Simple body movement could help the brain 'clean itself,' researchers find — Substrate
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Simple body movement could help the brain 'clean itself,' researchers find
Penn State researchers found that abdominal muscle contractions during movement push cerebrospinal fluid through the brain, flushing out waste.
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4 sources·May 10, 3:56 PM(4 days ago)·10m read
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" According to a study published in Nature Neuroscience, the secret to this internal wash cycle may lie in the abdominal muscles. In mice models, the researchers found that the brain is mechanically linked to the abdomen through a network of blood vessels that functions like a hydraulic system.
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FITNESS EXPERT REVEALS SIMPLE RULE TO GET IN SHAPE WITHOUT DREADING THE GYM: 'JUST MOVE' "Every time the mice contract their abdominal muscles — like when they walk — blood moves from the abdomen into the spinal canal," said lead study author Patrick Drew, professor of engineering science and mechanics, neurosurgery, biology and biomedical engineering at Penn State, in a press release.
This movement of blood applies a tiny amount of pressure to the brain, causing it to physically shift or "sway" slightly within the skull. This subtle brain movement occurs within a system where the brain is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a clear liquid that acts as a cleaning agent.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP Scientists have long believed that CSF helps flush out cellular waste that, if left to accumulate, is linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, according to Drew. By using advanced computer simulations, the team discovered that when the brain moves, it can drive fluid movement in the brain.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ The physical displacement drives the flow of CSF through the brain’s tissues, potentially carrying away harmful waste products. "Our research explains how just moving around might serve as an important physiological mechanism promoting brain health," Drew said.
To confirm that abdominal pressure was the primary driver, the researchers tested the effect on the mice. Even without exercise or general movement, simply applying gentle pressure to a mouse’s belly — less pressure than a human feels during a standard blood pressure test — was enough to shift the brain and trigger fluid flow, they found.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER "We were surprised at how tightly linked the brain motion was to the abdominal muscle contraction," Drew said. There were a few caveats, the researchers acknowledged. Because the study used mice and not humans, more research is needed to determine whether the results apply to people.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Additionally, the researchers used simulations to track fluid movement rather than measuring the flow directly in a living brain.
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[@disclosetv] JUST IN - The body of U.S. JUST IN - The body of U.S. soldier who went missing on May 2nd, during a training exercise in Morocco, has been found and identified as 1st Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., search operations are ongoing for the 2nd missing soldier — Reuters
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[BBC News] His father had just been buried. Then West Bank settlers forced him to dig up the body The UN human rights office condemns incident as "'appalling and emblematic of the dehumanisation of Palestinians" in the West Bank.
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</p><p>Search operations continued on Saturday for the bodies of two Singaporeans.
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His father had just been buried. " In the small village of Asasa, near Jenin in the West Bank, from which the family patriarch took his name, Hussein had been a highly regarded figure before his death last Friday from natural causes. In keeping with Islamic custom, the old man – a former livestock trader and father of 10 children – was laid to rest in a simple plot in the graveyard, on a small hill on the other side of the village from the family home.
Anxious to make sure there would be no problems, Mohammed said he'd even sought the permission of a nearby Israeli military base to allow his father's funeral to proceed. Less than half an hour later, Mohammed and his brothers were back at the entrance to the site, aghast as a group of Jewish settlers - some of them armed - were hacking away at the newly laid grave with heavy hand tools.
After initially trying to negotiate with the settlers, Mohammed rushed up to the grave just as they were about to break through a slab which was all that remained between them and his father's remains. "They were on the point of reaching the body," said Mohammed.
" Mohammed Asasa had sought to give his father a dignified burial The settlers were from a recently reestablished settlement called Sa-Nur, situated on top of the hill above the cemetery. Although all settlements on Palestinian land are illegal under international law, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu recently allowed Sa-Nur to be re-occupied, as part of its highly controversial decision to expand and create new settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
" They claimed the burial site was too close to their settlement. More images showed how Mohammed and his brothers then carried the shrouded body of their late father away from the cemetery and down the hill to relative safety under the watchful gaze of the settlers.
The Israeli army later said it had intervened to confiscate digging tools from the settlers and to avoid further tension. But the family accused soldiers of standing by as they were forced by the settlers to unceremoniously and humiliatingly empty the newly laid grave.
In a statement to the BBC, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "condemns any attempt to act in a manner that harms public order, the rule of law, and the dignity of the living and the deceased". 'It spares no-one' Settlers began digging up Hussein's grave The UN human rights office condemned the incident as "appalling and emblematic of the dehumanisation of Palestinians" in the Occupied Territories.
"It spares no-one, dead or alive," said Ajith Sunghay, local head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Locals said the incident was indicative of tensions in the community ever since the settlement of Sa-Nur was re-established. "It's terrible, they think they own the whole area, now that they've moved back in," said one guest at the mourning tent for Hussein Asasa.
"Just recently, some land owned by another of our relatives was invaded by the army and settlers, removing all of the olive trees for no apparent reason," another of the Asasa siblings told me as we looked over the cemetery from a safe distance. Hussein Asasa has been remembered within his community After the settlers were allowed to bring their mobile homes and re-establish a settlement at Sa-Nur, which is next to an IDF military base, much of the area has been designated a "closed military area".
In practice, it means that olive groves, fields with crops and even the cemetery are, in effect, now out of bounds to their owners in the village. Villagers say that even if access is painstakingly co-ordinated with the IDF, the settlers are far more aggressive and threatening - many now openly carrying guns.
There has been a recent surge in settler-related violence across the West Bank, with much of the world distracted by war and conflicts elsewhere. The New York Times recently reported that between the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran and the end of April, 13 Palestinians had been killed in settler attacks, hundreds injured and many more driven from their homes.
Empowered by support from extremist ministers in the Netanyahu government and willing to use their weapons, settlers are an increasing threat to the safety and livelihoods of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, human rights groups say. Hussein Asasa was eventually laid to rest by his sons in a small graveyard in a neighbouring village, finally free from the torment and tension faced by an increasing number of people who call this land "home".
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A column of smoke rises into the sky after the eruption of Mount Dukono on a remote Indonesian island. Photograph: Jhon Frengki Manipa/Reuters View image in fullscreen A column of smoke rises into the sky after the eruption of Mount Dukono on a remote Indonesian island.
Photograph: Jhon Frengki Manipa/Reuters Indonesian rescuers retrieve body from Mount Dukono as search continues Woman recovered after volcanic eruption on remote island, while operation to find two missing Singaporeans goes on Rescuers have recovered the body of an Indonesian woman who was caught in a volcanic eruption on Mount Dukono on Indonesia’s remote island of Halmahera, officials have said.
Search operations continued on Saturday for the bodies of two Singaporeans. The dead hikers were among 20 who set out to scale the 1,355-metre (4,445ft) volcano in defiance of safety restrictions and became stranded when Dukono erupted early on Friday, spewing a thick ash column about 6 miles (10km) into the air.
The woman, identified by authorities only as Enjel and known as a local hiker, was found on Saturday afternoon, about 50 metres from the rim of the main crater, said Iwan Ramdani, who heads the local search and rescue office. The location of the two Singaporean climbers remains unknown, and rescue efforts are continuing amid high volcanic activity, he said.
View image in fullscreen Rescuers recover a victim of the eruption of Mount Dukono on Saturday. ” Since the eruption, 17 hikers have been safely evacuated, including seven Singaporean nationals and two Indonesians who joined the rescue operation and provided information on the climbing routes of the victims.
Ten of those evacuated suffered minor burn injuries. The search operation, involving more than 100 people supported by drones, resumed early on Saturday, focusing on a 700 sq metre area where clues were found during earlier searches, despite hazardous terrain and continuing eruptions, according to Ramdani.
0:41 Ash cloud rises from Mount Dukono eruption in Indonesia – video He added that rescuers were prioritising safety because Dukono’s volcanic activity remains elevated. “The main challenge in this search effort is that we are racing against eruptions,” Ramdani said in a video statement.
” Indonesia’s volcanology agency reported a series of eruptions from early Saturday into the late morning, including ash columns rising to 3,000 metres (10,000ft). Lava bursts were also observed overnight. What is the ring of fire – explained in 30 seconds Read more Mount Dukono has been on the second-highest alert level status since 2008.
The volcanology agency had recommended a two-and-a-half mile (4km) exclusion zone around the active crater in December 2024. All hiking routes to Mount Dukono were closed by local authorities in April and the ban was reinforced after Friday’s incident.
The national disaster management agency warned that entering restricted zones could result in legal sanctions, and urged climbers and tour operators to comply with safety recommendations. Indonesia, an archipelago nation of more than 270 million people, sits along the Pacific “ring of fire” and is home to more than 120 active volcanoes.
The Yankees outfielder entered Sunday with the highest WAR among six position players who signed nine-figure contracts this offseason. He reached base twice and stole two bases in a 4-1 loss to the Reds.
Iran fired missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire, hours after Israel struck Beirut’s Dahiyeh district. Alerts sounded across Tel Aviv as residents moved to shelters.
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