The benefits of a good night's sleep - Shai Marcu

Prevoditelj: Mirela Ivoš Recezent: Sanda L

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

Četiri su sata ujutro i veliki je ispit za osam sati,

followed by a piano recital.

uz koji moraš naučiti i recital.

Učiš i sviraš već danima, ali i dalje se ne osjećaš spremno ni za jedno od toga.

You've been studying and playing for days, but you still don't feel ready for either.

So, what can you do?

Pa što možeš učiniti?

Well, you can drink another cup of coffee

U redu, možeš popiti još jednu šalicu kave

and spend the next few hours cramming and practicing,

i provesti još nekoliko sati štrebajući i vježbajući,

but believe it or not,

ali vjerovao ili ne,

you might be better off closing the books, putting away the music,

možda bi bilo bolje da zatvoriš knjige i odložiš instrument

and going to sleep.

te odeš spavati.

Sleep occupies nearly a third of our lives,

Spavanje zauzima gotovo trećinu naših života,

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

ali mnogi od nas obraćaju začuđujuće malo pažnje i brige za to.

Ovo zanemarivanje često je rezultat velikog nerazumijevanja.

This neglect is often the result of a major misunderstanding.

Sleep isn't lost time,

Spavanje nije gubitak vremena

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

ili samo način odmora kad je sav naš bitan posao završen.

Instead, it's a critical function,

Umjesto toga, ono je kritična funkcija

during which your body balances and regulates its vital systems,

tijekom koje naše tijelo uravnotežuje i regulira svoje vitalne sustave,

affecting respiration

utječući na disanje

and regulating everything from circulation to growth and immune response.

i regulirajući sve, počevši od cirkulacije do rasta i imunosnog odgovora.

That's great, but you can worry about all those things after this test, right?

To je odlično, ali o tome se možeš brinuti nakon ovog ispita, nije li tako?

Well, not so fast.

Pa, ne tako brzo.

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

Ispostavilo se da je spavanje također presudno za tvoj mozak

with a fifth of your body's circulatory blood

s petinom krvi koja cirkulira tvojim tijelom,

being channeled to it as you drift off.

a usmjerava se prema mozgu kako toneš u san.

And what goes on in your brain while you sleep

I ono što se događa u tvome mozgu dok spavaš

is an intensely active period of restructuring

intenzivno je aktivan period obnove

that's crucial for how our memory works.

koja je presudna u tome na koji način funkcionira naše pamćenje.

At first glance,

Na prvi pogled,

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

naša sposobnost pamćenja stvari ne čini se uopće pretjerano dojmljiva.

19th century psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus

Psiholog iz 19. stoljeća Herman Ebbinghaus

demonstrated that we normally forget 40% of new material

dokazao je da normalno zaboravljamo 40% novih informacija

within the first twenty minutes,

unutar prvih dvadeset minuta,

a phenomenon known as the forgetting curve.

a taj je fenomen poznat kao krivulja zaboravljanja.

But this loss can be prevented through memory consolidation,

Ali ovaj gubitak može se spriječiti konsolidacijom pamćenja,

the process by which information is moved

procesom kojim se informacija prebacuje

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

iz našeg prolaznog kratkoročnog pamćenja u trajnije dugoročno pamćenje.

This consolidation occurs with the help of a major part of the brain,

Ova konsolidacija pojavljuje se uz pomoć bitnog dijela mozga

known as the hippocampus.

poznatog kao hipokampus.

Its role in long-term memory formation

Njegovu ulogu u dugoročnom pamćenju

was demonstrated in the 1950s by Brenda Milner

demonstrirala je 1950-ih Brenda Milner

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

u svojem istraživanju s pacijentom poznatim kao H. M.

After having his hippocampus removed,

Nakon što mu je odstranjen hipokampus,

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

sposobnost H. M.-a da stvara kratkotrajna pamćenja je oštećena,

but he was able to learn physical tasks through repetition.

ali mogao je naučiti fizičke zadatke ponavljanjem.

Due to the removal of his hippocampus,

Zbog odstranjenja njegova hipokampusa,

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

sposobnost H. M.-a da stvara dugoročna pamćenja isto je bila oštećena.

What this case revealed, among other things,

Ono što je ovaj slučaj otkrio, među ostalim,

was that the hippocampus was specifically involved

jest da je hipokampus posebno uključen

in the consolidation of long-term declarative memory,

u konsolidaciju dugoročnog deklarativnog pamćenja,

kao što su činjenice i pojmovi koje moraš naučiti za ispit,

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

rather than procedural memory,

za razliku od proceduralnog pamćenja,

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

kao što su pokreti prstiju koje moraš savladati za taj recital.

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

Milnerini nalazi, zajedno s radom Erica Kandela iz 90-ih,

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

pružili su nam trenutni model načina na koji proces konsolidacije radi.

Sensory data is initially transcribed

Senzorni podaci u početku se prepisuju

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

i privremeno pohranjuju u neuronima kao kratkoročno pamćenje.

Od toga, oni putuju do hipokampusa

From there, it travels to the hippocampus,

which strengthens and enhances the neurons in that cortical area.

koji jača i povećava neurone u tom kortikalnom području.

Zahvaljujući fenomenu neuroplastičnosti,

Thanks to the phenomenon of neuroplasticity,

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

stvaraju se novi sinaptički završeci omogućujući nove veze među neuronima

and strengthening the neural network

i jačanje neuronske mreže

where the information will be returned as long-term memory.

gdje se informacija vraća u obliku dugoročnog pamćenja.

So why do we remember some things and not others?

I, zašto onda pamtimo neke stvari, a druge ne?

Well, there are a few ways to influence

Pa, postoji nekoliko načina utjecanja

the extent and effectiveness of memory retention.

na opseg i učinkovitost pamćenja.

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

Na primjer, sjećanja stvorena u vrijeme pojačanih emocija

or even stress,

ili pak stresa

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

bit će bolje zapamćena zbog povezanosti hipokampusa i emocija.

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

Ali jedan značajan faktor koji doprinosi konsolidaciji pamćenja je,

you guessed it,

pogađate,

a good night's sleep.

dobar noćni san.

Sleep is composed of four stages,

Spavanje se sastoji od četiri faze,

the deepest of which are known as slow-wave sleep

od kojih su najdublje poznate kao sporovalno spavanje

and rapid eye movement.

i brzi pokreti očiju.

EEG machines monitoring people during these stages

EEG uređaj, prateći ljude tijekom ovih faza,

have shown electrical impulses

pokazao je električne impulse

moving between the brainstem, hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex,

koji se kreću između moždanog debla, hipokampusa, talamusa i korteksa,

which serve as relay stations of memory formation.

koji služe kao relejne stanice formacije pamćenja.

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

I pokazalo se da različite faze sna pomažu konsolidaciji

different types of memories.

različitih tipova sjećanja.

During the non-REM slow-wave sleep,

Tijekom non-REM sporovalnog sna,

declarative memory is encoded into a temporary store

deklarativno pamćenje enkodira se u trajno skladište

in the anterior part of the hippocampus.

u prednji dio hipokampusa.

Through a continuing dialogue between the cortex and hippocampus,

Kroz neprekidnu komunikaciju između korteksa i hipokampusa,

it is then repeatedly reactivated,

tada se opetovano reaktivira,

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

potičući njegovu postupnu preraspodjelu u dugoročno skladištenje u korteksu.

REM sleep, on the other hand, with its similarity to waking brain activity,

REM faza sna, s druge strane, sa svojom sličnošću s fazom budnosti mozga,

is associated with the consolidation of procedural memory.

povezana je s konsolidacijom proceduralnog pamćenja.

So based on the studies,

Tako na temelju istraživanja

going to sleep three hours after memorizing your formulas

odlazak na spavanje tri sata nakon pamćenja svojih formula

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

i jedan sat nakon vježbanja ljestvica bio bi idealan.

So hopefully you can see now that skimping on sleep

Pa nadajmo se da sada vidiš kako preskačući san

not only harms your long-term health,

ne samo da štetiš svome zdravlju,

but actually makes it less likely

nego je također manje vjerojatno

that you'll retain all that knowledge and practice from the previous night,

da ćeš zadržati to znanje i vježbe od prethodne noći,

što sve potvrđuje mudrost fraze "Prespavaj!"

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

When you think about all the internal restructuring

Kad razmisliš o unutarnjoj obnovi

and forming of new connections that occurs while you slumber,

i stvaranju novih veza koje se odvijaju dok drijemaš,

you could even say that proper sleep

možeš zaključiti da će te dobar san

will have you waking up every morning with a new and improved brain,

buditi svako jutro s novim i poboljšanim mozgom

ready to face the challenges ahead.

koji je spreman suočiti se s novim izazovima.