Sleep in early life may play crucial role in brain development. A new study shows that sleep enhances brain connectivity during a critical period of visual development in cats, a process called plasticity. The new study strongly suggests that sleep functions to help consolidate the effects of new learning in response to exposure to novel experience. “This is the first direct evidence that sleep modifies the effect of environmental stimuli on the development of new brain connections,” said the principal researcher.

While the study focused specifically on the impact of sleep on neuronal remodeling during the critical period for visual development in the
cat, the researchers believe the finding has broader implications, not just for plasticity during development in other brain structures, but for
plasticity in the adult brain.

If this is shown to be the case, sleep could prove an important part of the strategy for preparing for such challenges as exams. “The fact
that sleep provoked slightly more plasticity than double the amount of exposure to experience [when cats remained awake in a lit room]
suggests that if you reviewed your notes thoroughly until you were tired and then slept, you’d achieve as much plasticity, or ‘learning,’ in the
brain as if you’d pulled an all-nighter repeating your review of the material”…

“This discovery offers direction for examining the two major hypotheses for how sleep impacts plasticity. One theory is that patterned
neuronal activity following a period of environmental stimulation is replayed during non-REM sleep, strengthening neuronal connection
changes. The alternative theory, which could also work in conjunction with the first, is that powerful growth factors, such as neurotrophins,
which are known to be necessary for cortical plasticity, are released during non-REM sleep.” EurekAlert!