Electrical Synapses Contribute to Sleep-Dependent Declarative Memory Retention.

ABSTRACT: Sleep supports memory formation by neurophysiological mechanisms that are yet to be fully uncovered. We investigated the contribution of the direct coupling of neurons via electrical synapses (gap junctions). The administration of mefloquine (250 mg p.o. vs. placebo), an antimalarial, which blocks electrical synapses, to healthy young men before nocturnal sleep impaired the retention of word pairs learned before drug administration and disrupted the coupling of sleep spindles to EEG slow oscillations. In control experiments, in which participants received mefloquine before a consolidation interval of nocturnal wakefulness or after rather than before sleep, word-pair memory retention was not affected by the drug, suggesting that electrical synapses specifically support the sleep-dependent r

SUBMITTER: Feld GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12828869 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature