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Sleep,The Glymphatic System and Mood

Bad Mood? Quality Sleep and your Glymphatic System is the answer.

I recently reviewed a very interesting article discussing the role of theglymphatic system and mood disorders.1

I went “down the rabbit hole” after watching a Youtube Video that discussed Dr. Maiken Nedergaard who discovered the Glymphatic
system.2

This system “cleanses the brain” and is most active during deep sleep. To put it simply, Beta Tau proteins and amyloid plaque is “washed away” by this system, the build-up of these proteins/failure of the Glymphatic system is linked to dementia/Alzheimers, mood disorders, including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.

As the authors propose “dysfunctional glymphatic pathway serves as a bridge between sleep disturbance and mood disorders”.

Yet another reason to identify those with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and other sleep disorders.

  1. Yan T, Qiu Y, Yu X, Yang L. Glymphatic Dysfunction: A Bridge Between Sleep Disturbance and Mood Disorders. Front Psychiatry. 2021;12:658340. Published 2021 May 7. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.658340What’s the connection between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease? | Sleeping with Science, a TED series
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3UIrqiFLw