Cleaning up the aging brain: Scientists restore brain's trash disposal system

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240815124156.htm

by jdmark • 2 years ago

204 84 2 years ago

sciencedaily.com

hyrix• 2 years ago

In mice

alephnerd3• 2 years ago

Mice are in the same clade as primates, and share around 95-99% of the same genome as primates.

We're all part of the Euarchontoglires clade

cyberax4• 2 years ago

The problem is that primates are pretty far removed from mice. And our sheer weight difference often makes is a decisive factor.

This is especially true for cancer, brain, and inflammation research. Mice just don't make good models for that.

hombre_fatal• 2 years ago

Yet none of that matters because only a tiny fraction of interventions make it from rat models to humans.

manmal5• 2 years ago

This mechanism sounds like it could have a strong nootropic effect for everyone not having totally ideal sleep. Whenever I sleep badly, or not long enough for some days in a row, my cognitive performance deteriorates rather quickly. Supposedly, the glymphatic system‘s work has a major role to play in this.

Melatonin also has been found to have a stimulating effect on the glymphatic system, though we need better trials on that.

JonChesterfield2• 2 years ago

Look up creatine as a candidate treatment for sleep deprivation.

washadjeffmad3• 2 years ago

Creatine plus exercise. I add 1.5 tsp to my morning tea, plus 1/5 tsp NAD and 1/2 tsp of L-theanine, and I've doubled my workout and no longer have DOMS. It's like I'm a teenager again.

I tried it because I'd been getting 4-5 hours of broken sleep due to peripheral neuropathy from a congenital spinal disorder for the past four or five years, and I finally feel like I'm healing. It's wild being able to fall asleep and stay asleep.

manmal5• 2 years ago

I‘m taking creatine every day, and think it’s great for various reasons. Do you think it has an affect on sleep quality itself, or does it just improve things during the day?

tucosan2• 2 years ago

Can you point to any good research to back up your claim that this is a good treatment?

_DeadFred_• 2 years ago

I'm going to sound like a quack, but... I had long Covid for years. It was horrible. I said f it and started trying internet 'folk' remedies. Simply taking melatonin at night had me so much better in a month. I have mountain biked every day for the last two weeks it is awesome (other than my zero leg strength). Before that I didn't really even leave the house for 3 years. And I can think and write code at the level I used to again now that the brain fog is lifted. I think there were trials on this and they determined it didn't work but it's crazy a little bottle from the grocery store (USA here so it's over the counter) changed my life.

pitched4• 2 years ago

Melatonin and Magnesium together at night is amazing, if you want to keep experimenting. Watch out for the pre-packaged combos though that usually have Magnesium Oxide and is a bit laxative. I prefer Magnesium Glycinate which is a bit gentler on my stomach.

ggm• 2 years ago

Are there non drug methods which could restore or assist lymph pumping functions in the head-neck region? Should we all be doing some kind of rotation/lift/squeeze cycle on our cervical spine region?

OutOfHere3• 2 years ago

Nafaik, but anything that gives you two extra hours of sleep should help. Also, intense exercise should over time help heal it in part. And as far as drug methods go, a 2-3 month course of memantine could be worth exploring for anyone who doesn't have to drive or operate machinery for the first month.

thordenmark2• 2 years ago

Exercise, good food, and good sleep. Pretty much the universal panacea.

thordenmark2• 2 years ago

Sounds easy, but difficult in practice. Especially for those of us chained to a desk all day.

hi-v-rocknroll• 2 years ago

For disabled and elderly people, these aren't always possible.

OutOfHere3• 2 years ago

Mild to moderate exercise won't fix it, but intense exercise, e.g. running or similar, carries hope. Good sleep will slow the damage, but after a certain age, e.g. 80, it may not work.

hinkley4• 2 years ago

Cardio specifically, right?

citruscomputing• 2 years ago

Jade roller/gua sha? Also look up "post ffs lymphatic massage" or similar. This helps me when my immune system is acting up. Not sure if it'd help with the CSF specifically, but this is how to move lymph out of the head.

manmal5• 2 years ago

Lymphatic massage should help. It has helped my recurring ear issues tremendously, and is actually quick and easy to do. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there, some for the whole body and some for the face/neck area.

Here is a short video for the back of the neck: https://bornfree.life/images/neck-lymphatic.mov

hinkley4• 2 years ago

Probably tai chi or qigong as well.

I’m convinced we are going to discover that “qi work” is moving lymph through the connective tissue (a phenomenon we only just discovered a decade ago). The proscriptions against doing these exercises or massage during an illness is my clue/circumstantial evidence and I hope it gets studied more.

DoreenMichele• 2 years ago

"Unlike the cardiovascular system which has one big pump, the heart, fluid in the lymphatic system is instead transported by a network of tiny pumps,"

Not entirely accurate.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25427090

manmal5• 2 years ago

Since you seem knowledgeable, what do you think of the idea of blocks in lymph, eg through scar tissue or infections, which might need extra massage? Is there something to this?

pedalpete• 2 years ago

This study in aging adults measured amyloid in blood with phase-targeted auditory stimulation, the technology we've been developing at affectablesleep.com - it's not exactly the same as measuring the glymphatic process, but might be related.

guywithahat2• 2 years ago

If we combine this research with the anti-aging research of Dr. David Sinclair, mice will soon overtake humans in both intelligence and lifespan. Thus making “the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy” reality

ineedaj0b• 2 years ago

we could probably do this in people rn but we'd kill quite a few till we nailed down the dosing.

tastyfreeze• 2 years ago

I was thinking the Rats if NIMH. They need a bit more than long life and intelligence for the pandimensional beings posing as mice.

waihtis• 2 years ago

not that it means anything definitive, but Sinclair has been somewhat of a turbulent figure due to "overreaching claims" in the broader life extension research space: https://www.nmn.com/news/disgraced-david-sinclair-resigns-fr...

adammarples• 2 years ago

"The Academy for Health and Lifespan Research is a non-profit organization, composed of about 60 aging scientists."

Made me lol

tucosan2• 2 years ago

People still haven't caught up to the fact that Sinclair is a fraud it seems.

guywithahat2• 2 years ago

He’s not a fraud; he has, without a doubt, figured out ways to make mice live longer.

tim3332• 2 years ago

I think it's more likely to come from attempts to merge their brains with AI. ASI could do the pan-dimensional bit of "hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional creatures whose rodent aspect represents merely a three-dimensional projection of their actual form."

xk_id2• 2 years ago

Sinclair is a revolting person, with little professional dignity, who shamelessly manipulates his audience in interviews, spreading misleading scientific information, out of desperation to promote his personal brand.

tim3332• 2 years ago

Doing some intersting work though https://x.com/ydeigin/status/1821713858106368484

aszantu• 2 years ago

would explain why head massages are feeling extatic, external massage of those lymphangions maybe?

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK3• 2 years ago

Wonder if dexamethasone has similar effect - felt much younger when it was prescribed to me for brain swelling.

hinkley4• 2 years ago

It’s difficult to get objective measures of how something makes you feel when you already feel bad.

About half of my best food experiences came after a stressful physical experience. I know that food wasn’t as amazing as my brain was telling me it was, but I still enjoyed the experience. The other people in that Dairy Queen were absolutely not having the transcendental experience my friend and I were enjoying.

“Brain swelling” sounds like it would put a lot of things into a new perspective.

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK3• 2 years ago

My measure was - definitely could get more work done in a day compared to any day in the previous 10 years. Dexamethasone prescribed for swelling probably means it also works on removing fluids from the brain, similar to the drug described in the article.

Not that I recommend it for anyone, the drug has terrible side effects.

Cleaning up the aging brain: Scientists restore brain's trash disposal system

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