Sleeping and Dreaming of Comets
November 12, 2013
Good sleep helps the brain.
From VOA Learning English, this is
Science in the News
. I’m Jim Tedder.
And I’m Caty Weaver. Today, we tell how sleep helps to keep our brains healthy. We have a report about what South African researchers are calling Earth’s first-ever comet strike. And we take you to an American aquarium where visitors pay to swim with sharks!
SLEEPING HELPS OUR BRAINS
Ever wonder why we need sleep? Scientists have and now they seem to have found an answer to this age-old question. That answer may lead to new treatments for nerve-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. While we sleep, our brains do much more than just rest. American researchers say our brains could also be doing away with harmful waste. They studied the brains of mice that had had fluorescent dye injected into their cerebral spinal fluid.
Maiken Nedergaard led the study. She is a neurologist with the University of Rochester in New York State. She says our brains have two very different activities.
“When we are aware, the brain cells are working very hard at processing all the information about our surroundings. Whereas when during sleep, really work very, very hard on removing all the waste that builds up when we are awake.”
The researchers say that waste includes toxins – substances responsible for Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders of the nervous system. They also found that during sleep the brain’s cells shrink, permitting waste to be removed more effectively. Doctor Nedergaard says it all ends up in the liver where the toxins are broken down.
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