How does sleep clean the brain

During sleep, there are enzymes that repair brain cell damage caused by free radicals.While the brain sleeps, it clears out harmful toxins, a process that may reduce the risk of alzheimer's, researchers say.An nih study used positron emission tomography (pet) to scan the brains of 20 healthy participants after a full night's rest and after 31 hours of sleep.As it happens, just yesterday i read a research paper on this in the journal science.Why sleep has restorative—or damaging—effects on cognition and brain health has been an enduring mystery in biology.Beyond diet and exercise, the other big piece of the brain health puzzle is sleep, says benabou.

During sleep, the brain does several housekeeping things for itself and the body during sleep;Mice sleep about 14 hours a day.Using mice, researchers showed for the first time that the space between brain cells may increase during sleep, allowing the brain to flush out toxins that build up during waking hours.