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Replies to post #7838 on Synaptogenix Inc (SNPX)
Now the crucial thing to realize is that all this learning, if it is reflected in the strengthening of synapses, does not come for free. First of all, stronger synapses consume more energy. For its weight, the brain is by far the most expensive organ of the body—accounting for almost 20 % of the energy budget—and of that budget, two thirds or more is for supporting synaptic activity. So if we learn by strengthening synapses, one could say that we wake up with an efficient engine and we end the day with a gas-guzzler. Also, a net strengthening of synapses is a major source of cellular stress, due to the need to synthesize and deliver cellular constituents ranging from mitochondria to synaptic vesicles to various proteins and lipids. Clearly, learning by strengthening synapses cannot go on indefinitely—day after day—and something must be done about it. That something, says the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis, also known as SHY, is the down-selection of synapses down to a baseline level that is sustainable both in terms of energy consumption and cellular stress. And that, says SHY, is the essential function of sleep. In short, sleep is the price we pay for being able to learn and adapt to novel environments when we are awake—most generally, it is the price we pay for plasticity. If this is indeed the essential function of sleep, it is only fitting that, as sleep-dependent synaptic down-selection relieves neural cells of the metabolic burdens accumulated during wake in the service of plasticity, it does so in a smart way, all along benefitting memory consolidation and integration, while also resetting the conditions for efficiently acquiring new memories when we wake up. This would not be the first time that evolution catches many birds with one stone.
