r/science • u/Potential_Being_7226 PhD | Psychology | Neuroscience • 14d 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 14d ago

From the press release:

Aging compromises the lymphatic vessels (green) in tissue called the meninges (blue) surrounding the brain, disabling waste drainage from the brain and impacting cognitive function. Researchers at WashU Medicine boosted lymphatic vessel integrity (bottom) in old mice and found improvements in their memory compared with old mice without rejuvenated lymphatic vessels (top). 

As aging bodies decline, the brain loses the ability to cleanse itself of waste, a scenario that scientists think could be contributing to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among others. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have found a way around that problem by targeting the network of vessels that drain waste from the brain. Rejuvenating those vessels, they have shown, improves memory in old mice.

Publication in Cell:

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.02.02200210-7?_returnURL=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867425002107?showall=true)

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u/untss 14d ago edited 14d ago

this is probably the mechanism behind that correlation they found between sleeping pill usage and neurodegenerative disease

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u/titianwasp 14d ago

What was the correlation? Sleeping pills good or bad?

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u/untss 14d ago

bad. my guess being because they disrupt restorative sleep and lymphatic activity (see for example alcohol and cannabis, which both help people fall asleep but the sleep quality is compromised), though that's not proven to my knowledge. alternate hypothesis would be that certain sleeping pills are toxic in some way.

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u/Buzumab 13d ago

For reference this refers to emerging research on anticholergenics and dementia, specifically (or most commonly) diphenhydramine, as it is a common anti-allergy and sleep aid on-the-shelf medication sold under the brand name Benadryl and many generics.

A recent Harvard Health article discussing the topic: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-anticholinergic-drugs-like-benadryl-linked-to-increased-dementia-risk-20150128812