萬萬沒想到 BBC總結睡眠的10個祕密

The science of sleep can be fuzzy and confusing at times. Researchers are still not sure what our brains are up to, why we dream, or what those dreams even mean. But there are some intriguing things we’ve learnt in recent years about our mind’s journey to the Land of Nod.
睡眠科學有時模糊而令人迷惑。研究人員至今仍不清楚大腦的極限、做夢的原因以及夢的含義。不過近年來，關於夢境之旅，我們發現了一些有趣的現象。

Here are 10 surprising facts from the BBC Future archive and elsewhere that shed some light on why we need a restful night’s sleep:
下列10條來自過去的BBC未來頻道和其它來源的驚人事實讓我們多少了解爲什麼需要在晚上舒服的睡一覺。

1. Familiar smells can help to form memories in you. sleeping brain, improving your performance at simple learning tasks.
1、相似的氣味能幫助處於睡眠狀態的大腦形成記憶，提高簡單學習的效率。

2. The body shudders people report as you fall asleep are surprisingly common, and harmless – they’re called hypnic jerks.
2、人們反映，睡着時抽搐出奇地普遍，而且無害。這叫入睡抽動。

3. One small study proposed that learning the didgeridoo aids sleep, perhaps because it strengthens breathing muscles.
3、一個小型研究表明學習澳洲土著樂器迪吉里杜管有助睡眠，也許是因爲這會增強呼吸肌。

4. The most natural time to nap, based on our circadian rhythms, is between 2 and 4pm. But while napping later in the day is more restorative, getting some shuteye earlier on is more likely to boost your creativity.
4、根據晝夜節律，最自然的午睡時間是下午2點到4點之間。雖然晚點午睡更能精神煥發，但早點午睡更有助於提升創造力。

5. As we discovered earlier this week, a mutation in a gene called DEC2 might allow some people to sleep consistently for only four hours a night with no adverse physical effects….
5、本週早些時候我們發現，一種名爲DEC2的基因變異使人每晚只睡4小時而沒有副作用。

6. …however, that’s probably not you. Less than 5% of people are natural short sleepers. Most people need eight hours, but around 30% of us get fewer than six per night.
6、但是，那可能不是你。不到5%的人是天生的短睡眠者。大部分人需要睡8個小時，但約30%的人每天只睡6小時不到。

7. One theory for why we need sleep is that our brains use the opportunity to consolidate memories from that day. We might also deal with the memory of unpleasant or traumatic events during sleep.
7、關於爲什麼人類需要睡眠的一個理論是，我們的大腦利用這個機會整合一天的記憶。我們可能還會在睡眠期間處理不愉快的記憶或內心創傷。

8. Some researchers have used people’s brain activity to reconstruct YouTube videos they were watching. It’s thought a similar technique could one day be used to recreate our dreams.
8、一些研究人員用大腦活動來重建之前看過的YouTube視頻。這被認爲將來可以用與之相似的科技重現夢境。

9. Military researchers have found that if you save up sleep in advance by having early nights, sleep deprivation won’t hit you as hard.
9、軍方研究人員發現，如果通過早點睡來補覺，睡眠不足就不會那麼影響你。

10. If you go 12 consecutive nights on six hours’ sleep, it’s equivalent to a blood alcohol of 0.1%, which is marked by slurred speech, poor balance, and impaired memory. In other words, you’re drunk.
10、如果你連續12個晚上都只睡6小時，這相當於血液中的酒精含量達到0.1%，表現爲口齒不清、平衡不好以及記憶受損。換句話說，你喝醉了。