glymphatic system

[glim-fat-ik]

noun

1. Anatomy.,  the system or process by which cerebrospinal fluid moves through channels formed by glia, cleansing the mammalian brain of harmful waste.

Other Word Forms

• glymphatic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of glymphatic system¹

First recorded in 2008–13; glia + lymphatic system

Example Sentences

Excessive vascular pulsation may also disrupt the brain's "glymphatic system," a recently discovered network that removes waste substances such as beta-amyloid, a protein that accumulates in Alzheimer's disease.

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For the past 10 years, a prevailing theory has been that a key function of sleep is to wash waste products and toxins from the brain via a series of tiny channels called the glymphatic system.

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A glymphatic system might still cleanse the brain, the researchers say, but sleep actually slows this cleansing down.

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Her main concern, shared by others, is that inserting the dye portal damaged the brain—the glymphatic system is delicate and could easily collapse.

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Peskind and her collaborators suspect the cause of the changes in the mTBI veterans' spinal fluid proteins is due to blast-related damage to a system in the brain, called the glymphatic system, that allows fluids to flow through the brain and carry away waste products.

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