Indeed. But there is also an easy test that can be applied to people that talk about "toxins": see if they can name a toxin. And both the article and the original paper[1] discuss beta-amyloid.
In any case, it appears that the blame for the suspect terminology lies primarily with the NPR writer, not the researchers. For example, the word "toxin" does not actually appear in the paper[1], which is titled "Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain".
In any case, it appears that the blame for the suspect terminology lies primarily with the NPR writer, not the researchers. For example, the word "toxin" does not actually appear in the paper[1], which is titled "Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain".
[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3880190/