Researchers have found that the development of the brain's "waste disposal network" is regulated by neural activity.

The meningeal lymphatic system, as the "waste disposal network" of the brain, maintains the internal stability of the brain by clearing metabolic waste, transporting immune cells, etc., but its developmental regulatory mechanism has always been a mystery. The research team led by Du Jiulin, a researcher at the CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligent Technology, discovered the brain regulatory mechanism of the development of the meningeal lymphatic system, that is, neural activity dynamically regulates the expression of key factors through specific subpopulations of glial cells, and under the cross-tissue cooperation of meningeal fibroblasts, precisely controls the development of meningeal lymphatic endothelial cells. The related research results were published online in the international academic journal "Cell" on April 30th.