Apparently, the brain tries to predict the future during sleep
According to new research on mice that could lead to improved treatments for neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's, the brain doesn't just remember past events during sleep, but also tries to predict future conditions. In fact, in this research, the researchers tested on mice whether sleep helps in a new understanding of the problem that is experienced in wakefulness or not.
According to ScienceAlert and the article published in natureUniversity of Michigan researchers analyzed the brain waves of mice before, during and after sleep. They trained these rats to go through a maze and get a prize at the end of the path. Then they investigated the connection of neurons and the effect of sleep on the brain of these mice.
The brain wants to predict the future while sleeping
Researchers used machine learning to examine specific neurons in the brains of mice and their connections with each other. In other words, thanks to this technology, researchers were able to analyze the relationships of neurons with each other instead of examining individual cells. This approach allowed the researchers to measure the activity of neurons not only while the mice were in the maze, but also when the mice fell asleep.
Based on the activity of neurons that fire during sleep and then wake up in the maze, the rats not only dream about places they've already seen in the maze, but their brains also work on possible paths they haven't taken that they might take.
When the rats re-entered the maze after sleeping, their brains tried to predict and explore the new environment, according to their neural activity during sleep. Although measuring the activity of neurons has not been very precise, the researchers believe that there is a connection between dreams and future goals.
The researchers say that the changes observed in the mice's brains, then the animals' new approach to the maze after waking up, reflect how their brains try to predict the future and new places when they sleep.
