<p>The human brain has the extraordinary ability to rapidly discern a stranger from someone familiar, even as it can simultaneously remember details about someone across decades of encounters. Now, in mouse studies, scientists at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute have revealed how the brain elegantly performs both tasks.</p>
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The adult brain contains millions of silent synapses, which are immature connections between neurons that remain inactive until they are recruited to help form new memories, according to MIT neuroscientists.
The adult brain contains millions of "silent synapses", or immature connections between neurons that remain inactive until they are required for learning new information and storing new memories.
MIT neuroscientists discovered that the adult brain contains millions of “silent synapses” immature connections between neurons that remain inactive until they’re recruited to help form new memories.