U.S. researchers find evidence that sleep strengthens new memories

WASHINGTON: U.S. researchers said Thursday they have found important physical evidence that sleep helps consolidate and strengthen new memories.

In a study published in the U.S. journal Science, researchers at New York University showed for the first time that sleep after learning encourages the growth of dendritic spines, the tiny protrusions from brain cells that connect to other brain cells and facilitate the passage of information across synapses, the junctions at which brain cells meet.