Animals with complex nervous systems demand sleep for memory consolidation and synaptic remodeling. Here, we show that, although the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system has a limited number of neurons, sleep is necessary for both processes. In addition, it is unclear if, in any system, sleep collaborates with experience to alter synapses between specific neurons and whether this ultimately affects behavior. C. elegans neurons have defined connections and well-described contributions to behavior. We show that spaced odor-training and post-training sleep induce long-term memory. Memory consolidation, but not acquisition, requires a pair of interneurons, the AIYs, which play a role in odor-seeking behavior. In worms that consolidate memory, both sleep and odor conditioning are required to diminish inhibitory synaptic connections between the AWC chemosensory neurons and the AIYs. Thus, we demonstrate in a living organism that sleep is required for events immediately after training that drive memory consolidation and alter synaptic structures.

具有复杂神经系统的动物需要睡眠来巩固记忆和突触重塑。在这里，我们表明，尽管秀丽隐杆线虫神经系统的神经元数量有限，但睡眠对于这两个过程都是必要的。此外，尚不清楚在任何系统中，睡眠是否与经验共同改变特定神经元之间的突触，以及这是否最终影响行为。线虫神经元具有明确的连接和对行为的详细描述的贡献。我们证明，间隔气味训练和训练后睡眠会诱导长期记忆。记忆巩固（而不是习得）需要一对中间神经元（AIY），它们在气味寻找行为中发挥作用。在巩固记忆的线虫中，需要睡眠和气味调节来减少 AWC 化学感应神经元和 AIY 之间的抑制性突触连接。因此，我们在活的有机体中证明，训练后立即发生的事件需要睡眠来驱动记忆巩固和改变突触结构。