Magnetic resonance imaging scan of an adult brain with regions of cerebrospinal fluid overlaid in blue
Stephanie D. Williams (CC-BY 4.0)
The brain’s “waste disposal system” may be activated after intense neural activity, and it is possible that this process can be intentionally turned on.
Until recently, this system was thought to activate only during sleep, but researchers confirmed that it activates in humans after seeing a flickering checkerboard pattern on a screen. .
Laura Lewis of Boston University in Massachusetts says the findings provide an intriguing hint that by staring at strong visual stimuli, people may be able to deliberately flush waste products from their brains.
“What really surprised me was that we found it in people who were awake,” says Edoardo Rosario de Natale of the University of Exeter, UK.
The brain’s waste disposal system involves cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pumping into the brain and out through a network of thin tubes called the glymphatic system, which was only discovered in 2012.
Animal studies suggest that the fluid washes out waste products made by brain cells, including harmful compounds such as beta-amyloid and alpha-synuclein, which may be involved in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. .
Since the discovery of the glymphatic system, there has been a surge of research aimed at understanding how promoting fluid flow can help improve brain health. Much of what works is still unknown.
Lewis’ team used a new brain-scanning technique using existing magnetic resonance imaging equipment that highlights newly invaded CSF in the brain’s fourth ventricle (the cavity at the base of the head). Fluid that enters this chamber is drained through the lymphatic system.
They had 20 volunteers look at the screen inside the scanner. The screen displayed patterns known to increase brain activity. This is a blinking black and white spiral checkerboard pattern. Excluding short rest periods, the display was turned on and off at 16-second intervals for about an hour.
When the pattern was displayed, it increased blood flow to the visual center of the brain, as expected. As the screen dimmed, blood flow decreased and CSF flow increased to the brain.
Brain-scanning techniques could not reveal whether fluid had passed through the lymphatics or whether waste products in the brain had decreased. Rosario de Natale says: “This opens new doors”
“Whether the fluid enters the brain tissue directly or splatters in the ventricles is still an open question. team member Stephanie Williams.
“We are now very interested in understanding the effects of these changes in fluid flow and how they intersect with brain health,” Lewis says.
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