睡眠質(zhì)量和焦慮之間的因果聯(lián)系

新的證據(jù)揭示了睡眠質(zhì)量和焦慮之間的因果聯(lián)系

Everybody knows to get a good night's sleep if they want to feel their best, but the emotional consequences of not having adequate rest could be far greater than we ever realised, according to new neurological research.

每個(gè)人都知道，如果想讓自己感覺(jué)最好，晚上睡個(gè)好覺(jué)是必要的，但根據(jù)最新的神經(jīng)學(xué)研究，睡眠不足的情緒后果可能比我們想象的要嚴(yán)重得多。

In a new study analysing the brain scans of healthy volunteers, scientists say they've established a "causal connection" between the quality of sleep people get and resulting anxiety levels the next day – a link that could have "societal relevance", given the anxiety epidemic gripping America and elsewhere.

在一項(xiàng)分析健康志愿者腦部掃描的新研究中，科學(xué)家們表示，他們已經(jīng)在睡眠質(zhì)量和第二天的焦慮水平之間建立了一種“因果聯(lián)系”——鑒于美國(guó)和其他地方普遍存在的焦慮，這種聯(lián)系可能具有“社會(huì)相關(guān)性”。

"We have identified a new function of deep sleep, one that decreases anxiety overnight by reorganising connections in the brain," says neuroscientist Matthew Walker from the University of California, Berkeley.

加州大學(xué)伯克利分校的神經(jīng)學(xué)家馬修·沃克說(shuō):“我們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了深度睡眠的一種新功能，通過(guò)重組大腦的連接，可以在一夜之間減少焦慮。”

"Deep sleep seems to be a natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night."

“深度睡眠似乎是一種天然的焦慮抑制劑，只要我們每天晚上都這樣做。”

Of course, none of this should come as an outright shock. For years, scientists have been warning about what happens in the brain when we don't get enough sleep, and numerous extreme experiments have charted the grave physiological consequences of sleep deprivation.

當(dāng)然，這一切都不應(yīng)成為一種徹底的沖擊。多年來(lái)，科學(xué)家們一直在警告我們，當(dāng)我們沒(méi)有足夠的睡眠時(shí)，大腦會(huì)發(fā)生什么，無(wú)數(shù)的極端實(shí)驗(yàn)已經(jīng)記錄了睡眠不足的嚴(yán)重生理后果。

Despite this, millions upon millions of us don't sleep as much as we know we're supposed to, and Walker's new research illustrates another big problem stemming from that.

盡管如此，數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的人并不像我們知道的那樣睡得多，沃克的新研究揭示了由此產(chǎn)生的另一個(gè)大問(wèn)題。

The researchers scanned the brains of 18 healthy young adults in two experimental sessions, during which they watched video clips depicting 'aversive' scenarios, designed to elicit an emotional response.

研究人員對(duì)18名健康年輕人的大腦進(jìn)行了兩次掃描，在這兩次實(shí)驗(yàn)中，他們觀看了描述“厭惡”場(chǎng)景的視頻剪輯，目的是引起情緒反應(yīng)。

One of these sessions occurred in the morning, after the participants enjoyed a full night of sleep. The other session took place on another morning, after they'd stayed up all night in the laboratory, doing things like reading, watching movies, and playing board games (while being monitored to ensure they didn't rest).

其中一個(gè)階段發(fā)生在早上，在參與者享受了一整晚的睡眠之后。另一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)是在另一個(gè)早上進(jìn)行的，他們?cè)趯?shí)驗(yàn)室里熬了一整夜，做了一些事情，比如閱讀、看電影和玩棋盤(pán)游戲(同時(shí)被監(jiān)控以確保他們沒(méi)有休息)。

After the sessions, the participants had their anxiety levels measured by a psychological test called the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the results showed the sleepless night effectively triggered a 30 percent increase in anxiety levels.

會(huì)議結(jié)束后，參與者通過(guò)一項(xiàng)名為“狀態(tài)-特質(zhì)焦慮量表”的心理測(cè)試來(lái)測(cè)量他們的焦慮水平，結(jié)果顯示，失眠之夜實(shí)際上導(dǎo)致焦慮水平增加了30%。

"Notably, 78 percent of all participants in the sleep-deprived condition reported an increase in anxiety, confirming a robust impact of sleep loss on the escalation of anxiety in healthy individuals," the authors explain in their paper.

作者在他們的論文中解釋說(shuō):“值得注意的是，在睡眠不足的情況下，78%的參與者報(bào)告說(shuō)他們的焦慮增加了，這證實(shí)了睡眠不足對(duì)健康個(gè)體的焦慮升級(jí)有著強(qiáng)大的影響。”

What's more, half of the sleep-deprived participants actually exceeded anxiety levels that serve as a base threshold for symptoms of clinical anxiety disorders – and all it took to get there was one sleepless night.

更重要的是，被剝奪睡眠的參與者中，有一半人的焦慮水平超過(guò)了臨床焦慮癥癥狀的基本閾值——他們只需要一個(gè)不眠之夜。

"Without sleep, it's almost as if the brain is too heavy on the emotional accelerator pedal, without enough brake," Walker says.

沃克說(shuō):“沒(méi)有睡眠，就好像大腦的情感油門(mén)踩得太重，卻沒(méi)有足夠的剎車(chē)。”

The fMRI scans from the sessions showed increased emotional reactivity following sleep loss in the amygdala (which helps control our fight or flight reflex) and the dorsal anterior cingulate, which flares during negative emotional responses.

功能磁共振成像掃描顯示，睡眠不足后，杏仁核(有助于控制我們的戰(zhàn)斗或逃跑反射)和背側(cè)前扣帶皮層(在消極情緒反應(yīng)時(shí)活動(dòng))的情緒反應(yīng)增強(qiáng)。

While activity in those brain regions was heightened in the sleepless volunteers, activity in the medial prefrontal cortex – which helps regulate emotions like anxiety – was basically shut down.

睡眠不足的志愿者大腦中這些區(qū)域的活動(dòng)增強(qiáng)了，而內(nèi)側(cè)前額葉皮層的活動(dòng)基本停止了。

Conversely, polysomnographic readings taken while the sleeping participants slept indicated that the least anxiety was experienced by those who enjoyed the longest periods of deep sleep, called non-REM (NREM) slow-wave sleep (SWS).

相反，在睡眠參與者睡眠時(shí)進(jìn)行的多導(dǎo)睡眠描記讀數(shù)表明，那些享受最長(zhǎng)時(shí)間深度睡眠(即非快速眼動(dòng)睡眠(NREM)慢波睡眠(SWS))的人經(jīng)歷的焦慮最少。

"Our experimental studies demonstrate that, within this interaction, sleep loss can causally and directionally instigate high levels of anxiety in individuals who were otherwise non-clinically anxious when sleep-rested," the researchers explain.

研究人員解釋說(shuō):“我們的實(shí)驗(yàn)研究表明，在這種相互作用中，睡眠缺失會(huì)導(dǎo)致和定向地讓那些在睡眠不足時(shí)沒(méi)有臨床焦慮的人產(chǎn)生高度焦慮。”

"This finding defines a causal influence of disrupted sleep on the development of anxiety, beyond simply a co-occurring symptom of anxiety disorders."

“這一發(fā)現(xiàn)定義了睡眠中斷對(duì)焦慮發(fā)展的因果影響，而不僅僅是焦慮癥的共同出現(xiàn)癥狀。”