A peek inside human brain shows a way it cleans out waste

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A unique peek inside the human brain may help explain how it clears away waste like the kind that can build up and lead to Alzheimer’s disease. The tracer “lit up” under those scans and sure enough, 24 to 48 hours later, it wasn’t moving randomly through the brain but via those channels just like prior research had found in mice. It’s a small but potentially important study that Rochester’s Dr. Maiken Nedergaard predicted will increase interest in how brain waste clearance connects to people’s health. But to test if better sleep or other treatments might really spur waste clearance and improve health, “I have to be able to measure glymphatic function in people,” added Dr. Jeff Iliff of the University of Washington, who helped pioneer waste-clearance research.