What is Sleep Hygiene?
February 19, 2021
Melatonin and Sleep
April 9, 2021
So I’ve been known to nerd out on sleep science from time-to-time. But some recent research about what occurs during sleep to possibly protect the brain from dementia and Alzheimer’s just really gets my nerdy sleep science juices flowing.
We’ve known for awhile from observational studies that poor sleep is associated with problems with memory and thinking. But we’re beginning to see a link between sleep and dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s. A group of researchers out of Berkeley have discovered that when someone does not get enough deep sleep–the time when your body temp drops and your brain produces slow, delta waves–they have higher levels of beta-amyloid, one of the brain markers that is associated with Alzheimer’s.
How did they figure this out? Well they followed a group of participants who had a sleep study and scanned their brains for up to six years to monitor levels of beta-amyloid. People who get less sleep have more beta-amyloid in their brains.
You can compile this with the other research that has shown that lack of deep sleep is linked to higher levels of tau, which are those brain tangles that we find in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Add this all together and the evidence is mounting that poor deep sleep can have a real impact on physical changes in the brain.
How does this happen? Researchers are beginning to find out. Several studies have shown that in both mice and humans a type of “dishwasher” is turned on when slow wave sleep sets in. This dishwasher pulses cerebrospinal fluid through the brain, possibly removing the very toxins that accumulate over time in the brain of someone with Alzheimer’s.
How cool is that!? A dishwasher for the brain. My mind is blown! I can rest easy knowing that tonight when my temperature drops and slow-wave sleep sets in, my brain dishwasher will begin to clean out any toxins from my mind being blown today. Whew, crisis averted!
Worried about your dishwasher and quality of your deep sleep? Never fear–help is available. CBT for Insomnia is a powerful treatment that can not only improve the quantity of your sleep but can also improve the quality of your deep sleep. Drop me a line if you’d like to learn more. I’d love to nerd out with you and talk more about it!
