SMRTR Science & EngineeringAug 23, 2026Ars Technica

Memories stick around even after half the synapses are gone

SMRTR summary

Mice put into artificial hibernation lost more than half their synapses but woke up with fully intact memories, challenging the idea that memories live in individual synaptic connections. Clustered synapses between memory-storing neurons survived the purge and rebuilt precisely afterward, suggesting memory depends on broader neural architecture, not specific connections.

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