How Your Brain Shrinks
Your brain absorbs information by creating synapses, which are the intersections of neurons. Theoretically, you might hit a maximum capacity in your brain if every synapse becomes so strong that it can’t be strengthened any more. However, your brain has a natural mechanism for “downscaling” your synapses in order to conserve energy while retaining information. It’s a process that I image works similarly to image compression, but don’t take my word for it. Here’s The Atlantic’s Ed Yong on a new study that indicates the brain shrinking process happens primarily during the sleep period:
It’s One Reason We Need Sleep
People have complained about the time-consuming process of sleep for centuries. The reasons behind why all animals need sleep are complex and poorly understood, but they’re definitely present. We still have a long way to go before we can log them all. Here’s Quanta Magazine on the subject: Now, working independently, Cirelli and Huganir have both found support for this idea.” Here’s hoping the trends in sleep research continue rising: The sector has never been so exciting.
