Your Brain’s Waste Clearance System Declines With Age. Here Is What the Research Says You Can Do About It.
A companion to last week’s article on the glymphatic system. Same brain system, different lever.
Last week I covered the glymphatic system, the network your brain uses to help clear waste during sleep. That piece was about sleep. This one is about what works on the same system during the other 16 hours of your day.
A review published last month in Trends in Neurosciences by researchers at Victoria University looked at how physical activity regulates glymphatic function as your brain ages. The evidence comes primarily from animal studies, with early human research now adding support. In some animal studies, glymphatic clearance dropped by up to 90% in aged animals compared with young animals. Early human trials show you can improve markers of glymphatic function. Timing appears to be important.
I have been saying for years that exercise is one of the most important things you can do for your brain. What this review does is connect that recommendation to a specific, measurable biological pathway. Here is what the research shows.
In the full version you’ll get:
The specific protein exercise affects in the brain’s waste-clearance system, what it does, and how aging disrupts it
Why starting early is important
The specific exercise protocol you can do to get the benefits
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