趣味科普學英語-17-優質的睡眠會對人體產生哪些有益的影響?

《趣味科普學英語》介紹

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導讀

好的睡眠質量，對提高或保持記憶力有一定幫助。本期通過記憶形成來說明睡眠對於記憶的重要性。

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中英文文本

It’s 4 a.m., and the big test is in eight hours,

現在是凌晨四點 八小時內有一場重要的考試

followed by a piano recital.

接下來還有一場鋼琴獨奏

You』ve been studying and playing for days,

你已連日學習並苦練鋼琴

but you still don’t feel ready for either.

但仍覺得什麼都沒準備好

So,what can you do?

那麼 你能做什麼呢

Well,you can drink another cup of coffee

你可以再喝一杯咖啡

and spend the next few hours cramming and practicing,

用接下來所餘不多時間繼續苦讀和練習

but believe it or not,

但不管你信不信

you might be better off closing the books,

你最好還是合上書本

putting away the music, and going to sleep.

停止練習 去睡覺

Sleep occupies nearly a third of our lives,

睡眠幾乎佔了我們生命的三分之一

but many of us give surprisingly little attention and care to it.

但讓人驚訝的是 我們有很多人卻很少關注睡眠

This neglect is often the result of a major misunderstanding.

這種對睡眠的忽視 來自於一個很大的誤解

Sleep isn’t lost time,

睡眠並非浪費時間

or just a way to rest when all our important work is done.

或僅僅是完成重要工作後休息的一種方式

Instead,it’s a critical function,

相反 睡眠有著很重要的功能

during which your body balances and regulates its vital systems,

睡眠期間 你的身體對各系統進行調節

affecting respiration and regulating everything from circulation to growth and immune response.

呼吸系統 血液循環系統 免疫系統 與身體的成長都會受到影響

That’s great, but you can worry about all those things after this test, right?

聽起來很棒 但你可以在考試之後再擔心這些 不是嗎？

Well,not so fast.

呃 沒那麼快

It turns out that sleep is also crucial for your brain,

事實證明 睡眠對你的大腦也很重要

with a fifth of your body’s circulatory blood

進入夢鄉後 身體五分之一的血液

being channeled to it as you drift off.

會流向你的大腦

And what goes on in your brain while you sleep

你睡覺的時候 也正是大腦內部

is an intensely active period of restructuring

重新進行調整組合的時候

that’s crucial for how our memory works.

這段時間對我們的記憶功能十分重要

At first glance,

乍一看

our ability to remember things doesn’t seem very impressive at all.

我們的記憶能力並不值得驚嘆

19th century psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus

19世紀心理學家希曼艾賓浩斯

demonstrated that we normally forget 40% of new material

發現我們通常會在前20分鐘內

within the first twenty minutes,

忘記40%的新事物

a phenomenon known as the forgetting curve.

這一現象被稱為遺忘曲線

But this loss can be prevented through memory consolidation,

但這種遺忘可以通過記憶的鞏固來避免

the process by which information is moved

即信息從短暫的短期記憶

from our fleeting short-term memory to our more durable long-term memory.

轉移到更持久的長期記憶的過程

This consolidation occurs with the help

記憶鞏固得益於

of a major part of the brain,

大腦的一個重要部位

known as the hippocampus.

這一部位被稱為海馬體

Its role in long-term memory formation

海馬體在長期記憶形成中所扮演的角色

was demonstrated in the 1950s by Brenda Milner

在1950年代被布倫達米爾納通過

in her research with a patient known as H.M.

對叫作H.M病人的研究得到證實

After having his hippocampus removed,

H.M.的海馬體被移除後

H.M.’s ability to form new short-term memories was damaged,

他形成短期記憶的能力受損

but he was able to learn physical tasks through repetition.

但他仍能夠通過不斷重複 學習體能任務

Due to the removal of his hippocampus,

由於海馬體被移除了

H.M.’s ability to form long-term memories was also damaged.

H.M.形成長期記憶的能力也遭到破壞

What this case revealed, among other things,

這一案例反映 撇開其他

was that the hippocampus was specifically involved

海馬體在長期陳述性記憶的鞏固中

in the consolidation of long-term declarative memory,

作用至關重要

such as the facts and concepts you need to remember for that test,

諸如你需要在考試中記住的事實和概念

rather than procedural memory,

在程序性記憶中

such as the finger movements you need to master for that recital.

包括你在鋼琴獨奏需要掌握的指法

Milner’s findings, along with work by Eric Kandel in the 90’s,

米爾納的發現 還有埃裡克坎德爾在90年代的工作

have given us our current model of how this consolidation process works.

給我們提供了這一鞏固過程如何運行的現有模型

Sensory data is initially transcribed

感知數據會先暫時轉錄到

and temporarily recorded in the neurons as short-term memory.

短期記憶的神經元裡

From there, it travels to the hippocampus,

然後再傳送到海馬體

which strengthens and enhances the neurons in that cortical area.

而海馬體再將其皮層區的神經元進行強化

Thanks to the phenomenon of neuroplasticity,

由於神經的可塑性

new synaptic buds are formed, allowing new connections between neurons,

新的突觸芽形成 使得神經元之間建立新的聯繫

and strengthening the neural network where the information will be returned as long-term memory.

從而強化相應的神經網絡 並形成長期記憶

So why do we remember some things and not others?

為什麼我們能記住一些事卻忘掉另一些呢？

Well,there are a few ways to

其實 有幾種方式會影響

influence the extent and effectiveness of memory retention.

記憶形成的程度和效果

For example, memories that are formed in times of heightened feeling, or even stress,

比如 那些在情感或壓力強烈時 所形成的記憶

will be better recorded due to the hippocampus』 link with emotion.

會因海馬體與情緒的聯繫更容易被記下來

But one of the major factors contributing to memory consolidation is,

但鞏固記憶一個最重要的因素是

you guessed it, a good night’s sleep.

你猜對了 正是一晚上的好睡眠

Sleep is composed of four stages,

睡眠由四個階段組成

the deepest of which are known as slow-wave sleep

最深度的睡眠被稱為慢波睡眠

and rapid eye movement.

和快速眼動睡眠

EEG machines monitoring people during these stages

腦電圖機監測在這些階段中

have shown electrical impulses moving between the brainstem, hippocampus,

點脈衝在腦幹 海馬體 丘腦

thalamus, and cortex,

以及大腦皮質間活動

which serve as relay stations of memory formation.

這些便是記憶形成的中轉站

And the different stages of sleep have been shown to help consolidate

不同的睡眠階段有助於鞏固

different types of memories.

不同類型的記憶

During the non-REM slow-wave sleep,

在非快速眼動慢波睡眠階段中

declarative memory is encoded into a temporary store

陳述性記憶被暫時存儲

in the anterior part of the hippocampus.

在海馬體前部

Through a continuing dialogue between the cortex and hippocampus,

通過大腦皮層和海馬體的不斷對話

it is then repeatedly reactivated,

這些記憶被反覆激活

driving its gradual redistribution to long-term storage in the cortex.

它們逐漸被轉入到大腦皮質的長期儲存區域

REM sleep, on the other hand,

同時 快速眼動睡眠

with its similarity to waking brain activity,

與大腦喚醒時很相似

is associated with the consolidation of procedural memory.

與程序性記憶的鞏固有關

So based on the studies,

因此 基於這些研究

going to sleep three hours after memorizing your formulas

在記憶數學公式後去睡三個小時

and one hour after practicing your scales would be the most ideal.

練習鋼琴後睡一個小時 再好不過了

So hopefully you can see now that skimping on sleep

希望你現在能明白犧牲睡眠時間

not only harms your long-term health,

不僅有害你的長期健康

but actually makes it less likely

更會使你很難

that you』ll retain all that knowledge and practice from the previous night,

記住前晚所記的知識和練習

all of which just goes to affirm the wisdom of the phrase,」Sleep on it.」

這些都證明了這句話的智慧「睡一覺再說」

When you think about all the internal restructuring

當你想像在你睡覺時

and forming of new connections that occurs while you slumber,

你的大腦忙著重組 形成新連接等等

you could even say that proper sleep

你甚至可以說好的睡眠

will have you waking up every morning

可以讓你第二天

with a new and improved brain,

有一個全新的 更好的大腦

ready to face the challenges ahead.

去迎接即將到來的挑戰