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Scientists Discover Another Reason Sleep is Important
Our neurons and brainwaves keep our brains clean of waste
Sleep has always mystified us. We’ve long pondered questions about why we dream, what they mean, what our brain does while we sleep, and why we sleep at all. I don’t know if we’ll ever learn everything there is to know about sleep, but the scientific community has learned a surprising amount over recent decades, with more discoveries made every year.
For instance, we now know that our brains are anything but dormant when we sleep. Instead, as our bodies are inactive, our brain cells create bursts of electrical pulses that generate rhythmic waves that sweep the brain. But why are our brains so active when we’re supposed to be resting? Scientists have identified a few reasons, like that we process information and emotions as we doze, but now scientists have discovered another vital function the brain performs while we sleep.
Waste in the Brain
Like other highly complex organisms, humans have billions of neurons in the functional tissue of our brains, which is protected by the blood-brain barrier. Functional tissue, called parenchyma, is tissue with cells that serve a “function,” such as storing information in a brain or photosynthesis in plants. These cells differ from…
