Sleep is important for long-lasting memories, especially during this exam season. New research suggests that sleep makes the synapse both stronger and weaker in our brains, indicating forgetting, strengthening or modifying our memories.
Research publications at the University of Michigan reveal that groups of neurons that have been activated during pre-learning tend to lump and build memories in your brain during sleep that strengthen our forgetting of our memories, in a process known as long-term memories. Indicates to do or modify.
UM researchers are studying how memories associated with a specific sensory event are formed and stored in mice. In a study published before the Coronavirus epidemic and recently in N ature Communications, researchers investigated how a deviant memory is formed in relation to a specific visual stimulus.
They found that not only are neurons activated by visual stimuli more active during later sleep, but sleep is also important for their ability to relate fear memory to a sensory event. Previous research has shown that areas of the brain that are highly active during intensive learning show more activity during later sleep.
Focusing on a specific set of neurons in the primary visual cortex, Aten and the study’s lead author, graduate student Brittany Clausen, created a visual memory test. They showed a neutral image to a group of mice, and expressed the gene in visual cortex neurons activated by the image.
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