Sleep is usually considered the body’s ultimate recovery tool, a time when the brain clears out toxins and files away the day's lessons. 

But a new study from the Mayo Clinic suggests that for people with epilepsy, the brain may be too good at its job — mistakenly learning how to have future seizures by treating them like valuable memories.

The research, published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience, reveals that after a seizure occurs, the brain enters a state of deep sleep that mimics the process of memory storage. 

Instead of healing, the brain effectively saves the seizure’s electrical path, making it easier for future seizures to follow that same route.

To understand this cycle, researchers analyzed long-term brain recordings from implanted devices in 11 patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. 

They discovered that on nights following a seizure, the brain spent significantly more time in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. During this phase, brain waves become stronger and steeper — a signature of memory consolidation.

While the brain was busy reinforcing these abnormal seizure networks, it appeared to sacrifice rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is vital for emotional health and clear thinking.

Essentially, researchers think the brain hijacks its own learning mechanisms to promote the progression of the disease.

"Sleep is one of the brain's most powerful tools for learning and memory," said lead author Vaclav Kremen, a neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. 

"What we're seeing is that after a seizure, the brain may be engaging the same biological processes used to consolidate memories, but instead reinforcing the networks that generate seizures," he explained in a news release.

Because this harmful learning happens during a specific window of time — the hours and sleep cycles immediately after a seizure — doctors think they can intervene to stop the "save" button from being pressed.

Nearly 3 million people in the United States live with epilepsy. It's a chronic neurological disorder that causes seizures — sudden surges of electrical activity in the brain that can cause someone to pass out, have seizures or shaking convulsions, act differently or experience strange sensations.

The study supports a Mayo Clinic initiative called BIONIC (Bioelectronics Neuromodulation Innovation to Cure). 

Its goal is to develop technology that can sense a seizure and respond in real time, specifically during sleep, to weaken rather than strengthen seizure networks.

"If we can safely intervene during this post-seizure window, we may be able to weaken seizure networks rather than reinforce them," said senior author Dr. Gregory Worrell, a Mayo Clinic neurologist.

Several authors of the study disclosed ties to the neuroscience industry as well as patents and licenses in the space.