‘Drain pipes’ in human brains have just been uncovered!
By scanning the brains of healthy volunteers, scientists have found the first, long-sought evidence that our brains may drain out some waste through lymphatic vessels, the body’s sewer system. The research suggests that the vessels could act as a pipeline between the brain and the immune system. “We literally watched people’s brains drain fluid into these vessels, said Daniel S Reich, from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in the US.
We hope that our results provide new insights to a variety of neurological disorders,” said Reich, senior author of the study published in the journal eLife. Along with researchers from the National Cancer Institute in the US, the team discovered lymphatic vessels in the dura, the leathery outer coating of the brain. Lymphatic vessels are part of the body’s circulatory system. In most of the body they run alongside blood vessels.
They transport lymph, a colourless fluid containing immune cells and waste, to the lymph nodes. Blood vessels deliver white blood cells to an organ and the lymphatic system removes the cells and recirculates them through the body. The process helps the immune system detect whether an organ is under attack from bacteria or viruses or has been …read more
