Sleep and plasticity: Waking from a fevered dream

Sleep is widely found in the animal kingdom but scientists still do not know why animals sleep. One clue is that in diverse animal species, sleep loss impairs higher central nervous system functions that depend on synaptic plasticity [1]. This suggests that an evolutionarily conserved function of sleep is to promote synaptic plasticity. If true, this raises several puzzling questions. Plastic changes occur while we are awake and asleep and it is reasonable to assume that both brain states normally work in concert to produce adaptive changes in brain circuits.
Source: Sleep Medicine Reviews - Category: Sleep Medicine Authors: Tags: Guest editorial Source Type: research