Scientists gave sleep-deprived mice a memory boost without letting them sleep

According to Boing Boing, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a way to boost memory in sleep-deprived mice without actually putting them to sleep. The technique mimics a phenomenon called unihemispheric sleep, where animals like dolphins, ducks, and fur seals can keep half their brain in deep sleep while the other half stays alert and watches for danger. Chiara Cirelli's lab wondered whether they could trigger this same trick in mice, which don't naturally do it—and, remarkably, they succeeded in delivering some of sleep's cognitive benefits without the sleep itself. The findings suggest that the restorative power of sleep might be engineered, at least in part, independent of the full unconscious state.

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