The Hidden Reserve: Uncovering the Adult Brain's Secret Synaptic Strength A recent study from MIT neuroscientists has revealed a surprising feature of the adult brain: millions of "silent synapses" waiting to be activated.
These dormant connections have been thought to exist only during early development, but research suggests they persist into adulthood, comprising about 30% of synapses in the cortex.
The discovery challenges the long held assumption that the process of forming new memories is a zero sum game, where each new experience overwrites existing ones.