ArticleAdvanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)2026
Sleep Alters the Velocity of Physiological Brain Pulsations in Humans.
Article in Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Modifiable Physiological Factors Associated With Human Glymphatic and Interstitial Fluid Dynamics-Related Measures: A Scoping Review.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- Infra-slow (<0.1 Hz) Modulation of Human Brain Pulsations in Awake and Sleep States.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- The electrofluidic brain as a basement layer for neural computation.Communications biology · 2026Review
- Sleep alters neurovascular and hydrodynamic coupling in the human brain.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThe clearance of brain metabolites increases during sleep, in association with increased spectral power of the three main cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow drivers: cardiovascular, respiratory, and vasomotor brain pulsations. However, little is known about how the increased power of these pulsations affects the velocity and direction of fluid flow in the sleeping brain.
objectivesTo address this knowledge gap, we mapped the CSF oscillatory flow velocity in relation to the changing physiological pulsations in the brains of 22 healthy volunteers during sleep and waking.
methodsWe used the ultrafast magnetic resonance imaging sequence known as magnetic resonance encephalography (MREG) for tracing the pulsatile movement of water molecules inside the cranium. First, we conducted a phantom validation study with optical flow analysis to confirm that MREG accurately tracks pulsatile water molecule flow in a porous tissue medium. Next, we obtained MREG recordings for mapping the three physiological pulsations without aliasing in the human brain across the awake and sleep states; we thereby quantified the brain-wide 3D velocity
resultsIn our phantom study, dense optical flow analysis reliably detected water flow in tissue driven by external pulsations. In healthy volunteers, sleep increased flow velocities (
conclusionsPhantom studies validated the optic flow analysis of fast MREG recordings. Sleep altered the 3D velocity dynamics of all neurofluidic brain pulsations in a manner consistent with increased interstitial space and greater fluid exchange, thus supporting the glymphatic model wherein physiological pulsations drive bulk flow during sleep.
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