Glymphatic system discovery (2012)
Iliff, Nedergaard, and colleagues at the University of Rochester showed cerebrospinal fluid flows through brain tissue along blood vessels, clearing waste from the organ. The brain, they demonstrated, does have a clearance system.
Triggered a wave of research on how the brain manages waste and whether 'immune privilege' was an accurate model.
Opened the field of glymphatics, reshaping research on sleep, Alzheimer's disease, and brain clearance.
Both discoveries undermine the textbook claim that the brain is disconnected from the body's maintenance and defense systems.
