Long-term Potentiation
Long-term potentiation is when a synapses firing efficiency increases. This process is said to explain long-term memories because of it's way to strengthen the synapses. Without this we would be unable to have long term memory, because the cells could not communicate without it. This also helps with us learning which was showed in many mammal experiments. For example when a rat was sent swimming in the water the ones with more strengthened synapses were able to find the large stand in the water. The rats who were not exposed to this were unable to find the stand or it took them significantly longer. This is the experiment of a Rat in the Water Maze.