Sleep: the best position for the brain

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During sleep, the garbage disposal in the brain becomes active. Decisive for a successful "brainwashing" is not only the length of sleep, but also the sleeping position.

Insufficient sleep is a health hazard. For example, the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases increases. But most of all, the brain needs sleep to regenerate. Among other things, the garbage disposal of the brain rushes to peak performance while slumbering. When the person is at rest, the spaces between the cells widen and the cerebral fluid - also called liquor - can wash around the cells. This means that pollutants are disposed of more quickly than when you are awake.

Sleeping mice lying on their side

Prof. Helene Benveniste and her colleagues at Stony Brook University in New York have investigated whether, in addition to the duration of sleep, the sleeping position is also decisive for the removal of pollutants.

They examined their assumption with the help of mice who pushed them into a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in various positions - on their back, on their side, or upright. With the help of the device, they observed the movement of liquids and the transport of pollutants. The test animals were meanwhile anesthetized - artificially put to sleep.

The removal of pollutants worked best with the animals that were lying on their side.In the upright position, which is closest to the posture when awake, flushing was particularly slow.

Healthy sleep - a tidy brain

The researchers suspect that their results can be transferred to humans. In fact, most animals as well as humans automatically prefer the side-to-side sleeping position - possibly because this position is the best way to clear the brain. For a successful "brainwashing" one probably also needs enough sleep in humans, preferably in a sideways sleeping position.

"Brainwashing" as protection against Alzheimer's

Sleeping on the side could possibly even protect against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, the researchers speculate. In the process, pathologically altered proteins accumulate in the brain.

"The new study supports the theory that adequate sleep is necessary to eliminate the chaos that occurs while we are awake," says neuropsychologist Dr. Maiken Nedergaard from the University of Rochester in New York. In fact, it has been shown that difficulty sleeping can aggravate memory loss in various types of dementia.

The term dementia encompasses various diseases, all of which are associated with a decline in mental performance and a change in personality. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. The risk of developing dementia increases sharply in old age. Statistically speaking, women are slightly more likely to develop dementia than men. It is estimated that around 1.2 million people in Germany live with dementia. 250,000 new people join the group every year. (vv)

Sources:

Lee, H. et al. 2015. The Effect of Body Posture on Brain Glymphatic Transport. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35: 11034-11044.DOI: 10.1523 / JNEUROSCI.1625-15.2015

Stony Brook University. Press release: Could Body Posture During Sleep Affect How Your Brain Clears Waste? http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/general/150804sleeping.php?=marquee2 (accessed August 12, 2015)

Xie, L. 2013. Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain. Science, Vol. 342 no.6156 pp. 373-377. DOI: 10.1126 / science.1241224

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