TECHNOLOGY Why we need sleep at all remains something of a mystery but research at Washington University in St Louis suggests that at least one function is to clear the brain of unwanted memories to provide space for new learning.
The researchers experimented on fruit flies, whose sleep patterns, although simpler, are similar to those of humans. They showed that, in agreement with modern thinking, when the flies learnt new things they formed new connections, known as synapses, between cells in their brains. These synapses are thought to encode memory and learning.
