Cited by 5,411Sleep and Wakefulness ResearchCerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalusTraumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances

Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain

Open access
Xie, Lulu, Kang, Hongyi, Xu, Qiwu, Chen, Michael J., Liao, Yonghong, Thiyagarajan, Meenakshisundaram, O’Donnell, John, Christensen, Daniel J. +5 more·2013·Science

Abstract

Taking Out the Trash: The purpose of sleep remains mysterious. Using state-of-the-art in vivo two-photon imaging to directly compare two arousal states in the same mouse, Xie et al. (p. 373 ; see the Perspective by Herculano-Houzel ) found that metabolic waste products of neural activity were cleared out of the sleeping brain at a faster rate than during the awake state. This finding suggests a mechanistic explanation for how sleep serves a restorative function, in addition to its well-described effects on memory consolidation.

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Crossref · 10.1126/science.1241224

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  • Sleep involves the brain-wide flushing of metabolites with cerebral spinal fluid via the glymphatic system.

    “This was the discovery of the brain's glymphatic system, showing that sleep involves the brain-wide flushing of metabolites with cerebral spinal fluid.28”

    From The overfitted brain: Dreams evolved to assist generalization (2021) · cites this paper as [28]

    The Abstract reports that sleep increased cerebrospinal-fluid exchange with interstitial fluid and accelerated β-amyloid clearance in mice, supporting the flushing description. But the paper describes the glymphatic system as an already named pathway (Abstract, passage 3); its finding was the sleep-related change in clearance, not the discovery of the system itself. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Sleep, especially during slow wave activity, has the goal of waste clearance, and this is at least partly behind sleep's restorative aspect.

    “This led to the theory that sleep, especially during slow wave activity, had the goal of waste clearance and this is at least partly behind sleep's restorative aspect.”

    From The overfitted brain: Dreams evolved to assist generalization (2021) · cites this paper as [28]

    The paper proposes that clearing metabolic waste may be a function of sleep and may help explain its restorative effect; it also reports faster β-amyloid clearance in sleeping than awake mice. It observes increased slow-wave activity alongside increased tracer influx, but does not establish that clearance occurs especially during slow-wave activity. The indexed passages are labeled Abstract; no page numbers are available. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Under physiological conditions, perivascular interstitial fluid flow contributes to 15-20% of Aβ clearance from the mouse brain.

    “For example, transport studies using radiolabeled and unlabeled Alzheimer's A 𝛃 peptide have shown that under physiological conditions, the perivascular ISF flow contributes to 15-20% of A 𝛃 clearance from the mouse brain (58, 535, 659), whereas 8085% is removed by transvascular BBB transport.”

    From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [659]

    The indexed passage labeled Abstract (page unavailable) describes perivascular CSF–ISF exchange that removes Aβ from mouse brain. It does not give the claimed 15–20% share under physiological conditions or the sentence’s 80–85% share for BBB transport; its separate estimate is that as much as 65% of exogenously delivered Aβ is cleared by the glymphatic system. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Under physiological conditions, 80-85% of Aβ is removed from the mouse brain by transvascular blood-brain barrier transport.

    “whereas 8085% is removed by transvascular BBB transport.”

    From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [659]

    The paper states that Aβ can be removed from the CNS by receptor-mediated transport across the blood-brain barrier (section labeled Abstract; page unavailable). It does not say that this route accounts for 80–85% of Aβ removal under physiological conditions; the proportion it discusses instead is up to 65% of exogenously delivered Aβ cleared by the glymphatic system. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Natural sleep in animal studies is associated with increased size of the interstitial space, facilitating increased convective exchange of CSF with interstitial fluid and clearance of macromolecules.

    “Natural sleep in animal studies has been shown to associate with increased size of the interstitial space, facilitating increased convective exchange of CSF with interstitial fluid and clearance of macromolecules (23).”

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Authors
Xie, L., Kang, H., Xu, Q., Chen, M. J., Liao, Y., Thiyagarajan, M., O’Donnell, J., Christensen, D. J., Nicholson, C., Iliff, J. J., Takano, T., Deane, R., & Nedergaard, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Rochester Medicine (US)
  • NYU Langone Health (US)
Corresponding author
  • Xie, Lulu
  • Kang, Hongyi
  • Nedergaard, Maiken
Venue
Science
Published
2013-10-18
Volume
342
Issue
6156
Pages
373-377
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2163225965
Cited by
5,411
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 656 · 2025: 664 · 2024: 528 · 2023: 541 · 2022: 466 · 2021: 462 · 2020: 457 · 2019: 371 · 2018: 310 · 2017: 308 · 2016: 239 · 2015: 243 · 2014: 142 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 1
FWCI
116.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Israel Science Foundation
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS078304, NS028642, R01NS078167, R01NS075177, NS078167, R01NS028642, NS078304))
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (R01DE022743)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Cerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalus
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
Keywords
sleep, cerebrospinal fluid, interstitial fluid, brain waste clearance, amyloid-beta clearance, interstitial space, metabolic homeostasis, anesthesia, two-photon imaging
MeSH terms
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, Animals, Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Cerebrospinal Fluid, Diffusion, Electroencephalography, Extracellular Space, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Receptors, Adrenergic, Sleep, Wakefulness, Amyloid beta-Peptides, Adrenergic Antagonists, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Intracellular Space, Mice

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