How do we learn something new? Study reveals how our brain learns

Groundbreaking study solves the mystery of how our brain learns

Learning is something everyone does daily—mastering new skills at work, remembering song lyrics, or following directions to new places. But behind these everyday tasks lies a complex biological process known as synaptic plasticity, a phenomenon essential for your brain’s ability to adapt and store new information. Recently, neuroscientists have discovered surprising new details about how your brain decides which synapses—the tiny connections bet…

How do we learn something new? Study reveals how our brain learns

Sophisticated synapse imaging used in NIH-funded project tracks changes within neurons as learning unfolds.

The study, published in Science magazine, uses advanced brain imaging techniques to observe the activity of neurons in mice while performing learning tasks, revealing that different regions of the same neuron follow different rules. “When speaking of synaptic plasticity, it is typically considered something uniform throughout the brain,” explains William Wright, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSD and the first author of the study. “Our research p…