“The morning is wiser than the evening,” says an old proverb. Quite a long time ago, it was discovered that sleep has a lot to do with memory and learning. But only recently have scientists been able to substantiate this pattern by identifying the processes that occur during sleep.
Synapse theory
There is a popular theory that during sleep the brain is cleared of the excess information received during the day. According to her, during the day, brain cells, neurons, are constantly "bombarded" with various information from neighboring cells. During this process, connections arise between them, which are otherwise called synapses.
By the time of sleep, the cells are not just filled, but overloaded with information, among which, among other things, there is a completely useless one. And at night, when no information comes from the outside, the brain radically rearranges its activity, eliminating those synapses that do not have a payload.
Several years ago, American scientists experimentally proved that during such a night "cleaning" the space between neurons increases by about 60 percent. In these formed niches, the brain cells release the beta-amyloid protein accumulated during the day, which was produced during the day. This protein is referred to as protein slags, which negatively affect not only the process of memorization, but in general on the brain activity.
Simultaneously with the removal of unnecessary synapses, the brain enlarges useful ones in order to be able to perceive the necessary information the next day. That is why people whose work is connected with memorizing large amounts of information, for example, actors, are recommended to memorize and consolidate fresh information in the morning.
Sorting information
In addition to cleansing the brain of unnecessary information, it is sorted at night. This theory comes from physiology and is best known as the Hopsen-McCartley activation-synthetic theory.
According to her, during the day, thinking about something or trying to solve some problem, the brain forms the so-called memory circles associated with the most important events for a person. During REM sleep, also called dreaming sleep, there is a chaotic disinhibition of certain areas of the brain and activation of memory circles. Moreover, most often it is the newly formed circles that are involved in this process, that is, those that are associated with a sore problem or task. It is not yet clear what is the incentive to launch these particular sections. But their work during sleep allows using the previously described synapses to weed out the wrong options and choose the most optimal ones.
Therefore, often after waking up, a person makes the right decision, not even suspecting that he had made it in a dream.
