Why The Brain Eats Itself?
Your Brain’s Secret Cleanup Crew: How Phagocytosis Keeps Your Mind Sharp.
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In today's article, we will learn about the strange fact that your brain is probably eating itself - right now!
It sounds like a scene from a horror movie, but thanks to a process called phagocytosis (phago·cyt·osis), this strange phenomenon is good for us. Now, before you get grossed out, our brains would be cluttered without this process.
To help visualise this, imagine a child's room is your brain; if you kept adding toys without throwing out the old toys, it would soon become overwhelmed and a mess.
Welcome to this edition of the Five Whys. This article is a good one, so I'll keep the introduction short and get straight into the article.
Why #1: Why Does The Brain Eat Itself?
The brain is an energy consumer, like an absolute powerhouse and most data centres, it requires a lot of energy; almost a third of your body's energy is consumed by your brain. As a result, many complex processes create a lot of waste. To clear up this waste, a process called phagocytosis gets to action to clear up the trash. It is also possible to rewire the brain and remove or change connections. The process happens daily with the brain's immune cells (Microglia) patrolling the brain for waste, but it also occurs during sleep and periods of stress.
Why #2: Why Does the Brain Have a Cleanup System that Removes Waste?
Our brains need to work as efficiently as possible - just like a modern computer slows down over time, and, like most things, efficiency can be achieved by removing clutter. Removing unused connections also means phagocytosis supports neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to rewire itself by eliminating dead connections and unnecessary clutter. This process is critical during adolescence when unwanted connections are pruned away.
Why #3: Why Would Harmful Waste and Dysfunctional Cells Accumulate Without this Process?
Remember the tidy room analogy: once everything gets organised, it becomes easier to move around. Similarly, when waste and dead cells get removed from the brain, it can function better. The build of debris would not only make the brain challenging to operate, but it might also disrupt the brain's function or even cause disease.
Why #4: Why Do Brain Cells Not Live Forever?
Just like most things in nature, wear and tear becomes inevitable over time. Our brains work hard, like really hard - from processing the vast amount of data we receive from our senses to the subconscious running of our body and everything else; it takes a lot of energy. The workload creates a lot of free radicals that can damage cells. Unlike other cells, the neurons in the brain can't divide to fix the damage, and over time, they die off. Therefore, phagocytosis clears up the debris and allows for new connections.
Why #5: Why Does the Brain Need to Adapt and Prevent Neurodegenerative Damage?
We already know that the brain is responsible for a lot; it is, in many ways, our internal computer, so its ability to perform well is crucial for our survival. Without the flexibility to repair and clean up itself, the brain would struggle to adapt to new environments and challenges. Preventing neurodegenerative damage is also crucial as we age and the risks of degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease increase. The fact that the brain eats itself is how it remains agile and adapts to whatever life throws at us.
In Summary...
Let's think of phagocytosis as a superhero team-up, but instead of capes and masks, we're talking about our brain's dedicated cleanup crew! At the start of my article, I compared this daily essential effort to tackling the chaos in my daughter's room—messy but necessary! Like my daughter sometimes trails toys like breadcrumbs, our brain has to handle many broken-down "stuff" in the form of dead cells.
So phagocytosis swoops in like a trusty sidekick, gobbling up the clutter to keep our grey matter shining bright. Our brain is a bit of an energy hog - it gobbles up about one-third of our body's energy—talk about the ultimate powerhouse! By clearing out the dead cells, our brain works more efficiently and dramatically lowers the chances of cognitive decline.
So, next time you think of your brain-eating itself, imagine those little cleanup heroes working tirelessly to keep our minds sharp and sparkly for as long as possible, just like I wish my daughter would do with her room!
Thank you for reading and stay curious. Please remember to like, subscribe and comment to stay up to date with my latest articles.
Matt