睡覺時也能學習新東西
Your Brain Really Can Form New Memories While You Sleep
你的大腦真的能在睡覺時記住東西A sleeping brain can form fresh memories, according to a team of neuroscientists.
根據一組神經科學家的研究，睡覺時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.
研究者們在人睡覺的時候給他們播放了複雜的聲音，而這些人醒來後能夠認出這些聲音。
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》雜誌在8月8號發佈了一篇新報道，神經科學家們在裏面聲稱：向睡覺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.
“我們已經證明了人可以在睡覺的時候學習，這個話題已經爭論了好幾年了。”說這話的是托馬斯·安德里隆，他是這項研究的一位作者，也是巴黎的PSL研究大學的一名神經科學家。In recent years, scientists have trained sleepers to make subconscious associations.
近幾年，科學家已經在訓練睡覺的人在潛意識中建立關聯。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2014年的研究中，以色列的神經科學家讓66個人在睡覺的時候聞到香菸和惡臭的混合氣味。實驗之後，這些受試者在兩週以內都不願意接觸煙味。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，這項實驗調和了兩項正處於競爭關係的理論，這兩條理論都是關於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.
其中一個觀點是，我們睡覺時，大腦會回放白天的生活，而隨着它的回放，我們的記憶會固化並得到加強，最終在突觸中長得更牢固。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.
在另一個假說中，睡眠其實是在剪掉較老、較弱的記憶。而那些剩下來的就會顯得更明顯，就如同平地上的一棵樹。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，這項研究表明，睡覺時的大腦同時能做這兩件事。它們可能只是在睡眠的不同階段發生而已，強化新記憶和剔除記憶交互進行。
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.
另一個獨立的神經科學家研究團隊懷疑，這兩個假說可能是互補的。不過，在此以前，它們並沒有確鑿的實驗證據來支持。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."
當被問及“理解睡眠週期與記憶的關係能否讓我們在未來獲得跟睡眠相關的黑科技”，安德里隆說：“我們正處在巨大的未知當中。”But, he noted, sleep is not just about memory. Trying to hijack sleep could disrupt normal brain function.
但他還指出：睡覺並不是僅僅關於記憶。試圖操縱睡眠可能會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，即使我們能在睡覺的時候學法語，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：“我對這種學習方式是非常謹慎的，不論它是不是對睡眠的其他功能有害。”
