动物实验,突触 z-bo 2020-09-01 445

　　According to research in mice, sleep can enhance memory, which can be achieved by promoting the growth of new synapses in the brain. Scientists have long known that sleep can help improve learning and memory, but this process is particularly important when it has been shown that sleep can reduce the number of synapses or neural connections in the brain. The mechanism is unclear. Guang Yang and his colleagues have recently made progress in this field and showed that when mice are taught to learn new motor skills (such as balancing poles), new dendritic spines form in the brain.

　　Now, in order to study whether sleep affects synaptic changes, Yang et al. used a technique to observe dendritic spines in the motor cortex of living mice. They train mice to learn different skills. Some mice can fall asleep immediately after the study, while others require 8 hours of sleep deprivation. Sleeping will increase the number of new dendritic spines. Lack of sleep can be counterproductive. In fact, the impact of sleep deprivation is so great that it can reduce the impact of additional training. Sleep-deprived mice are better than resting mice, even if they have received more rigorous training in certain skills. Fewer new synaptic spines. Yang et al. found that neural activity related to newly learned skills is reactivated during sleep. Researchers say that this reactivation is related to synaptic spinal growth. This is how sleep helps to enhance memory and improve performance. Their results indicate that sleep may lead to the growth of new synapses. Yang et al., it may be that recent experiences formed synapses during sleep, and synapses representing longer-distance memories were down-regulated during sleep, thus providing other more relevant information in the brain.