Scientists have recently been able to show that new cell contacts established during the learning process stay put even when they are no longer required. The reactivation of this temporarily inactivated "stock of contacts" enables a faster learning of things forgotten.

This enables your brain not only to learn very complex associations and sequences of movement, such as riding a bicycle, skiing, speaking different languages or playing an instrument, but to retain your ability to relearn these skills quickly long after you have put them aside.

The researchers were surprised to learn that the majority of the connections which developed in response to learning continued to exist after the learning experience stopped. The brain apparently opts to “save a few appendages for a rainy day,” as one scientist put it.