Sleep, Anesthesia, and Plasticity.

Two theories continuously clash: does sleep downscale or potentiate synapses? A study in Neuron by González-Rueda et al. (2018) demonstrates overall synaptic depression during anesthesia-induced slow-wave activity. Because anesthesia is typically associated with amnesia, the question of whether slow-wave sleep potentiates or depresses cortical synapses remains open.