doi.org/10.1126/science.ads4706
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#Sinapses
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) have uncovered new insights into how the brain learns
They used an advanced technique to observe the brains of mice in real time and gained a better understanding of how they change when we learn something new.
The findings, published April 17 in the journal Science, could help us create smarter technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) systems that mimic the brain, and even treat brain diseases.
How does the brain learn?
When we learn something new-like a song, a route, or a task at work-our brains undergo changes.
They rearrange the connections between neurons, which are the cells in our brains.
These connections, called synapses, are where neurons communicate with each other.
During learning, some synapses become stronger, while others weaken.
This process, known as “synaptic plasticity,” is how the brain stores new information.
But scientists have always wondered: How does the brain decide which synapses to change?
The Discovery
Researchers William “Jake” Wright, Nathan Hedrick, and Takaki Komiyama, with support from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), used a technique called “two-photon imaging.” This technology works like a super microscope that allows them to see the synapses and neurons of mice as they learn.
They discovered something surprising: each neuron does not follow a single rule for changing its synapses, as previously thought.
In fact, each neuron follows several rules at the same time, and synapses in different parts of the neuron change in different ways.
This means that the brain is much more complex and flexible than we thought.
What Does This Mean?
This discovery helps solve a mystery called the “credit assignment problem.” It’s as if each synapse were a worker that only knows its own task, but together they help the brain learn new things, as if they were a team.
Now we know that neurons can do several things at once, each with its own “rules.”
“This changes the way we understand learning in the brain,” explains Wright, one of the researchers.
“Many brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or autism, are linked to problems in synapses.
Understanding how they work can help us treat these conditions.”
Today in @ScienceMagazine: How do we learn new things? Using cutting-edge visualization techniques, researchers revealed how changes across our synapses and neurons unfold. The findings offer insights for neurological disorders and brain-like AI systems. https://t.co/xo89JH2I8T pic.twitter.com/QQ9buq626G
? UCSD BioSciences (@ucsdbiosciences) April 17, 2025
Impacts on Technology and Health
This discovery could also improve artificial intelligence.
Today, AI systems use simple rules to mimic the brain.
But with this new information, we can create more advanced systems that work more like the human brain, using multiple rules at the same time.
In health, the study could open doors to new treatments for diseases such as addiction, post-traumatic stress, Alzheimer’s and even disorders such as autism.
“We want to better understand how the brain normally works to find out what goes wrong in these diseases,” says Wright.
The Next Step:
Now, the researchers want to study more deeply how neurons can use multiple rules at the same time and what the advantages are.
They believe this could reveal even more about how the brain works and lead to new discoveries.
In short, this study has shown that the brain is like a conductor that coordinates several pieces of music at the same time, each with its own melody.
This helps us better understand how we learn and could lead to incredible advances in technology and medicine!
Published in 04/24/2025 02h34
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
Reference article:
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