Brain’s waste-clearance pathways revealed for the first time
OHSU study uses imaging in neurosurgery patients to show how brain’s glymphatic system clears waste; lifestyle measures can keep system sharp Originally published by Erik Robinson on October 07, 2024 Portland, Oregon Erin Yamamoto, M.D., and Juan Piantino, M.D., are among the co-authors of a new study from Oregon Health & Science University that used imaging of neurosurgery patients to definitively reveal the existence of waste-clearance pathways in the human brain known as the glymphatic system . (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks). Scientists have long theorized about a network of pathways in the brain that are believed to clear metabolic proteins that would otherwise build up and potentially lead to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia . But they had never definitively revealed this network in people — until now. A new study involving five patients undergoing brain surgery at Oregon Health & Science University provides imaging of this network of perivascular spac