Some interesting new research seems to suggest that one of the reasons for sleep and dreaming is to help us organise and store newly formed memories. The research was conducted with rats, but the scientists believe that the basic mechanisms are probably also common to Humans. What the research found was that during sleep a region of the brain called the hippocampus - which is already known to be involved in forming long term memories - began firing in concert with the neocortex - the outter layer of the brain, responsible for the storage of memories and conscious thought (although to what extent rats are conscious is another matter!). Amazingly, the researchers already know when a rat is remembering the route to a maze it has learned, as certain cells fire when it is recalling each part of the maze; and whilst sleeping the rats seemed to be consolidating this newly acquired knowledge. This is one more peice of evidence to suggest that memory formation is at least one of the things that goes on whilst we are asleep, and possibly is even the reason why we sleep and dream.
The original news report can be read
HERE.
Labels: dreaming, memory
