Sleep May Trim Neural Connections to Restore Learning Ability

NIH: Why do we sleep? Companion studies in mice by NIMH grantees add to evidence that sleep may be the price we pay for the ability to learn. The results suggest that sleep streamlines neural connections, or synapses, making them more efficient. It likely restores homeostatic balance to energy resources spent by learning during wakefulness, say the researchers. This is accomplished by the downsizing and weakening of unneeded connections –a selective forgetting, so to speak.

Practice really does make perfect

University of Cambridge. UK: New research into the way in which we learn new skills finds that a single skill can be learned faster if its follow-through motion is consistent, but multiple skills can be learned simultaneously if the follow-through motion is varied.

Brain Scientists Figure Out How A Protein Crucial To Learning And Memory Works

Johns Hopkins. US: Scientists have known for 15 years that a protein called CaMKII was needed for learning and memory, but they did not know why. Johns Hopkins researchers found that CaMKII unhooks a protein called SynGAP from cells’ skeletons, allowing signal transmission between brain cells to grow stronger.and how problems with them can arise.