睡覺(jué)時(shí)也能學(xué)習(xí)新東西？原來(lái)大腦并沒(méi)有休息

Your Brain Really Can Form New Memories While You Sleep

你的大腦真的能在睡覺(jué)時(shí)記住東西

A sleeping brain can form fresh memories, according to a team of neuroscientists.

根據(jù)一組神經(jīng)科學(xué)家的研究，睡覺(jué)時(shí)的大腦是可以形成新記憶的。

The researchers played complex sounds to people while they were sleeping, and afterward the sleepers could recognise those sounds when they were awake.

研究者們?cè)谌怂X(jué)的時(shí)候給他們播放了復(fù)雜的聲音，而這些人醒來(lái)后能夠認(rèn)出這些聲音。

In the new study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, neuroscientists demonstrated that it is possible to teach acoustic lessons to sleeping people.

《自然通訊》雜志在8月8號(hào)發(fā)布了一篇新報(bào)道，神經(jīng)科學(xué)家們?cè)诶锩媛暦Q：向睡覺(jué)的人教授音頻課程是可能的。

"We proved that you can learn during sleep, which has been a topic debated for years," said Thomas Andrillon, an author of the study and a neuroscientist at PSL Research University in Paris.

“我們已經(jīng)證明了人可以在睡覺(jué)的時(shí)候?qū)W習(xí)，這個(gè)話題已經(jīng)爭(zhēng)論了好幾年了。”說(shuō)這話的是托馬斯·安德里隆，他是這項(xiàng)研究的一位作者，也是巴黎的PSL研究大學(xué)的一名神經(jīng)科學(xué)家。

In recent years, scientists have trained sleepers to make subconscious associations.

近幾年，科學(xué)家已經(jīng)在訓(xùn)練睡覺(jué)的人在潛意識(shí)中建立關(guān)聯(lián)。

In a 2014 study, Israeli neuroscientists had 66 people smell cigarette smoke coupled with foul odours while they were asleep. The test subjects avoided smoking for two weeks after the experiment.

在一項(xiàng)2014年的研究中，以色列的神經(jīng)科學(xué)家讓66個(gè)人在睡覺(jué)的時(shí)候聞到香煙和惡臭的混合氣味。實(shí)驗(yàn)之后，這些受試者在兩周以內(nèi)都不愿意接觸煙味。

In Andrillon's view, the experiment helps to reconcile two competing theories about the role of sleep in new memories:

在安德里隆看來(lái)，這項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)調(diào)和了兩項(xiàng)正處于競(jìng)爭(zhēng)關(guān)系的理論，這兩條理論都是關(guān)于在睡眠中形成新記憶的：

In one idea, our sleeping brains replay memories from our waking lives. As they're played back, the memories consolidate and grow stronger, written more firmly into our synapses.

其中一個(gè)觀點(diǎn)是，我們睡覺(jué)時(shí)，大腦會(huì)回放白天的生活，而隨著它的回放，我們的記憶會(huì)固化并得到加強(qiáng)，最終在突觸中長(zhǎng)得更牢固。

In the other hypothesis, sleep instead cuts away at older, weaker memories. But the ones that remain stand out, like lonely trees in a field.

在另一個(gè)假說(shuō)中，睡眠其實(shí)是在剪掉較老、較弱的記憶。而那些剩下來(lái)的就會(huì)顯得更明顯，就如同平地上的一棵樹(shù)。

The study indicates that the sleeping brain can do both, Andrillon said. They might simply occur at separate moments in the sleep cycle, strengthening fresh memories followed by culling.

安德里隆說(shuō)，這項(xiàng)研究表明，睡覺(jué)時(shí)的大腦同時(shí)能做這兩件事。它們可能只是在睡眠的不同階段發(fā)生而已，強(qiáng)化新記憶和剔除記憶交互進(jìn)行。

A separate team of neuroscientists had suspected that the two hypotheses might be complementary. But until now they did not have any explicit experimental support.

另一個(gè)獨(dú)立的神經(jīng)科學(xué)家研究團(tuán)隊(duì)?wèi)岩?，這兩個(gè)假說(shuō)可能是互補(bǔ)的。不過(guò)，在此以前，它們并沒(méi)有確鑿的實(shí)驗(yàn)證據(jù)來(lái)支持。

When asked whether understanding the roles of sleep cycles and memory could lead to future sleep-hacks, Andrillon said, "We are in the big unknown."

當(dāng)被問(wèn)及“理解睡眠周期與記憶的關(guān)系能否讓我們?cè)谖磥?lái)獲得跟睡眠相關(guān)的黑科技”，安德里隆說(shuō)：“我們正處在巨大的未知當(dāng)中。”

But, he noted, sleep is not just about memory. Trying to hijack sleep could disrupt normal brain function.

但他還指出：睡覺(jué)并不是僅僅關(guān)于記憶。試圖操縱睡眠可能會(huì)打亂大腦的正常工作。

Which is to say, even if you could learn French while asleep, it might ultimately do more harm than good.

也就是說(shuō)，即使我們能在睡覺(jué)的時(shí)候?qū)W法語(yǔ)，最終造成的傷害也可能比益處多。

"I would be very cautious about the interest in this kind of learning," he said, "whether this is detrimental to the other functions of sleeping."

他說(shuō)：“我對(duì)這種學(xué)習(xí)方式是非常謹(jǐn)慎的，不論它是不是對(duì)睡眠的其他功能有害。”