AMYLOID BETA BUILDS UP WHILE AWAKE AND DECLINES IN SLEEP
By Randall Parker
futurepundit
September 29, 2009

Original Link

A protein implicated in as a cause of Alzheimer's Disease increases in mice while they are away and declines while they are asleep. The implication here is that people who do not get enough sleep may be at increased risk of Alzheimer's.

While the occasional all-nighter to cram for exams or finish a grant proposal may seem like no big deal, losing sleep night after night could take its toll on brain health in later life, two new studies suggest. Based on microdialysis experiments in live mice, Dave Holtzman, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, and colleagues report in the current issue of Science that extracellular amyloid-beta levels in the brain fall during slumber and rise with wakefulness. They discovered that these Abeta dynamics rely on the hormone orexin, and that forcing animals to sleep or stay awake decreases or increases Abeta plaque formation accordingly in a mouse model for Alzheimer disease.

Lack of sleep increases inflammation and inflammation is also implicated in Alzheimer's. Lack of sleep also puts on the weight and increases obesity. This accelerates aging. So get lots of sleep. It is good for your brain.

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NHNE On Sleep & Naps