Your Brain Cleans Itself While You Sleep: Your Glymphatic System Simplified

A board-certified and practicing internal medicine physician explains how your brain's glymphatic system works. Recently discovered in 2012 by looking at fluid flow in a mouse brain, this is your brain's equivalent to the lymphatic system seen in the rest of your body. However, the brain cleaning mostly occurs during one sleep stage: deep sleep or slow wave sleep. Amyloid beta protein (a toxic waste product associated with dementia) is removed from your brain by the glymphatic system. This explains why loss of slow wave sleep can lead to Alzheimer's dementia.