The
mechanism by which a good night's sleep improves learning and memory has been
discovered by scientists.
The
team in China and the US used advanced microscopy to witness new connections
between brain cells - synapses - forming during sleep.
Their
study, published in the
journal Science, showed even intense training could not make up
for lost sleep.
Experts
said it was an elegant and significant study, which uncovered the mechanisms of
memory.
It
is well known that sleep plays an important role in memory and learning. But
what actually happens inside the brain has been a source of considerable
debate.
Researchers
at New York University School of Medicine and Peking University Shenzhen
Graduate School trained mice in a new skill - walking on top of a rotating rod.
They
then looked inside the living brain with a microscope to see what happened when
the animals were either sleeping or sleep deprived.
Their
study showed that sleeping mice formed significantly more new connections
between neurons - they were learning more.
And
by disrupting specific phases of sleep, the research group showed deep or
slow-wave sleep was necessary for memory formation.
During
this stage, the brain was "replaying" the activity from earlier in
the day.
Prof
Wen-Biao Gan, from New York University, told the BBC: "Finding out sleep
promotes new connections between neurons is new, nobody knew this before.
"We
thought sleep helped, but it could have been other causes, and we show it
really helps to make connections and that in sleep the brain is not quiet, it
is replaying what happened during the day and it seems quite important for
making the connections."
And
by disrupting specific phases of sleep, the research group showed deep or
slow-wave sleep was necessary for memory formation.
During
this stage, the brain was "replaying" the activity from earlier in
the day.
Prof
Wen-Biao Gan, from New York University, told the BBC: "Finding out sleep
promotes new connections between neurons is new, nobody knew this before.
"We
thought sleep helped, but it could have been other causes, and we show it
really helps to make connections and that in sleep the brain is not quiet, it
is replaying what happened during the day and it seems quite important for
making the connections."
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