你安睡時身體乾的四件瘋狂事
It's a requirement for life, but scientists can't explain why we require sleep. Seriously… they have no idea. What we do know, is that your body starts doing some crazy stuff while you're out.
睡眠是生活的必需，然而科學家們卻不能闡明其原因。說實在的，他們毫無頭緒。而我們清楚的是：在你熟睡時，你的身體會開始做出一些瘋狂的舉動。1. REHEARSE FOR REAL LIFE
1. 預演現實生活There are more theories for why we dream than there are dreams. However, one pretty interesting theory says your dreams are your brain practicing certain situations to prepare for them happening in real life. Two studies in 2000 in the journal of Behavioral And Brain Sciences proposed a model that the brain uses dreams to see how you react to threatening situations, so you're better prepared in the real world. The theory goes on to say that "genetic memories" that are in our mind from birth contain many of these practice scenarios -- like a "starter pack." Which explains why people often have similar dreams.
解釋爲何做夢的理論比做的夢都多。然而，一個相當有趣的理論認爲：夢境是你的大腦爲特定情景在現實中的發生而做的練習。2000年，兩個研究刊登在the Journal of Behavioral And Brain Sciences的研究提出了一個模型，認爲大腦利用夢境考察你如何應對危機情境，由此在現實生活中你便會準備得更爲充分。這個理論還認爲，那個自出生起就在我們大腦中的"基因記憶"，包含了許多這些演練方案，它就像一個"啓動包"。而這也正解釋了爲何人們通常擁有相似的夢境。
2. BRAIN WAVES START TO GET EERILY SPECIFIC
2. 腦電波變得異常具體Neural oscillations, or brain waves, are created by the electrical signals in your brain. Certain waves correlate with certain activities. Scientists are aware of them, and can use them to measure stuff, but have absolutely no clue what purpose they serve. When you sleep however, your neural oscillations become oddly specific for each stage of sleep. Alpha activity, theta waves, delta waves... they all are emitted during very specific points in your sleep cycle. So much so, that scientists can pinpoint the exact part of sleep you're in -- just from the type of brain wave given off.
神經震盪，或腦電波，是由大腦內的電信號產生的。特定的腦電波與特定的活動相關聯。科學家們瞭解這種聯繫，並能夠利用它們判定事物，卻毫不清楚它們有什麼用途。然而當你熟睡時，神經震盪在睡眠的各個階段變得異常具體。α行爲，θ電波，δ電波……他們全都在睡眠週期中十分具體的點發射。如此，科學家們便可以僅僅通過發射出的腦電波類型，來精確指出你所處的睡眠階段。3. BLOOD FLOW TO YOUR HEAD IS RAMPED UP
3. 顱腔血流量增加Your brain gets more oxygen and nutrients, and you can blame it upon a rush of blood to the head. (No Coldplay fans out there? Really?) Since your brain is one of the only parts of your body that's still fully functioning, what blood is still being pumped gets diverted to your head. This powers all the maintenance functions going on in your skull.
因爲一股涌上大腦的血流，你的大腦將獲得更多的氧氣與營養物質。（這兒沒有酷玩樂隊的歌迷吧？真的麼？）由於睡眠時大腦是身體內唯一滿負荷運作的部分，所以仍在被泵出的的血液便轉移到了那裏。這便爲顱腔內所有的維護功能供能。4. LAST CALL... FOR MONOAMINE NEUROTRANSMITTERS
4. 最後……是單胺類神經遞質The neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin and histamine are kind of like the cocaine, molly, and PCP of your brain -- respectively. They do a lot of important things when you're awake like sharpen your senses, make you feel good, and help regulate the immune system. During REM Sleep, all three of these neurotransmitters are switched off. Your brain is denied access to all three of them in favor of acetylcholine, which activates muscles and movement. The release of acetylcholine is thought to speed up brain waves -- maybe.
去甲腎上腺素、血清素、組胺這些神經遞質依次和可卡因、莫利、PCP有些相像。它們在你清醒時起着重要作用，如使感覺更敏銳、提升愉悅感，並且可以幫助調節免疫系統。在快速眼動睡眠過程中，這三種神經遞質全部被抑制了。你的大腦拒絕接受這三者，反而更願意接受乙酰膽鹼，它可以活躍肌肉與行爲。乙酰膽鹼的釋放被認爲會加速腦電波--但誰也不好說。
