Glymphatic system

Recent articles

Snoozing dragons stir up ancient evidence of sleep’s dual nature

Deep-sleep cycling between brain waves of higher and lower amplitude dates far back on the evolutionary tree, according to a new comparative study of mammals and reptiles.

By Lauren Schenkman
29 December 2025 | 0 min watch
fMRI scans showing the movement of cerebrospinal fluid.

Noninvasive method lifts curtain on cerebrospinal-fluid dance in human brain

Cerebrospinal fluid shows brain-region-specific dynamics, a new high-resolution MRI approach reveals.

By Claudia López Lloreda
14 November 2025 | 4 min read
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 | 8 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 | 24 min read

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A human silhouette with lines connecting the brain to various organs.

PIEZO channels are opening the study of mechanosensation in unexpected places

The force-activated ion channels underlie the senses of touch and proprioception. Now scientists are using them as a tool to explore molecular mechanisms at work in internal organs, including the heart, bladder, uterus and kidney.

By Calli McMurray
30 January 2026 | 6 min read
US Department of Health and Human Services building.

Latest iteration of U.S. federal autism committee comes under fire

The new panel “represents a radical departure from all past rosters,” says autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg.

By Angie Voyles Askham
29 January 2026 | 9 min read
Progenitors cells in the medial ganglionic eminence become increasingly organized during development as rows of brain imaging progress from top to bottom.

‘Tour de force’ study flags fount of interneurons in human brain

The newly discovered cell type might point to the origins of the inhibitory imbalance linked to autism and other conditions.

By Holly Barker
29 January 2026 | 4 min read

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