Students preparing for final exams might want to wait before pulling an all-night cram session – at least as far as their neurons are concerned.
It’s well known that synapses in the brain, the connections between neurons and other cells that allow for the transmission of information, grow when they’re exposed to a stimulus. However, new research from the lab of Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Alison L. Barth has shown that in the short term, synapses get even stronger than previously thought, but then quickly go through a transitional phase where they weaken.
“When you think of learning, you think that it’s cumulative. We thought that synapses started small and then got bigger and bigger. This isn’t the case,” Barth said. “Based on our data, it seems like synapses that have recently been strengthened are peculiarly vulnerable – more stimulation can actually wipe out the effects of learning.”