动物实验 z-bo 2020-08-17 619

　　According to animal experiments 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 area 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 observe 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. After the study, some mice were able to fall asleep quickly, while others had to undergo 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. Even mice that lack sleep are better than resting mice, even if they receive 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. suspect that during sleep, recently formed synapses will increase, while during sleep and other more relevant information in the brain, synapses that represent longer-distance memory will be downregulated.