The biologist spoke about the activity of the brain during sleep

During sleep, the human brain releases certain metabolic products, such as beta-amyloid protein, which is associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. This was announced on March 20 by the director of the Institute of Biology of Aging and Medicine of Healthy Longevity with the Clinic of Preventive Medicine of the Russian National Research Center. Academician of B.V. Petrovsky, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences Alexey Moskalev.

"In a dream, the brain is partially engaged in "sanitary cleaning". In a 2026 Nature Communications randomized crossover study with 39 participants, normal sleep enhanced the nocturnal excretion of beta-amyloid and tau proteins, the accumulation and metabolic disruption of which are associated with neurodegeneration, from the brain into blood plasma compared with sleep deprivation. Moreover, this activity was associated with signs of a slow sleep phase," the expert said in an interview with <url>.

The scientist also added that during sleep, the brain is engaged in organizing memory. New impressions are first stored in the hippocampus, and later, during sleep, they are gradually embedded in the cerebral cortex.

Night break: almost half of Russians experience respiratory arrest in their sleep

Obesity, smoking, and anatomical features of the respiratory tract increase the risk of sleep apnea.

Elena Zubareva, a neurologist at the SM Clinic, warned on March 19 about the dangerous consequences that sleep deficiency can lead to. According to the doctor, prolonged lack of sleep leads to an imbalance in the functioning of all body systems, and above all, the nervous system suffers.

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