(Press-News.org)
Scientists at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) have uncovered a non-invasive method to boost the brain’s natural waste drainage system—a discovery that could open new avenues for tackling age-related neurological disorders.
In a study published in Nature, researchers from the IBS Center for Vascular Research, led by Director KOH Gou Young, along with senior researchers JIN Hokyung, YOON Jin-Hui, and principal researcher HONG Seon Pyo, demonstrated that precisely stimulating the lymphatics under skin on the neck and face can significantly enhance the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)—the liquid that cushions the brain and helps remove toxic waste—through lymphatic vessels. This offers a new approach to clearing brain waste using safe, non-invasive mechanical stimulation, rather than relying on drugs or surgical interventions.
The human brain produces waste at a high rate compared to other organs, and clearing it efficiently is essential for healthy brain function. This clearance is primarily carried out by CSF, which removes harmful substances such as amyloid-β and tau proteins—key factors in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. However, as we age, this drainage slows down, contributing to cognitive decline.
The IBS Center for Vascular Research previously published landmark studies in Nature (2019 and 2024) demonstrating that CSF drains to deep cervical lymph nodes via meningeal lymphatic vessels at the base of the skull and the nasopharyngeal lymphatic plexus. They also showed that age-related degeneration of these lymphatics impairs CSF clearance. Furthermore, the team found that CSF drainage could be enhanced or suppressed pharmacologically by targeting cervical lymphatic vessels outside the skull. However, clinical applications remained limited because these lymphatics are located too deep in the neck for non-invasive access.
“This research not only completed the map of cerebrospinal fluid drainage pathways that clear brain waste, but also provided a new method to enhance CSF drainage from outside the brain,” stated KOH Gou Young, Center Director and corresponding author. “We expect this will serve as a milestone for future research on neurodegenerative diseases including dementia.”
Now, using genetically modified mice and monkeys with fluorescent tracers, the researchers have mapped out a new CSF drainage route from the brain to superficial cervical lymph nodes—via a network of lymphatic vessels in the face, nose, and hard palate. In older animals, many of these routes had degenerated—except for the vessels just beneath the facial skin, which retained full functionality despite aging.
“We confirmed that lymphatic vessels beneath facial skin connect to submandibular lymph nodes through various pathways,” explained JIN Hokyung, Senior Researcher and co-first author. “Through these connections, we can regulate the reduced cerebrospinal fluid drainage function seen in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Further research is needed to determine how this newly identified pathway can be applied in actual patients.”
Recognizing this, the team developed a force-regulated mechanical stimulator—a handheld device that gently presses and strokes the skin in a controlled manner. When applied to aged mice, the device restored CSF clearance to youthful levels, dramatically improving drainage without disrupting natural lymphatic contractions.
“I am pleased that we found a safer and more effective method to enhance cerebrospinal fluid drainage from outside the skull,” said YOON Jin-Hui, co-first author and neurovascular physiologist. “We are conducting follow-up studies to investigate how this newly identified drainage pathway is altered in various brain disease patients and how this new stimulation method can be applied therapeutically.”
This technique could pave the way for wearable or clinical devices that enhance brain waste clearance in older adults or patients with neurological conditions. The team is now investigating how this drainage system behaves in diseases like Alzheimer’s—and whether mechanical stimulation could serve as a preventive or therapeutic tool.
END
In a UNSW-led Nature study published today, researchers say that an off-the-scale marine heatwave in the North Atlantic Ocean in 2023 was caused by record-breaking weak winds combined with increased solar radiation – all on the back of ongoing climate change.
From Greenland to the Sahara and across to the Americas, the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean warmed at an unprecedented speed in the summer of 2023.
“The intensity of the warming in that single summer was equivalent to about two decades worth of warming for the North Atlantic,” says lead author Professor Matthew England from UNSW Sydney.
“While ...
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The findings, led by scientists at the University of Bristol and the cover story of the journal Nature, mean plants and shallow soil layers are likely removing around one gigatonne more CO₂ each year from the atmosphere to counteract this, emphasising their pivotal and greater part in combating climate change.
Lead author Dr Josh ...
About The Study: The proportion of U.S. adults who were unaware of having hypertension increased significantly over the study period (2013 to 2023), particularly in young adults and women, while diabetes and high cholesterol level unawareness remained stable. By the 2021 to 2023 cycle, approximately 1 in 6 adults with hypertension and 3 in 10 with diabetes were unaware of their condition.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rishi K. Wadhera, MD, MPP, MPhil, email rwadhera@bidmc.harvard.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at ...
About The Study: In this cohort study of schools, a COVID-19–related decline in youth physical fitness was observed. Compared with pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods, cardiorespiratory fitness and musculoskeletal fitness healthy fitness zone achievement were significantly lower during the pandemic, but the reduction did not appear to be associated with extended remote or hybrid environments.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Andjelka Pavlovic, PhD, email andjelka.pavlovic@ttuhsc.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.13721)
Editor’s ...
A study initiated by a University of Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center physician-scientist defined for the first time how loss of the Y chromosome in male immune cells negatively affects immune system function, which may explain why loss of Y is associated with lower cancer survival rates. The paper “Concurrent loss of the Y chromosome in cancer and T cells impacts outcome,” was published today in Nature.
In males, each cell in the body usually contains one X and one Y chromosome. “Loss of Y” is a common, nonhereditary ...
When cancer cells in male patients and immune cells in their tumors both lose the Y chromosome, those patients tend to experience poorer outcomes than patients without Y chromosome loss, according to new findings from Cedars-Sinai investigators. Their work, published in the scientific journal Nature, could lead to ways to make some cancer treatments more effective.
The Y chromosome is one of two chromosomes that determine biological sex in mammals. Females have two X chromosomes, males have one X and one Y chromosome, and it ...
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The new research, published online April 5 in the American Heart Journal, shows that the virtual echocardiography screening ...
