Adenosine is a waste product of neurons and it is a potent nervous system depressant which is why if we don’t sleep for a long time we hallucinate, start to feel cold, and feel tired. We feel like we’re drugged because we kind of are. It also increases sleep pressure. Unlike other areas of the body the brain has no way of flushing out the adenosine unless we sleep which activates the glymphatic system. if we don’t sleep the adenosine keeps accumulating and it can kill us in a similar way an od of sleeping pills can.
It’s referring to plain adenosine. When adenosine builds up in the brain, the only way for the brain to get rid of the accumulation of it is by sleeping because it activates the glymphatic system, where CSF is used to flush out the waste/byproducts. If you don’t sleep, the adenosine continues to accumulate in the brain with nowhere to go.
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