r/science • u/Potential_Being_7226 PhD | Psychology | Neuroscience • 13d ago

Neuroscience Boosting brain’s waste removal system improves memory in old mice | Researchers found that rejuvenating the lymphatic vessels in the brain enhanced recognition memory and restored synaptic function through an interleukin-6 (IL-6) pathway.

https://medicine.washu.edu/news/boosting-brains-waste-removal-system-improves-memory-in-old-mice/
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u/Potential_Being_7226 PhD | Psychology | Neuroscience 13d ago

Adequate sleep and exercise are two good ways to improve lymphatic drainage.

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u/Truestorydreams 13d ago

Essentially oxygen for the brain or good bloodflow/pressure ?

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u/Potential_Being_7226 PhD | Psychology | Neuroscience 13d ago

The lymphatic system is not the same as the circulatory system, although it has some similarities in that the vessels are present throughout the body and lymph fluid circulates. Physical movement promotes movement of lymph in part through pressure on vessels. Although we don’t have a pump mechanism like the heart for the lymphatic system, there is probably a positive effect of increased blood flow on the movement of lymph (although exercise science is not my area of expertise). 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15974632/

There’s some evidence that during sleep, the lymphatic vessels are able to become less circuitous, which makes the resistance lower and allows lymph fluid to flow more easily:

During natural sleep, levels of norepinephrine decline, leading to an expansion of the brain’s extracellular space, which results in decreased resistance to fluid flow. This is reflected by improved cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) infiltration along the perivascular spaces, and therefore increased interstitial solute clearance [2]

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7698404/

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u/Truestorydreams 13d ago

I have to break the articles down and give more reads to grasp because its seems like this study opens up to alzihmers.

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u/Objective_Law5013 13d ago

You would be correct, doctors in Shanghai, China are already trialing an experimental procedure that connects your lymphatic system to venous drainage and it seems to help people with Alzheimer's.

https://gpsych.bmj.com/content/37/3/e101641