Catching ZZZs: New findings link sleep's brain-resetting role to potential neurodegenerative disease treatments

by Talia Ogliore, Washington University in St. Louis

edited by Swati Mestri , reviewed by Andrew Zinin

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Add as preferred source Credit: Keith Hengen "Sleep is one of the great mysteries in biology," says Keith Hengen, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences.

Hengen's research focuses on understanding how sleep contributes to healthy cognition and how disrupted sleep worsens neurodegenerative and mental health disorders, like Alzheimer's disease and depression.

In 2024, Hengen and Ralf Wessel, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, published a paper reporting the first direct evidence that sleep restores the computational power of the brain. They discovered that sleep has a fundamental purpose: resetting neural networks by restoring criticality, a state that promotes optimal thinking and learning.