LOCAL, EXPERIENCE-DEPENDENT EEG CHANGES AFTER PROLONGED WAKEFULNESS

Experience-dependent plasticity is what allows the brain to develop, adapt, and learn. A remarkable portion of the cel-lular machinery in neural tissue is devoted to producing and regulating plastic changes. However, just as plasticity is es-sential, it can also be costly. Indeed, we have shown recently that physiological forms of experience-dependent plasticity that mimic what happens during a normal waking day, such as exploring new objects or practicing a new task, result in a net increase in synaptic strength.