2 ms·
... so, perhaps a fool-hardy idea, but could we use an external device to create or amplify the same effect? - if you rhythmically give mice norepinephrine whi
by abeppu 2y ago
... so, perhaps a fool-hardy idea, but could we use an external device to create or amplify the same effect?
- if you rhythmically give mice norepinephrine while they're awake, can you create the same movement in cerebrospinal fluid? Would mice go to sleep later following such an intervention?
- could you directly just pump cerebrospinal fluid faster? If you were willing to have a mechanical device surgically installed, could you have a rapid, extra-refreshing sleep at the press of a button?
- if the efficacy of washing is partly due to the contents of cerebrospinal fluid, could you look at what's being "washed out" and add stuff to the cerebrospinal fluid that makes those things more soluble?
- bityard 2y agoAs much as I applaud the biohacking curiosity, we've known for a while that sleep does lots of things to rest and repair the whole body. "Cleaning" the brain is only one of them. Finding an easy button to hack around the need for sleep is probably as unlikely as finding an immortality pill.
- abeppu 2y agoI guess on the animal model research side, the gap in various metrics between artificially "cleaning" the brains of sleep-deprived mice vs mice that get to sleep would be one way of measuring some of the non-cleaning functions of sleep (e.g. memory consolidation). In some far hypothetical future human device, I think even if amplifying a "washing" function doesn't replace sleep it could still be helpful ... but outweighing the risks involved in the intervention (attaching a person to a pump?) would be a high bar. But if decades from now you were already going to put in a neuralink v20, perhaps it would seem reasonable.