So if Alzheimer's is the degeneration of brain cells leading to memory loss and breakdown of other mental functions, and sleep is typically touted as a way to consolidate memories, does sleep aid in the process of repairing/healing cells in the brain? Does the lack of consolidation of memory (lack of sleep) lead to some kind of disjointed collection of neurons, leading to a condition such as Alzheimer's?
tl;dr, from this source and related others: The vertebrate CNS has its own waste clearance system, called the "glymphatic system", which serves a similar function as the lymphatic system does for the rest of the organism. During slow-wave sleep, neurons contract to increase the volume of extracellular space, which aids the glymphatic system in clearing toxins such as the β-amyloids which recent research strongly implicates as a risk factor for Alzheimer's. It is therefore reasonable to suspect that restriction of slow-wave sleep, such that this clearance cannot occur or can't run to completion, itself poses a risk of Alzheimer's, and perhaps other disorders, later in life.
