#1

Rhythmic activity during sleep may get fluids in the brain moving.

As if we didn’t have enough reasons to get at least eight hours of sleep, there is now one more. Neurons are still active during sleep. We may not realize it, but the brain takes advantage of this recharging period to get rid of junk that was accumulating during waking hours.

Sleep is something like a soft reboot. We knew that slow brainwaves had something to do with restful sleep; researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have now found out why. When we are awake, our neurons require energy to fuel complex tasks such as problem-solving and committing things to memory. The problem is that debris gets left behind after they consume these nutrients. As we sleep, neurons use these rhythmic waves to help move cerebrospinal fluid through brain tissue, carrying out metabolic waste in the process.

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#2

From what I understand, it is Slow Wave sleep in particular that does the cleanup and restoration. And SWS declines with age. For me, at age 74, 15% of the night in SWS (I track it on a FitBit) is a pretty good night. I wish I knew how to get more on a consistent basis.

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#3

I have found melatonin during the night to help with brain clearing. Its very obvious when i have a hangover (much that pantethine and dhm orevent most of the hangover)

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