VOA慢速英語: 你睡覺時(shí)，你的大腦還在工作(雙語)

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While You Sleep, Your Brain Works

你睡覺時(shí)，你的大腦還在工作

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語健康報(bào)道。

Why do we need sleep?

為什么我們需要睡覺?

Is bedtime just a time for dreaming? Do our brains turnoff for the night? What if I told you that scientists recently discovered that our brains may be just as busy at night as they are during the day?

睡覺的時(shí)間是只是做夢(mèng)嗎?我們的大腦在晚上會(huì)關(guān)閉嗎?如果我告訴你，最近科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)我們的電腦在晚上可能會(huì)和白天一樣忙綠，你信嗎?

While we sleep, our brains are doing much more than getting ready for the next day. Researchers at the University of Rochester found that the brain may be busy cleaning house -- cleaning out harmful waste materials.

當(dāng)我們睡覺時(shí)，我們的大腦所做的工作遠(yuǎn)比僅僅為第二天做準(zhǔn)備要多得多。美國(guó)羅徹斯特大學(xué)的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，大腦可能在忙于打掃屋子——清除掉有害的廢料。

As with many studies, the researchers turned to mice for help. They studied mice that had colored dye injected into their brains. They observed the mice brains as they slept and when they were awake. The researchers say they saw that the brains of sleeping mice were hard at work.

就像很多其他研究一樣，研究人員也拿老鼠來做實(shí)驗(yàn)。他們將有色染料注入到老鼠的大腦中，來進(jìn)行研究。他們分別對(duì)老鼠睡覺時(shí)和醒著時(shí)的大腦進(jìn)行了觀察。研究人員稱，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)老鼠睡著時(shí)，大腦還在努力工作。

Working Double Duty

要執(zhí)行雙重任務(wù)

Dr. Maiken Nedergaard led the study. The brain expert says our brains perform two very different jobs. It seems they have daytime jobs. Later they “moonlight” at a nighttime job.

梅肯·內(nèi)德歌德博士主持該研究工作，這位腦部專家稱，我們的大腦執(zhí)行了兩個(gè)迥然不同的工作。似乎它們有白天的工作內(nèi)容，過后還在夜間從事夜間活動(dòng)進(jìn)行兼職。

“Moonlighting” is working a nighttime job in addition to a day job. And this study says that is what our brains seem to be doing – working an extra job at night without additional pay for overtime.

“兼職”是指除了白天的工作外，還從事夜間工作。這項(xiàng)就表明，這似乎就是我們的大腦正在做的——在晚上從事額外工作，還沒有被額外支付加班費(fèi)。

“When we are awake, the brain cells are working very hard at processing all the information about our surroundings. Whereas when we are asleep, they work very, very hard at removing all the waste that builds up when we are awake."

“當(dāng)我們清醒時(shí)，我們的大腦細(xì)胞在很努力的整理加工我們周圍環(huán)境中的所有信息。然而，當(dāng)我們睡著時(shí)，它們?cè)诜浅ＥΦ那宄覀兦逍褧r(shí)所堆積的垃圾。”

The researchers say that the waste material includes poisons, or toxins, responsible for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

研究人員稱，這些廢棄物包括毒物或毒素，這些有毒物質(zhì)能夠引起像阿爾茨海默(老年癡呆)等大腦失調(diào)疾病。

They also found that during sleep, the brain’s cells shrink, or become smaller. This shrinking permits waste to be removed more effectively.

他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)，在睡眠時(shí)間，大腦的細(xì)胞會(huì)萎縮或變得更小。這種萎縮可以更有效的清除廢棄物。

Dr. Nedergaard says these toxins end up in the liver. There, they are broken down and then removed from the body.

內(nèi)德歌德博士稱，這些毒素最后到了肝臟，在那里，這些毒素被分解，然后排出身體。

"So our study suggests we need to sleep because we have a macroscopic cleaning system that removes many of the toxic waste products from the brain."

“所以我們的研究表明，我們需要睡覺，因?yàn)槲覀冇幸粋€(gè)宏觀清洗系統(tǒng)，可以清除掉很多大腦產(chǎn)生的有毒廢棄物。”

The brain’s cleaning system could only be studied with new imaging technologies. The test animal must be alive in order to see for this brain process to be seen as it happens.

大腦清洗系統(tǒng)只能用新的大腦成像技術(shù)來進(jìn)行研究。為了使研究人員能夠看到大腦的整個(gè)過程，被測(cè)試的動(dòng)物必須活著。

Dr. Nedergaard says the next step is to look for the process in human brains. She said the results demonstrate just how important sleep is to health and fighting disease. The research may also one day lead to treatments to prevent or help fight neurological disorders.

內(nèi)德歌德博士稱，下一步是尋找人類大腦的活動(dòng)過程。她稱，該結(jié)果表明睡眠對(duì)于健康和對(duì)抗疾病是多么重要。這項(xiàng)研究有一天也可能被用于幫助治療和預(yù)防神經(jīng)障礙。

7 Tips for Better Sleeping

能獲得較好睡眠的7個(gè)小技巧

Do you have trouble sleeping? Not being able to sleep is called insomnia. According to the United States National Sleep Foundation, here are some tips for a good night’s sleep:

你睡眠有問題嗎?不能睡著覺叫做失眠。美國(guó)國(guó)家睡眠基金會(huì)為了讓大家能夠睡個(gè)好覺，在這里提供了一些小技巧：

· Go to bed about the same time each night, even on weekends. This helps to “set” your body’s “sleep clock.”

·盡量保持每晚在同一時(shí)間上床睡覺，即使是周末也要保持一致。這有助于設(shè)定你身體的睡眠時(shí)鐘。

· Exercise every day.

每天鍛煉身體。

· Have a calm, relaxing bedtime routine – Take a warm bath or drink a hot cup of tea.

有一個(gè)平靜，令人放松的就寢過程——洗個(gè)熱水澡或者喝一杯熱茶。

· Try not to take long naps during the day. Periods of sleep during the daytime can interfere with sleep at night.

白天盡量不要花很長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間小睡，白天睡眠時(shí)間會(huì)妨礙到晚上的睡眠。

· Make sure you have a pleasant environment where you sleep. For most people, a cool, quiet and dark room is best for sleeping.

睡覺時(shí)，確保自己處于一個(gè)令人舒服愉快的環(huán)境中，對(duì)于大多數(shù)人來說，一個(gè)涼爽，安靜，黑暗的屋子最適合睡眠。

· Avoid using television, computers and other electronic screens before bedtime.

避免在睡前使用電視，電腦，和其他有電子屏幕的電子設(shè)備。

· Also avoid alcohol, cigarettes and heavy meals before bedtime.

在睡前還應(yīng)避免飲酒，抽煙和吃太多食物。

And from VOA Learning English, that’s the Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.

這就是本期的美國(guó)之音慢速英語健康報(bào)道，我是安娜·馬泰奧。

[page]聽力原文[/page]

While You Sleep, Your Brain Works

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

Why do we need sleep?

Is bedtime just a time for dreaming? Do our brains turnoff for the night? What if I told you that scientistsrecently discovered that our brains may be just as busyat night as they are during the day?

While we sleep, our brains are doing much more thangetting ready for the next day. Researchers at theUniversity of Rochester found that the brain may bebusy cleaning house -- cleaning out harmful waste materials.

As with many studies, the researchers turned to mice for help. They studiedmice that had colored dye injected into their brains. They observed the micebrains as they slept and when they were awake. The researchers say theysaw that the brains of sleeping mice were hard at work.

Working Double Duty

Dr. Maiken Nedergaard led the study. The brain expert says our brainsperform two very different jobs. It seems they have daytime jobs. Later they“moonlight” at a nighttime job.

“Moonlighting” is working a nighttime job in addition to a day job. And thisstudy says that is what our brains seem to be doing – working an extra job atnight without additional pay for overtime.

“When we are awake, the brain cells are working very hard at processing allthe information about our surroundings. Whereas when we are asleep, theywork very, very hard at removing all the waste that builds up when we areawake."

The researchers say that the waste material includes poisons, or toxins,responsible for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

They also found that during sleep, the brain’s cellsshrink, or become smaller. This shrinking permitswaste to be removed more effectively.

Dr. Nedergaard says these toxins end up in the liver. There, they are broken down and then removed from the body.

"So our study suggests we need to sleep because wehave a macroscopic cleaning system that removesmany of the toxic waste products from the brain."

The brain’s cleaning system could only be studied with new imagingtechnologies. The test animal must be alive in order to see for this brainprocess to be seen as it happens.

Dr. Nedergaard says the next step is to look for the process in human brains. She said the results demonstrate just how important sleep is to health andfighting disease. The research may also one day lead to treatments toprevent or help fight neurological disorders.

7 Tips for Better Sleeping

Do you have trouble sleeping? Not being able to sleep is called insomnia. According to the United States National Sleep Foundation, here are some tipsfor a good night’s sleep:

· Go to bed about the same time each night, even on weekends. This helps to “set” your body’s “sleep clock.”

· Exercise every day.

· Have a calm, relaxing bedtime routine – Take a warm bath or drink a hot cup of tea.

· Try not to take long naps during the day. Periods of sleep during the daytime can interfere with sleep at night.

· Make sure you have a pleasant environment where you sleep. For most people, a cool, quiet and dark room is best for sleeping.

· Avoid using television, computers and other electronic screens before bedtime.

· Also avoid alcohol, cigarettes and heavy meals before bedtime.

And from VOA Learning English, that’s the Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.