Overview
- During brief lapses after total sleep deprivation, cerebrospinal fluid was expelled from the brain, then flowed back as focus returned.
- The lapses aligned with slower breathing and heart rate, with pupils constricting about 12 seconds before the fluid shift.
- Sleep-deprived participants reacted more slowly or missed cues entirely on simple visual and auditory tasks.
- The team proposes a possible unified control circuit for attention and bodily state, with the noradrenergic system a candidate to test.
- Findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, are based on 26 participants in lab conditions and will require larger, mechanistic follow-ups to gauge real-world relevance.