How sleep helps the brain clear waste
Neural Circuit Control of Fluid and Solute Clearance During Sleep
This project looks at whether coordinated brain activity during sleep helps move fluid and clear waste from the brain for people concerned about sleep or brain health.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Rochester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Rochester, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11161444 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From your point of view, researchers are studying how nerve cells, support cells, and blood vessels work together during sleep to move fluid and remove waste from the brain. The work combines brain imaging in people, experiments in mice, and computer models to trace fluid flow and the signals that control it. Teams will record brain activity and blood-vessel changes during sleep, track particles in fluid, and manipulate specific cell signals in lab studies to see how clearance changes. The goal is to connect sleep patterns and neural signals to how well the brain clears solutes across species.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adults who can travel to the study site for brain imaging and sleep monitoring, including healthy volunteers and people with sleep disturbances or concerns about brain health.
Not a fit: People unable to undergo imaging or sleep studies, or those with medical issues unrelated to brain clearance, are unlikely to get direct benefit from participation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could point to ways to improve sleep or develop interventions that boost the brain's waste clearance and lower risk of neurodegenerative problems.
How similar studies have performed: Animal studies have shown that sleep boosts brain clearance, but confirming and translating those findings to humans is still new and evolving.
Where this research is happening
Rochester, United States
- University of Rochester — Rochester, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nedergaard, Maiken — University of Rochester
- Study coordinator: Nedergaard, Maiken
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.