145: Rewiring Stroke Recovery: What the Glymphatic System Can Teach Us

Welcome to the NeurologyLive® Mind Moments® podcast. Tune in to hear leaders in neurology sound off on topics that impact your clinical practice.In this episode, "Differentiating Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut: Diagnosis, Research, and What’s Ahead," Joyce Lee-Iannotti, MD, PhD, division chief of both the Stroke Center and the Comprehensive Sleep Center at Barrow Neurological Institute, discusses her presentation from the 2025 SLEEP Annual Meeting focused on the glymphatic system’s role in stroke. She outlines the science behind this brain-cleansing pathway, its dependence on sleep quality, and how its dysfunction may worsen outcomes in both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Lee-Iannotti also details practical, evidence-backed strategies for optimizing glymphatic clearance—from sleep posture and sleep apnea treatment to emerging pharmacologic options like orexin antagonists. In addition, she highlights major gaps in clinician awareness and offers calls to action for improving sleep assessments in stroke care.Looking for more Sleep disorders discussion? Check out the NeurologyLive® Sleep disorders clinical focus page.Episode Breakdown: 1:00 – Overview of the glymphatic system and its relevance in stroke care 2:55 – Evidence linking sleep quality and glymphatic activity in stroke prevention and recovery 7:40 – Neurology News Minute 10:05 – Potential interventions: pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to enhance glymphatic function 13:10 – Raising clinical awareness of sleep’s role in stroke and neurologic disease management The stories featured in this week's Neurology News Minute, which will give you quick updates on the following developments in neurology, are further detailed here: FDA Grants Priority Review, Sets PDUFA Date for Hunter Syndrome Treatment Tividenofusp Alfa FDA Approves Updated Label for Alzheimer Therapy Donanemab to Lower ARIA-E Risk Exablate Neuro Gains FDA Approval for Staged Bilateral Focused Ultrasound in Advanced Parkinson Disease Thanks for listening to the NeurologyLive® Mind Moments® podcast. To support the show, be sure to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. For more neurology news and expert-driven content, visit neurologylive.com.