雙語·鞏固與睡眠：讓生理機能為你工作

Consolidation and sleep: Let biology do the work for you
鞏固與睡眠：讓生理機能為你工作

Learning does not finish with the end of studying. For a memory trace to become permanently established in our long-term storage systems, structural biological changes must take place in brain tissue. New connections between neurons must be formed and firmly established.
學習的結束并不意味著最終學會。為了在長期存儲系統中形成永久記憶，大腦的組織中必須發(fā)生結構性的生物學變化。神經元之間必須形成并建立穩(wěn)定的新聯結。

These changes are not immediate and take time. In scientific terms, the mechanism through which recent memories become permanent memories is called ‘consolidation’. Although some consolidation occurs during wakefulness, the primary time for consolidation is sleep.
這些變化不會立即發(fā)生。最新的記憶變成永久記憶的機制，在科學上被稱為“鞏固”。盡管有些鞏固在清醒的狀態(tài)下發(fā)生，但鞏固主要發(fā)生在睡眠期間。

Have you ever studied for an exam through the night? If so, did you perform as well as in other exams for which you enjoyed a full night of undisturbed sleep? Probably not. Unsurprisingly, researchers have found that sleep deprivation impairs memory consolidation and undermines learning. In fact, sleep deprivation (before or after learning) can worsen performance in a declarative memory test by as much as 20-50%, . Moreover, prolonged sleep deprivation has permanent damaging effects on memory.
你是否曾為了考試熬夜學習？如果這樣做過，你在考試中的表現和享受了一整晚不受打擾的睡眠時一樣好嗎？大概不是。毫不奇怪，研究人員發(fā)現，睡眠不足會損害記憶鞏固，從而影響學習。事實上，睡眠不足（不論是學習之前還是學習之后）都會使被試在陳述性記憶測試中的表現降低20%~50%。 不僅如此，長期睡眠不足還會對記憶造成永久性傷害。

On the other hand, you can use sleep as a powerful aid in-between your study sessions. You may have heard of ‘power naps’ – short periods of sleep used to refresh energy. There is now robust evidence to recommend naps. Napping during the day will protect your memory from trace decay (see section ‘Trace decay’) and interference (see section “Interference”) due to sleep-induced consolidation processes. In other words, you will forget less of the subject studied than if you stayed awake for the same amount of time.
另一方面，你可以把睡眠用作幾個學習時段之間有力的輔助工具。你或許聽說過“強效小睡”的說法——用于恢復精力的短時睡眠。如今有強有力的證據建議人們小睡。得益于睡眠帶來的鞏固過程，白天小睡可以避免你的記憶出現痕跡減退（詳見“痕記減退”一節(jié)）和干擾（詳見“干擾”一節(jié)）。換句話說，經過同樣長時間，睡眠比一直保持清醒狀態(tài)遺忘的內容更少。

If you decide to give napping a try, it is important to be aware of the different stages of sleep. Napping for the maximum of 20 minutes is effective for restoring your energy, however, it is not enough to reach deeper stages of sleep during which consolidation occurs.
如果你決定試試小睡，那么重要的是要了解睡眠的不同階段。不超過20分鐘的小睡對于恢復精力十分有效，但這還不足以進入深度睡眠，而鞏固過程是在深度睡眠期間發(fā)生的。

In order to boost your memory, you need to sleep for at least 60 minutes. However, napping for 60 minutes has the downside of leaving you in a groggy state for about 30 minutes afterward (because you wake up in the middle of deep sleep). Therefore, it is best to sleep for a full 90 minute cycle. After that, you will both feel refreshed and your memory will benefit from consolidation. Another good option that has been found to be effective is to schedule your study session to the evening right before sleep.
為了增進記憶，你需要至少睡60分鐘。然而，小睡60分鐘帶來的壞處是，接下來的30分鐘你都將處于昏昏沉沉的狀態(tài)（因為你是在深度睡眠的中間醒來的）。因此，最好是睡夠一個完整的90分鐘周期。結束之后，你將重新恢復活力，而記憶也會得益于鞏固過程而變得更加牢固。另一個被發(fā)現有效的好辦法是在計劃日程時把學習環(huán)節(jié)安排在睡前。

In summary, we recommend the following:
總結起來，我們推薦以下做法：

·Take a 20-minute nap to restore your energy.
·小睡20分鐘使你恢復精力

·Take a 90-minute nap after a study session to consolidate your memory.
·在一段學習之后，小睡90分鐘來鞏固記憶。

·Schedule your study sessions before sleep to reap the full benefits of consolidation.
·規(guī)劃日程時把學習安排在睡前，從而享受鞏固帶來的全部好處。

——節(jié)選自《記憶的科學》