Our research project is to test a theory that the brain can be kept cleaner by enhancing the brains main cleaning system. This system is called the Glymphatic system. The Glymphatic system was discovered in 2012 and is not common knowledge in the general public and in the medical communities. This system is somewhat known by the neurological research communities.
Our research project involves a form of sleep therapy. When the Glymphatic system is most active a motion bed will gyrate to increase the force and movement of the cerebral fluid (CFS) after it enters the brain to enhance the collection of waste. The amount of gyration created is about the same g-forces created by a person jogging but in all 3 axes. The motion bed determines when the CFS enters the brain by brain wave interpretation. We have built a prototype system to test this theory. We have tested this system on an elderly person and the subject is able to maintain deep sleep when motion is in progress. This is phase one of this project. The test subject does not have Dementia and it is unknown if this person has brain plaques. The next phase of this project is to test a subject that is known to have dementia and then determine if the subject has any improvement (stopping or slowing the disease progression).
It is believed that the brain gets contaminated with brain plaques in the elderly and is a cause of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The elderly have less healthy sleep for several reasons and thus the theory is the Glymphatic system is less effective.
There are a lot of ‘beliefs’ in the above narrative due to a lack of established knowledge as to the causes of neurological diseases. There is not a lot of hope for persons with dementia so any non-invasive approach to possibly helping such people is worth the effort?