Glymphatic system

Recent articles

Three sleeping mice.

Fleeting sleep interruptions may help brain reset

Brief, seconds-long microarousals during deep sleep “ride on the wave” of locus coeruleus activity in mice and correlate with periods of waste clearing and memory consolidation, new research suggests.

By Shaena Montanari
13 January 2025 | 5 min read
Illustration of a lab with a smoking crater in the middle of the floor.

The Transmitter’s favorite features of 2024

Our chosen stories include tales about research misconduct in the lab, a neuroscientist working at the end of the world, and the passing of neuroanatomy’s “great-grandfather,” Harvey Karten.

By The Transmitter
23 December 2024 | 2 min read
New method reignites controversy over brain clearance during sleep.

New method reignites controversy over brain clearance during sleep

Tracers injected directly into mouse brain tissue instead of the cerebrospinal fluid show that brain clearance slows during sleep and under anesthesia, according to a study published last week—but proponents of the glymphatic system theory take issue with the technique.

By Elissa Welle
22 May 2024 | 7 min read
Maiken Nedergaard, Britta Engelhardt and Christer Betsholtz on a floating rock island with university facilities and abstract shapes.

Maiken Nedergaard’s power of disruption

The award-winning researcher’s discoveries have changed the way we think about the brain; that’s exactly what her critics dislike.

By Emily Sohn
26 February 2024 | 26 min listen

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Grid of black-and-white headshots of neuroscience trainees.

‘A gut punch:’ How U.S. neuroscience trainees are grappling with diversity-based funding flux

Ten trainees spoke with The Transmitter about how the precarious state of U.S. federal funding is affecting their research and career plans.

By Calli McMurray, Angie Voyles Askham, Claudia López Lloreda
14 February 2025 | 2 min read
A brain made up of a matrix of small, predominately blue dots.

‘Bioethics and Brains: A Disciplined and Principled Neuroethics,’ an excerpt

In their new book, published earlier this week, Giordano and Shook examine how ethics can guide neuroscience research and its real-world applications.

By James Giordano, John Shook
14 February 2025 | 6 min read
A young child in a blue shirt sits in a red chair and speaks to an adult at the edge of the frame.

AI tool estimates social ability by analyzing speech

The system’s code and training data—drawn from one of the largest databases of speech recordings from autistic people—are openly available.

By Charles Q. Choi
13 February 2025 | 5 min read