Attentional failures after sleep deprivation are locked to joint neurovascular, pupil and cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics - Nature Neuroscience Yang et al. show that moments of failed attention we experience after sleep deprivation reflect brief ‘sleep-like’ episodes in the brain, corresponding to a brain- and body-wide event with altered bra...

Attentional failures during wakefulness after sleep deprivation are tightly orchestrated in a series of brain–body changes, including neuronal shifts, pupil constriction and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow pulsations

@lauradata.bsky.social @ziy027.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is your brain without sleep An MIT study reveals what happens in the brain as lapses of attention occur following sleep deprivation. During these lapses, a wave of cerebrospinal fluid flows out of the brain — a process that typi...

New research shows attention lapses due to sleep deprivation coincide with a flushing of fluid from the brain — a process that normally occurs during sleep. news.mit.edu/2025/your-br...

Links:
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
MIT News: news.mit.edu/2025/your-br...

So grateful for this amazing team: Laura Lewis @lauradata.bsky.social , Stephanie Williams @stephaniedwill.bsky.social , Ewa Beldzik @ewa-beldzik.bsky.social , Stephanie Anakwe, Emilia Schimmelpfennig, and thrilled that MIT News covered our work!

What really happens in your brain when you don’t sleep enough?

Our new study in Nature Neuroscience reveals that when you’re sleep-deprived and attention drops, your brain starts to look like asleep: with large waves of CSF rushing through the brain, similar to what happens during sleep.

Thank you!!

🎉Excited to share our latest work with @stephaniedwill.bsky.social @ewa-beldzik.bsky.social @lauradata.bsky.social + others
🥱Why does sleep deprivation have negative effects on behavior?
We demonstrate that attentional failures caused by SD are coupled to large-scale brain fluid transport.