know for decades about the relationship between sleep and plaques. We don't need to know about yet another study conducted over an extremely short time period confirming this for the 100th time.

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