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I wonder why both mechanisms could not be in place simultaneously.

E.g. brain can run on glucose or on ketones; muscles can run on oxygen producing CO₂ or without it producing lactic acid, etc. The body has a number of alternative mechanisms, this may be another such pair.

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Synapses are formed outside the neuron in the extracellular space (ECS), at the end of axon terminals called "boutons" which are essentially storehouses for vesciles which are tiny packages containing neurotransmitters. The internal mechanisms of the neurons as well as ongoing biochemistry at the location of a synapses "guides" the transfer of proteins necessary for strenghening of removal of these synapses.

So its possible that both mechanisms occur simultaneously, there's just not enough evidence to clearly understand these (yet).

What’s incredible to me is how long the human brain remains a trade secret from nature. Have we ever made a product so well concealed that its IP would withstand being sent for more than 5 years to every “spy” country in the world? Let alone be sitting there for a millenium on top of every human... If that’s not nature’s way to taunt us, its capacity to remain a secret is at least admirable.

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