It is an exciting adventure to make a discovery of an unexplored territory. I know the feeling.
Today’s technology allows us to make discoveries that were once unthinkable. An unknown part of the brain is now ready to be mapped. Maybe I should use the word “traced” instead of “mapped” because the river was there the whole time. We just didn’t know that it carries a fluid jet.
It was very exciting for me as a teenager in the 1950s to discover an unexplored waterfall in one of the largest caves in our country, Marvel Cave in Branson, Missouri. I organized a caving expedition, hired a guide, and rented the cave for one night. We transcended the giant cathedral, then we got off the beaten track quite a bit. We crawled through a long, narrow tunnel full of bats and fresh guano. Like ants in single file, we scaled down a deep crevice and floated in an inner tube to the other side of an underground lake. On the other shore, we saw several species of fish and translucent crawling life forms that had never seen daylight. Beyond this cold, dark and humid chamber, we discovered the waterfall that was not yet on the maps.
Neuroscientists have just explored something much more surprising and significant than an unexplored waterfall in a giant cave. This landmark discovery is an unexplored river of cleansing within the brain. This current that runs through the nervous system is believed to be able to help cleanse the brain of toxic debris. The fluid stream is capable of draining the accumulation of amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Scientists report several surprises in the study of the cranial cleansing system. One surprise includes jets of cerebrospinal fluid tubes running through the brain. Never before have scientists known that the brain was capable of flushing larger particles down the drain. Another surprise was learning that almost 40% of the fluid is actually recycled to the brain.
The researchers, based at the University of Rochester (UR), the University of Oslo and Stony Brook University, describe this new system in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The study adds to the evidence that star-shaped cells called astrocytes play a major role in keeping the nervous system in good working order.
The main energy reserve of the brain is found in astrocytes. Research shows that the energy demand of activated astrocytes is high and highly complex, causing an increase in the consumption of glucose and oxygen in the blood. A glucose and oxygen mismatch strongly supports the hypothesis of causing and aggravating oxidative stress.
These star-shaped astrocyte cells support neurons in the central nervous system, brain, and spinal cord that are linked to the excitatory neurotransmission system. The protection of astrocyte cells is of the utmost importance to human health.
Astrocytes undergoing oxidative stress are known to go from being nourishing to killer causing motor and mental neuron dysfunction leading to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The ability to overcome oxidative stress is monumental in human health, as it slows down the aging process and maintains mental clarity. The evidence is conclusive that Trehalose sugar strengthens and protects the cell membrane from oxidative stress. Other smart sugars, especially mannose, modulate the immune system and help to overcome oxidative stress.
