New research from the US: how daydreaming is linked to Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy

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Losing yourself in memories, reminiscing about the past or imagining what is to come – daydreaming is not only very common in children. But even though we sometimes worry about our own thoughts, our brains are still operational at all times. Now, a new study by the Children’s Hospital in Boston and Stanford University shows what exactly is responsible for this interruption in daydreaming – and what this finding means for neurological diseases, as ‘Neurosciencenews’ reports.

When we dream, whether at night or during the day, our brain needs to be able to immediately direct our attention to our surroundings at any time. This function is performed by the so-called dentate gyrus. The dentate gyrus is a convolution of the brain and part of the hippocampus. This in turn is primarily responsible for memory formation. At the end, the dentate gyrus divides into so-called dendrites. These tips help the brain when it is ‘offline’: they absorb information, process it and help us reorient ourselves in our environment.

associated with neurological diseases

When we dream, neuronal activity can be measured, also known as ‘sharp wave ripples’. Through these waves we can consolidate past events. According to the new study by neuroscientists, the nerve impulses from the dentate gyrus interrupt these “sharp wave ripples” and wake us up again.

This knowledge about the function of the dentate gyrus and its dendrites does not only play a role in daydreaming. The suspicion is that this also contributes to neurological disorders – or not. The dendrites of the dentate gyrus can reduce attention in people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Neuroscientists can also well imagine that the dendrites in Alzheimer’s disease disrupt the formation of new memories. What is of particular interest to researchers, however, is the connection with the neurological disorder epilepsy. The ‘storm in the brain’ could receive an ‘extra impulse’ from the dendrites.

Source: Blick