New insight into the weirdly wonderful state of sleep suggests that when brains are in snooze mode, certain neural connections are partially weakened, rested, and reset.
Scientists at UCL found that during the first half of sleep, the brain weakens newly formed connections between neurons, supporting the idea that sleep serves as a crucial reset mechanism.
The hypothesis that sleep serves as a mental "reset" is supported by the studies. The brain weakens recently created neuronal connections when you sleep (a process known as synaptic pruning). The first half of sleep appears to be when this trimming occurs most frequently.
During sleep, the brain weakens the new connections between neurons that had been forged while awake – but only during the first half of a night's sleep, according to a new study in fish by UCL scientists.