November 29, 2025 • 11 mins
This episode explores how a new ear-mounted impedance device finally allows real-time tracking of the brain’s glymphatic cleaning system—and what it reveals about the 20% boost in waste clearance during deep sleep. We break down the biology behind amyloid and tau removal, explain the technology, and map how continuous data may accelerate drug discovery and personalized prevention strategies for neurodegenerative disease.
We begin with what the glymphatic system does and why it matters for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and CTE. Then we explain why MRI and invasive tracer methods have been too slow or impractical for moment-to-moment monitoring. You’ll learn how impedance spectroscopy measures tiny shifts in parenchymal resistance as a proxy for fluid flow, how the device was validated against MRI, and why two-minute sampling offers a massive cadence advantage.
We review the study in older adults, including the pronounced drop in clearance after sleep deprivation, and highlight the striking 20% increase in waste removal during deep sleep. The episode connects these findings to EEG delta power, reduced beta power, and lower heart rate, offering the clearest picture yet of the physiology behind nightly brain cleaning.
We close with the implications: faster drug screening, real-time biomarkers, and the first steps toward personalized recommendations that maximize nightly clearance.
High-volume keywords used: glymphatic system, deep sleep, brain health, Alzheimer’s risk, impedance spectroscopy, amyloid clearance, EEG delta waves, sleep monitoring
Listener Takeaways
- How an ear-mounted device now measures glymphatic flow in real time
- Why deep sleep boosts brain clearance by ~20%
- How impedance spectroscopy tracks fluid movement in the brain
- Links between delta waves, heart rate, and glymphatic efficiency
- How real-time data may accelerate drug development and personalized sleep protocols
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This podcast is created by Ai for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional medical or health advice. Please talk to your healthcare team for medical advice.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Imagine this for a second.
Every single night while you'reasleep, your brain is running
this incredibly powerfulcleaning cycle.
SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Like an industrial deep clean.
SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Exactly.
It's flushing out all thesetoxic byproducts that build up
during the day.
And if that system, that wasteclearance system, fails or even
just slows down.
SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Then you're in trouble.
Those toxins start toaccumulate, and the risk for
diseases like Alzheimer's justskyrockets.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
It sounds almost like science fiction, but it's
biological reality.
And the thing is, for thelongest time, researchers were
basically flying blind with thisprocess in humans.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
Right.
They knew it was happening, butthey couldn't really watch it in
real time.
They couldn't see how it wasfailing or, you know, why
certain things might help.
SPEAKER_01 (00:43):
And that is the absolute core of our deep dive
today.
We're looking at source materialfrom a truly groundbreaking
study in nature biomedicalengineering.
It details a technologicalbreakthrough that for the first
time tracked the brain's entiretrash disposal network, the
glymphatic system, in real time,in actual sleeping humans.
(01:03):
This is a complete game changer.
SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Aaron Powell It really is.
So our mission today is prettystraightforward.
We're going to unpack what theglymphatic system is, why it's
so critical, then we'll look atthe incredible new tech that
made this all possible.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
Aaron Powell And then dig into what this new
real-time data is telling usabout sleep, waste clearance,
and really the future oftreating these awful
neurological conditions.
SPEAKER_00 (01:25):
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Okay, so let's start with the basics.
For anyone who's not familiarwith the term, the glymphatic
system, you called it thebrain's plumbing.
What exactly is it doing?
SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
Aaron Powell So at its heart, it's a brain-wide
network.
And its job is to clear outmetabolic waste by pushing
cerebrospinal fluid, CSF, allthrough the brain tissue.
SPEAKER_01 (01:45):
Aaron Powell So the CSF is the cleaning fluid.
SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
Exactly.
Think of the brain cells, theparenchyma, as a kind of dense
sponge.
During the day, that sponge getsclogged up with byproducts from
all your thinking and activity.
Right.
The lymphatic system usespulsations from your arteries to
uh to essentially flush that CSFthrough the sponge, cleaning out
the gaps between the cells andcarrying all that gunk away.
SPEAKER_01 (02:07):
And this gunk, this waste, it's not just generic
stuff.
The sources are really specificabout two proteins that are
central to neurodegeneration.
SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
That's right.
Because when this system isn'tworking well, two really toxic
proteins start to build up.
You have amyloid R and Tau.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
The two big ones for Alzheimer's.
SPEAKER_00 (02:26):
The two big ones.
Amyloid warms these stickyplaques outside the neurons, and
tau forms tangles inside them.
Both of them just wreck cellcommunication and eventually
lead to cell death.
SPEAKER_01 (02:37):
So a failure to clear them out is, well, it's
the hallmark of Alzheimer'sdisease.
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
It is.
Making sure the system runssmoothly every night is
fundamentally about preventingthat toxic pile-up.
SPEAKER_01 (02:48):
But until this study, monitoring that system
was, I mean, incrediblyrestrictive, right?
What were the options forresearchers?
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
They were so limited.
I mean, it was almostparalyzing.
You either had to do somethingreally invasive, like inject a
contrast dye directly into thecerebrospinal fluid.
Wow.
Or you had to rely on theseinfrequent, super expensive
functional MRI scans.
And an MRI takes hours in aspecial facility just to get a
couple of snapshots.
It couldn't capture the dynamicprocess as it actually happens
(03:17):
during a normal night's sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
Okay, so let's get to the breakthrough.
The technology that smashesthrough that barrier.
This is from Applied Cognitionworking with the University of
Florida and the University ofWashington.
They call it a novel multimodalelectrical impedance
spectroscopy device.
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
Yeah, that's a bit of a mouthful.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
It is.
Let's break that down.
SPEAKER_00 (03:37):
So the key here is to shift your thinking away from
looking at fluid volume, whichis what MRI measures.
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (03:42):
Instead, think about measuring the tissue's
electrical properties.
Specifically impedance, which isjust the opposition to
electrical flow.
The device measures what'scalled brain parenchymal
resistance.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
Perenchymal resistance.
Okay, hang on.
We use the sponge analogy.
If the parenchyma is the braintissue, the sponge itself, how
does measuring its resistancetell you anything about fluid
flow?
SPEAKER_00 (04:03):
It's actually brilliant.
When the lymphatic system isreally active, that cleaning
fluid, the CSF, is flowing intothe sponge, into the parenchyma.
Right.
And fluid is electricallyconductive.
So as more of that conductivefluid fills the space between
the brain cells, the overallelectrical resistance of that
tissue drops.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
Ah, so low resistance means the cleaning
cycle is on full blast.
High resistance means it'ssluttish.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
You got it.
Low resistance means high,efficient clearance.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
And the design of this device is what makes it so
revolutionary.
It's not a million-dollarmachine.
SPEAKER_00 (04:38):
Not at all.
It's wearable and ear-mounted.
This completely transformsmonitoring from a major hospital
event into something you can docontinuously in the real world.
A person can sleep at home intheir own bed.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Which is critical because this whole process
really kicks into gear duringsleep.
SPEAKER_00 (04:55):
Precisely.
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
And the speed of the data capture is just it's
staggering.
You said MRI takes hours for asingle snapshot.
What's the cadence with this newtech?
SPEAKER_00 (05:05):
The device measures that resistance every two
minutes.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
Every two minutes.
SPEAKER_00 (05:08):
Every two minutes.
So instead of maybe three orfour data points over an entire
night in a lab, you're gettinghundreds of continuous data
points in a natural environment.
It's a level of detail that wasbasically science fiction before
this.
SPEAKER_01 (05:20):
I have to ask though.
How can you be sure you're notlosing something in the
translation?
That resistance is a good enoughproxy.
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
Aaron Powell That's a great question.
And it was a critical step.
The validation showed that thedrop in resistance is a direct
and uh very reliable proxy forthe physical movement of fluid
they saw with the MRI.
They established a really tightcorrelation.
So while MRI gives you thisbeautiful structural picture,
the impedance device gives yousuperior functional speed and
(05:57):
continuity.
And for tracking the functionover time, it proved to be just
as accurate.
SPEAKER_01 (06:02):
That makes total sense.
Okay, so the study itself lookedat 44 healthy older adults aged
49 to 66.
Why that specific group?
SPEAKER_00 (06:10):
Well, they needed a population where you'd expect
lymphatic function to begenerally healthy, but maybe
starting to show somevariability.
Older adults are perfect, sincewe know the system can decline
with age.
SPEAKER_01 (06:21):
And they compared normal sleep with sleep
deprivation.
SPEAKER_00 (06:24):
Yes, that was the perfect stress test.
SPEAKER_01 (06:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (06:26):
We already had a strong suspicion that sleep was
the on-switch for this system.
So by comparing a normal nightwith a night of no sleep, they
could create this huge,measurable difference in
function.
SPEAKER_01 (06:37):
Which brings us to the core finding.
What did the real-time dataactually show?
SPEAKER_00 (06:42):
The data was just crystal clear.
They found that brainchromalresistance, that marker for
clearance, decreased byapproximately 20% during sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
20%.
Just by going to sleep, thesystem becomes 20% more
efficient.
That's a huge functional swing.
SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
It's massive.
Yeah.
And it's hard, measurable datathat shows you a night of bad
sleep isn't just about feelingtired.
It is measurably impairing yourbrain's ability to take out the
trash.
The physical maintenance work isjust not getting done as
effectively.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
And because they were measuring every two
minutes, they could go so muchdeeper than just, you know,
sleep is good.
They could pinpoint what aboutsleep was flipping the switch.
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
Exactly.
They could see the dynamicrelationship between sleep
stages, brain rhythms, heartrate, all of it.
This continuous data allowedthem to connect what they saw in
humans with what we already knewfrom preclinical models.
SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
So what were the biological signs they confirmed
were key for kicking the systeminto high gear?
SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
The enhancement was really strongly tied to two
brain rhythms.
First, an increase in EEG deltapower.
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
Delta waves, that's deep restorative sleep.
SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
That's the one.
The deep non-REM sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (07:51):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (07:51):
And second, they saw a reduction in beta power, which
are the waves you see whenyou're awake and alert.
So you really need the brain tofully switch over into that
deep, slow wave cleaning cycle.
SPEAKER_01 (08:01):
It wasn't just brain activity, though, was it?
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
No, it's systemic.
The study also showed a clearconnection to lower heart rates.
It just underscores that deeprest is a whole body event.
When your body's physiologyslows down, that's when the
brain can really turn on itshigh-efficiency cleaning crew.
SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
I think Dr.
Jeffrey Eilef, who's a huge namein this field, he summed it up
perfectly.
He said this tech unlocks ourability to study lymphatic
function in the real world, notjust the MRI suite.
SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
That quote is the whole story.
It moves this entire field ofresearch out of the artificial,
expensive lab and into the realworld.
It's not just about Alzheimer's.
This could give us new insightsinto, I mean, any neurological
condition where fluid dynamicsmight be involved.
SPEAKER_01 (08:43):
So let's talk about that.
Moving from just understandingthe system to actually treating
it, what does this scalabilitymean for discovering new drugs?
SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
It just fundamentally changes the
screening process.
Before, testing if a drug workedon clearance meant these long,
expensive, infrequent imagingstudies.
SPEAKER_01 (09:00):
Waiting months to see an effect.
SPEAKER_00 (09:01):
Months.
Now, because this ear mounteddevice is so scalable,
researchers can screen potentialdrug candidates incredibly fast.
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
So they can give someone a drug candidate and
watch just watch theirparenchamal resistance in real
time to see if it drops.
SPEAKER_00 (09:14):
Exactly that.
It creates an almost instantfeedback loop.
Does this compound make that 20%clearance boost during sleep
even better?
You can find out in a matter ofnights, not years.
It just slashes the cost andtime for drug development.
SPEAKER_01 (09:28):
And this isn't theoretical.
The source material confirmsthis has already happened.
SPEAKER_00 (09:32):
It has.
This technology has alreadyhelped them identify a promising
drug candidate that successfullyimproves lymphatic clearance.
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
That's the proof right there.
The tech didn't just getvalidated, it immediately
produced a therapeutic lead.
SPEAKER_00 (09:46):
And that lead candidate is already in early
clinical trials for Alzheimer'sdisease.
That's the kind of speed you getwhen you have a non-invasive,
high-resolution way to measurefunction.
SPEAKER_01 (09:56):
Dr.
Paul Dagum, the CEO of AppliedCognition, he called this work
pivotal, a pivotal step indefining the role of lymphatic
dysfunction in Alzheimer's andmore importantly, discovering
therapies to rescue it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
Right.
It's that direct line fromidentifying the problem to
finding the cure.
Then they're not stopping there.
They're advancing this lead drugfor early stage Alzheimer's, but
they are also actively expandingtheir pipeline.
SPEAKER_01 (10:20):
Looking at other conditions.
SPEAKER_00 (10:21):
Exactly.
Any condition where impairedwaist clearance could be a
factor, Parkinson's, maybe evenCTE from head injuries, they can
all be studied and targeted withthis same precise metric now.
SPEAKER_01 (10:33):
It's just incredible.
A tiny air-mounted device givingus this window into a
life-saving process the brainruns every night.
We've confirmed deep sleep is amandatory maintenance window,
improving clearance by 20%.
And now we can measure and evenimprove it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:49):
We've gone from just inferring what's happening to
actively observing themechanism.
It's truly foundational.
SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
So let's leave you with a final thought to mull
over.
The big takeaway is that we nowhave this scalable tech that
proves how vital parts ofsleep-like delta rhythms and low
heart rate are for cleaning thebrain.
If this device gets deployedwidely for continuous real-world
monitoring, how could thatcompletely change personalized
medicine?
SPEAKER_00 (11:14):
I mean you move away from just generic advice like
get more sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
Right.
Imagine getting personalizedrecommendations.
Maybe it's changing your roomtemperature or your light
exposure or even your exerciseschedule.
All tailored not just to makeyou feel more rested, but to
measurably maximize your nightlyclearance efficiency.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
A personalized prescription for brain cleaning.
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Exactly.
And for someone at high geneticrisk for Alzheimer's, this could
be a daily early warning system.
It could drive preventativeactions based on real time data
from your own brain.
The future of wellness might notjust ask if you slept, but how
well your brain actually cleaneditself while you did.
Imagine this for a second.
Every single night while you'reasleep, your brain is running
this incredibly powerfulcleaning cycle.
SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Like an industrial deep clean.
SPEAKER_01 (00:10):
Exactly.
It's flushing out all thesetoxic byproducts that build up
during the day.
And if that system, that wasteclearance system, fails or even
just slows down.
SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Then you're in trouble.
Those toxins start toaccumulate, and the risk for
diseases like Alzheimer's justskyrockets.
SPEAKER_01 (00:27):
It sounds almost like science fiction, but it's
biological reality.
And the thing is, for thelongest time, researchers were
basically flying blind with thisprocess in humans.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
Right.
They knew it was happening, butthey couldn't really watch it in
real time.
They couldn't see how it wasfailing or, you know, why
certain things might help.
SPEAKER_01 (00:43):
And that is the absolute core of our deep dive
today.
We're looking at source materialfrom a truly groundbreaking
study in nature biomedicalengineering.
It details a technologicalbreakthrough that for the first
time tracked the brain's entiretrash disposal network, the
glymphatic system, in real time,in actual sleeping humans.
(01:03):
This is a complete game changer.
SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Aaron Powell It really is.
So our mission today is prettystraightforward.
We're going to unpack what theglymphatic system is, why it's
so critical, then we'll look atthe incredible new tech that
made this all possible.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
Aaron Powell And then dig into what this new
real-time data is telling usabout sleep, waste clearance,
and really the future oftreating these awful
neurological conditions.
SPEAKER_00 (01:25):
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:25):
Okay, so let's start with the basics.
For anyone who's not familiarwith the term, the glymphatic
system, you called it thebrain's plumbing.
What exactly is it doing?
SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
Aaron Powell So at its heart, it's a brain-wide
network.
And its job is to clear outmetabolic waste by pushing
cerebrospinal fluid, CSF, allthrough the brain tissue.
SPEAKER_01 (01:45):
Aaron Powell So the CSF is the cleaning fluid.
SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
Exactly.
Think of the brain cells, theparenchyma, as a kind of dense
sponge.
During the day, that sponge getsclogged up with byproducts from
all your thinking and activity.
Right.
The lymphatic system usespulsations from your arteries to
uh to essentially flush that CSFthrough the sponge, cleaning out
the gaps between the cells andcarrying all that gunk away.
SPEAKER_01 (02:07):
And this gunk, this waste, it's not just generic
stuff.
The sources are really specificabout two proteins that are
central to neurodegeneration.
SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
That's right.
Because when this system isn'tworking well, two really toxic
proteins start to build up.
You have amyloid R and Tau.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
The two big ones for Alzheimer's.
SPEAKER_00 (02:26):
The two big ones.
Amyloid warms these stickyplaques outside the neurons, and
tau forms tangles inside them.
Both of them just wreck cellcommunication and eventually
lead to cell death.
SPEAKER_01 (02:37):
So a failure to clear them out is, well, it's
the hallmark of Alzheimer'sdisease.
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
It is.
Making sure the system runssmoothly every night is
fundamentally about preventingthat toxic pile-up.
SPEAKER_01 (02:48):
But until this study, monitoring that system
was, I mean, incrediblyrestrictive, right?
What were the options forresearchers?
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
They were so limited.
I mean, it was almostparalyzing.
You either had to do somethingreally invasive, like inject a
contrast dye directly into thecerebrospinal fluid.
Wow.
Or you had to rely on theseinfrequent, super expensive
functional MRI scans.
And an MRI takes hours in aspecial facility just to get a
couple of snapshots.
It couldn't capture the dynamicprocess as it actually happens
(03:17):
during a normal night's sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
Okay, so let's get to the breakthrough.
The technology that smashesthrough that barrier.
This is from Applied Cognitionworking with the University of
Florida and the University ofWashington.
They call it a novel multimodalelectrical impedance
spectroscopy device.
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
Yeah, that's a bit of a mouthful.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
It is.
Let's break that down.
SPEAKER_00 (03:37):
So the key here is to shift your thinking away from
looking at fluid volume, whichis what MRI measures.
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (03:42):
Instead, think about measuring the tissue's
electrical properties.
Specifically impedance, which isjust the opposition to
electrical flow.
The device measures what'scalled brain parenchymal
resistance.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
Perenchymal resistance.
Okay, hang on.
We use the sponge analogy.
If the parenchyma is the braintissue, the sponge itself, how
does measuring its resistancetell you anything about fluid
flow?
SPEAKER_00 (04:03):
It's actually brilliant.
When the lymphatic system isreally active, that cleaning
fluid, the CSF, is flowing intothe sponge, into the parenchyma.
Right.
And fluid is electricallyconductive.
So as more of that conductivefluid fills the space between
the brain cells, the overallelectrical resistance of that
tissue drops.
SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
Ah, so low resistance means the cleaning
cycle is on full blast.
High resistance means it'ssluttish.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
You got it.
Low resistance means high,efficient clearance.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
And the design of this device is what makes it so
revolutionary.
It's not a million-dollarmachine.
SPEAKER_00 (04:38):
Not at all.
It's wearable and ear-mounted.
This completely transformsmonitoring from a major hospital
event into something you can docontinuously in the real world.
A person can sleep at home intheir own bed.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Which is critical because this whole process
really kicks into gear duringsleep.
SPEAKER_00 (04:55):
Precisely.
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
And the speed of the data capture is just it's
staggering.
You said MRI takes hours for asingle snapshot.
What's the cadence with this newtech?
SPEAKER_00 (05:05):
The device measures that resistance every two
minutes.
SPEAKER_01 (05:07):
Every two minutes.
SPEAKER_00 (05:08):
Every two minutes.
So instead of maybe three orfour data points over an entire
night in a lab, you're gettinghundreds of continuous data
points in a natural environment.
It's a level of detail that wasbasically science fiction before
this.
SPEAKER_01 (05:20):
I have to ask though.
How can you be sure you're notlosing something in the
translation?
That resistance is a good enoughproxy.
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
Aaron Powell That's a great question.
And it was a critical step.
The validation showed that thedrop in resistance is a direct
and uh very reliable proxy forthe physical movement of fluid
they saw with the MRI.
They established a really tightcorrelation.
So while MRI gives you thisbeautiful structural picture,
the impedance device gives yousuperior functional speed and
(05:57):
continuity.
And for tracking the functionover time, it proved to be just
as accurate.
SPEAKER_01 (06:02):
That makes total sense.
Okay, so the study itself lookedat 44 healthy older adults aged
49 to 66.
Why that specific group?
SPEAKER_00 (06:10):
Well, they needed a population where you'd expect
lymphatic function to begenerally healthy, but maybe
starting to show somevariability.
Older adults are perfect, sincewe know the system can decline
with age.
SPEAKER_01 (06:21):
And they compared normal sleep with sleep
deprivation.
SPEAKER_00 (06:24):
Yes, that was the perfect stress test.
SPEAKER_01 (06:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (06:26):
We already had a strong suspicion that sleep was
the on-switch for this system.
So by comparing a normal nightwith a night of no sleep, they
could create this huge,measurable difference in
function.
SPEAKER_01 (06:37):
Which brings us to the core finding.
What did the real-time dataactually show?
SPEAKER_00 (06:42):
The data was just crystal clear.
They found that brainchromalresistance, that marker for
clearance, decreased byapproximately 20% during sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
20%.
Just by going to sleep, thesystem becomes 20% more
efficient.
That's a huge functional swing.
SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
It's massive.
Yeah.
And it's hard, measurable datathat shows you a night of bad
sleep isn't just about feelingtired.
It is measurably impairing yourbrain's ability to take out the
trash.
The physical maintenance work isjust not getting done as
effectively.
SPEAKER_01 (07:10):
And because they were measuring every two
minutes, they could go so muchdeeper than just, you know,
sleep is good.
They could pinpoint what aboutsleep was flipping the switch.
SPEAKER_00 (07:19):
Exactly.
They could see the dynamicrelationship between sleep
stages, brain rhythms, heartrate, all of it.
This continuous data allowedthem to connect what they saw in
humans with what we already knewfrom preclinical models.
SPEAKER_01 (07:34):
So what were the biological signs they confirmed
were key for kicking the systeminto high gear?
SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
The enhancement was really strongly tied to two
brain rhythms.
First, an increase in EEG deltapower.
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
Delta waves, that's deep restorative sleep.
SPEAKER_00 (07:48):
That's the one.
The deep non-REM sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (07:51):
Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00 (07:51):
And second, they saw a reduction in beta power, which
are the waves you see whenyou're awake and alert.
So you really need the brain tofully switch over into that
deep, slow wave cleaning cycle.
SPEAKER_01 (08:01):
It wasn't just brain activity, though, was it?
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
No, it's systemic.
The study also showed a clearconnection to lower heart rates.
It just underscores that deeprest is a whole body event.
When your body's physiologyslows down, that's when the
brain can really turn on itshigh-efficiency cleaning crew.
SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
I think Dr.
Jeffrey Eilef, who's a huge namein this field, he summed it up
perfectly.
He said this tech unlocks ourability to study lymphatic
function in the real world, notjust the MRI suite.
SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
That quote is the whole story.
It moves this entire field ofresearch out of the artificial,
expensive lab and into the realworld.
It's not just about Alzheimer's.
This could give us new insightsinto, I mean, any neurological
condition where fluid dynamicsmight be involved.
SPEAKER_01 (08:43):
So let's talk about that.
Moving from just understandingthe system to actually treating
it, what does this scalabilitymean for discovering new drugs?
SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
It just fundamentally changes the
screening process.
Before, testing if a drug workedon clearance meant these long,
expensive, infrequent imagingstudies.
SPEAKER_01 (09:00):
Waiting months to see an effect.
SPEAKER_00 (09:01):
Months.
Now, because this ear mounteddevice is so scalable,
researchers can screen potentialdrug candidates incredibly fast.
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
So they can give someone a drug candidate and
watch just watch theirparenchamal resistance in real
time to see if it drops.
SPEAKER_00 (09:14):
Exactly that.
It creates an almost instantfeedback loop.
Does this compound make that 20%clearance boost during sleep
even better?
You can find out in a matter ofnights, not years.
It just slashes the cost andtime for drug development.
SPEAKER_01 (09:28):
And this isn't theoretical.
The source material confirmsthis has already happened.
SPEAKER_00 (09:32):
It has.
This technology has alreadyhelped them identify a promising
drug candidate that successfullyimproves lymphatic clearance.
SPEAKER_01 (09:39):
That's the proof right there.
The tech didn't just getvalidated, it immediately
produced a therapeutic lead.
SPEAKER_00 (09:46):
And that lead candidate is already in early
clinical trials for Alzheimer'sdisease.
That's the kind of speed you getwhen you have a non-invasive,
high-resolution way to measurefunction.
SPEAKER_01 (09:56):
Dr.
Paul Dagum, the CEO of AppliedCognition, he called this work
pivotal, a pivotal step indefining the role of lymphatic
dysfunction in Alzheimer's andmore importantly, discovering
therapies to rescue it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
Right.
It's that direct line fromidentifying the problem to
finding the cure.
Then they're not stopping there.
They're advancing this lead drugfor early stage Alzheimer's, but
they are also actively expandingtheir pipeline.
SPEAKER_01 (10:20):
Looking at other conditions.
SPEAKER_00 (10:21):
Exactly.
Any condition where impairedwaist clearance could be a
factor, Parkinson's, maybe evenCTE from head injuries, they can
all be studied and targeted withthis same precise metric now.
SPEAKER_01 (10:33):
It's just incredible.
A tiny air-mounted device givingus this window into a
life-saving process the brainruns every night.
We've confirmed deep sleep is amandatory maintenance window,
improving clearance by 20%.
And now we can measure and evenimprove it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:49):
We've gone from just inferring what's happening to
actively observing themechanism.
It's truly foundational.
SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
So let's leave you with a final thought to mull
over.
The big takeaway is that we nowhave this scalable tech that
proves how vital parts ofsleep-like delta rhythms and low
heart rate are for cleaning thebrain.
If this device gets deployedwidely for continuous real-world
monitoring, how could thatcompletely change personalized
medicine?
SPEAKER_00 (11:14):
I mean you move away from just generic advice like
get more sleep.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
Right.
Imagine getting personalizedrecommendations.
Maybe it's changing your roomtemperature or your light
exposure or even your exerciseschedule.
All tailored not just to makeyou feel more rested, but to
measurably maximize your nightlyclearance efficiency.
SPEAKER_00 (11:32):
A personalized prescription for brain cleaning.
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Exactly.
And for someone at high geneticrisk for Alzheimer's, this could
be a daily early warning system.
It could drive preventativeactions based on real time data
from your own brain.
The future of wellness might notjust ask if you slept, but how
well your brain actually cleaneditself while you did.
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