It’s 4 a.m., and the big test is in eight hours,

现在是凌晨四点 八小时内有一场重要的考试

followed by a piano recital.

接下来还有一场钢琴独奏

You’ve been studying and playing for days,

你已连日学习并苦练钢琴

but you still don’t feel ready for either.

但仍觉得什么都没准备好

So,what can you do?

那么 你能做什么呢

Well,you can drink another cup of coffee

你可以再喝一杯咖啡

and spend the next few hours cramming

and practicing,

用接下来所余不多时间继续苦读和练习

but believe it or not,

但不管你信不信

you might be better off closing the books,

你最好还是合上书本

putting away the music, and going to sleep.

停止练习 去睡觉

Sleep occupies nearly a third of our lives,

睡眠几乎占了我们生命的三分之一

but many of us give surprisingly little attention and care to it.

但让人惊讶的是 我们有很多人却很少关注睡眠

This neglect is often the result of a major misunderstanding.

这种对睡眠的忽视 来自于一个很大的误解

Sleep isn’t lost time,

睡眠并非浪费时间

or just a way to rest when all our important work is done.

或仅仅是完成重要工作后休息的一种方式

Instead,it’s a critical function,

相反 睡眠有着很重要的功能

during which your body balances and regulates its vital systems,

睡眠期间 你的身体对各系统进行调节

affecting respiration and regulating everything from circulation to growth and immune response.

呼吸系统 血液循环系统 免疫系统 与身体的成长都会受到影响

That’s great, but you can worry about all those

things after this test, right?

听起来很棒 但你可以在考试之后再担心这些 不是吗？

Well,not so fast.

呃 没那么快

It turns out that sleep is also crucial for your brain,

事实证明 睡眠对你的大脑也很重要

with a fifth of your body’s circulatory blood

进入梦乡后 身体五分之一的血液

being channeled to it as you drift off.

会流向你的大脑

And what goes on in your brain while you sleep

你睡觉的时候 也正是大脑内部

is an intensely active period of restructuring

重新进行调整组合的时候

that’s crucial for how our memory works.

这段时间对我们的记忆功能十分重要

At first glance,

乍一看

our ability to remember things doesn’t seem very impressive at all.

我们的记忆能力并不值得惊叹

19th century psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus

19世纪心理学家希曼艾宾浩斯

demonstrated that we normally forget 40% of new material

发现我们通常会在前20分钟内

within the first twenty minutes,

忘记40%的新事物

a phenomenon known as the forgetting curve.

这一现象被称为遗忘曲线

But this loss can be prevented through

memory consolidation,

但这种遗忘可以通过记忆的巩固来避免

the process by which information is moved

即信息从短暂的短期记忆

from our fleeting short-term memory to our more durable long-term memory.

转移到更持久的长期记忆的过程

This consolidation occurs with the help

记忆巩固得益于

of a major part of the brain,

大脑的一个重要部位

known as the hippocampus.

这一部位被称为海马体

Its role in long-term memory formation

海马体在长期记忆形成中所扮演的角色

was demonstrated in the 1950s by Brenda Milner

在1950年代被布伦达米尔纳通过

in her research with a patient known as H.M.

对叫作H.M病人的研究得到证实

After having his hippocampus removed,

H.M.的海马体被移除后

H.M.’s ability to form new short-term memories was damaged,

他形成短期记忆的能力受损

but he was able to learn physical tasks through repetition.

但他仍能够通过不断重复 学习体能任务

Due to the removal of his hippocampus,

由于海马体被移除了

H.M.’s ability to form long-term memories was also damaged.

H.M.形成长期记忆的能力也遭到破坏

What this case revealed, among other things,

这一案例反映 撇开其他

was that the hippocampus was specifically involved

海马体在长期陈述性记忆的巩固中

in the consolidation of long-term declarative memory,

作用至关重要

such as the facts and concepts you need to remember for that test,

诸如你需要在考试中记住的事实和概念

rather than procedural memory,

在程序性记忆中

such as the finger movements you need to master for that recital.

包括你在钢琴独奏需要掌握的指法

Milner’s findings, along with work by Eric Kandel in the 90’s,

米尔纳的发现 还有埃里克坎德尔在90年代的工作

have given us our current model of how this consolidation process works.

给我们提供了这一巩固过程如何运行的现有模型

Sensory data is initially transcribed

感知数据会先暂时转录到

and temporarily recorded in the neurons as short-term memory.

短期记忆的神经元里

From there, it travels to the hippocampus,

然后再传送到海马体

which strengthens and enhances the neurons in that cortical area.

而海马体再将其皮层区的神经元进行强化

Thanks to the phenomenon of neuroplasticity,

由于神经的可塑性

new synaptic buds are formed, allowing new connections between neurons,

新的突触芽形成 使得神经元之间建立新的联系

and strengthening the neural network where the information will be returned as long-term memory.

从而强化相应的神经网络 并形成长期记忆

So why do we remember some things and not others?

为什么我们能记住一些事却忘掉另一些呢？

Well,there are a few ways to

其实 有几种方式会影响

influence the extent and effectiveness of memory retention.

记忆形成的程度和效果

For example, memories that are formed in times of heightened feeling, or even stress,

比如 那些在情感或压力强烈时 所形成的记忆

will be better recorded due to the hippocampus’ link with emotion.

会因海马体与情绪的联系更容易被记下来

But one of the major factors contributing to memory consolidation is,

但巩固记忆一个最重要的因素是

you guessed it, a good night’s sleep.

你猜对了 正是一晚上的好睡眠

Sleep is composed of four stages,

睡眠由四个阶段组成

the deepest of which are known as slow-wave sleep

最深度的睡眠被称为慢波睡眠

and rapid eye movement.

和快速眼动睡眠

EEG machines monitoring people during these stages

脑电图机监测在这些阶段中

have shown electrical impulses moving between the brainstem, hippocampus,

点脉冲在脑干 海马体 丘脑

thalamus, and cortex,

以及大脑皮质间活动

which serve as relay stations of memory formation.

这些便是记忆形成的中转站

And the different stages of sleep have been shown to help consolidate

不同的睡眠阶段有助于巩固

different types of memories.

不同类型的记忆

During the non-REM slow-wave sleep,

在非快速眼动慢波睡眠阶段中

declarative memory is encoded into a temporary store

陈述性记忆被暂时存储

in the anterior part of the hippocampus.

在海马体前部

Through a continuing dialogue between the cortex and hippocampus,

通过大脑皮层和海马体的不断对话

it is then repeatedly reactivated,

这些记忆被反复激活

driving its gradual redistribution to long-term storage in the cortex.

它们逐渐被转入到大脑皮质的长期储存区域

REM sleep, on the other hand,

同时 快速眼动睡眠

with its similarity to waking brain activity,

与大脑唤醒时很相似

is associated with the consolidation of procedural memory.

与程序性记忆的巩固有关

So based on the studies,

因此 基于这些研究

going to sleep three hours after memorizing your formulas

在记忆数学公式后去睡三个小时

and one hour after practicing your scales would be the most ideal.

练习钢琴后睡一个小时 再好不过了

So hopefully you can see now that skimping on sleep

希望你现在能明白牺牲睡眠时间

not only harms your long-term health,

不仅有害你的长期健康

but actually makes it less likely

更会使你很难

that you’ll retain all that knowledge

and practice from the previous night,

记住前晚所记的知识和练习

all of which just goes to affirm the wisdom of the phrase,”Sleep on it.”

这些都证明了这句话的智慧“睡一觉再说”

When you think about all the internal restructuring

当你想象在你睡觉时

and forming of new connections that occurs while you slumber,

你的大脑忙着重组 形成新连接等等

you could even say that proper sleep

你甚至可以说好的睡眠

will have you waking up every morning

可以让你第二天

with a new and improved brain,

有一个全新的 更好的大脑

ready to face the challenges ahead.

去迎接即将到来的挑战