What is the optimal way to learn something new? In a recent JNeurosci paper, John Byrne and colleagues, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, bring us a step closer to answering this question by using Aplysia , or sea slugs.
The researchers sought to assess whether changing the amount of time between learning events alters memory, but they also wanted to observe changes on a cellular level in a neural environment they could control. Thus, they used a cell plating technique to mimic learning by releasing a neurotransmitter onto neurons at two different time points. When the second exposure to the neurotransmitter occurred 24 h after the first exposure, this second exposure triggered a cellular mechanism in neurons that led to neural correlates for learning. Surprisingly, after a shorter and longer time point between neurotransmitter exposures, this mechanism for learning did not occur. Says Byrne, “Extrapolating this to a situation with people, if you learn something at 1 P.M. 1 d, [our findings suggest that] it may be best for your memory if you are exposed to it again the next day at the same time.”
Byrne acknowledges that work in more advanced animal models is needed to confirm their findings, which the research team plans to do, but adds, “The mechanism we examined is expressed in many more organisms than sea slugs, so it makes sense this work would be universal.” The researchers also plan to explore whether the mechanism to promote memory is engaged after additional 24-h spaces of time, to advance understanding of learning over multiple days.
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About JNeurosci
JNeurosci was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries.
JNeurosci
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1981-25.2026
The Right Time for a Synapse to Change: Windows and Mechanisms of Multiday Training Trials
30-Mar-2026
The authors declare no competing financial interests.