Why Daylight Is the Secret to Great Sleep | Christine Blume | TED

翻译人员: Marie Li 校对人员: Bruce Wang

On a usual Saturday, you wouldn't find me here.

在平常的星期六，你在这里找不到我。

And I mean, of course, I don’t give TEDx Talks every Saturday.

我的意思是，当然，我不会在 每个星期六举行TEDx演讲。

But what I mean is, you probably wouldn't find me in a museum.

但是我的意思是，你可能 不会在博物馆里找到我。

Rather, if you were looking for me,

相反，如果你在找我，

you'd probably have to go to the mountains,

你可能得去山里，

and that is because I absolutely love hiking.

那是因为我非常喜欢徒步旅行。

And in addition to just being outside and being in nature,

除了待在户外，置身于大自然中，

what I really like is this feeling of physical exhaustion,

我真正喜欢的是这种身体疲惫的感觉，

sort of this satisfaction you can feel in every single muscle.

一种你在每块肌肉中 都能感受到的满足感。

And in the evening, when it's time to go to bed,

到了晚上，该睡觉的时候，

I absolutely cherish this amazing sleepiness

我非常珍惜这种从头到脚

that fills you from head to toe.

充斥着你的惊人睡意。

Now you might say, "Well, of course she's tired. She's been hiking all day.

现在你可能会说：“嗯， 她当然累了。她整天都在徒步旅行。

Plus, not to forget about the effects of supposedly fresh air."

另外，不要忘记 所谓的新鲜空气的影响。”

But there is one factor that most likely outweighs

但是， 有一个因素最有可能超过 新鲜空气和体育锻炼的影响，

the effects of fresh air and perhaps even physical activity,

新鲜空气和体育锻炼的影响，

and that is exposure to natural daylight.

那就是暴露在自然光下。

And today, I hope to convince you that we should all appreciate daylight

今天，我希望能说服你， 我们都应该将日光

as sort of a natural soporific.

视为一种自然的催眠剂。

And hopefully, by the end of the talk,

希望在演讲结束时，

you will also recognize that we should all pay more attention

你也能意识到

to our daily light diet.

我们都应该更加注意日常的清淡饮食。

But let's start with the question why daylight is so important

但是，让我们从一个问题开始， 为什么日光

for our organism, for health and, eventually, for sleep.

对我们的机体、健康乃至 最终对睡眠如此重要。

Now throughout your body, in each and every single cell,

现在，在你的全身，每一个细胞中，

there is a tiny molecular clock ticking inside it.

都有一个微小的分子钟在滴答作响。

And to keep these millions of clocks in sync,

为了使这数百万个时钟保持同步，

we have one central body clock that is located in the brain,

我们在大脑中有一个中心人体时钟，

in an area which we call the hypothalamus.

位于一个我们称之为下丘脑的区域。

And like the conductor of an orchestra,

就像管弦乐团的指挥一样，

it communicates the time of day to each of these molecular clocks.

它将一天中的时间传递给每个分子钟。

And this way, it is able to regulate bodily processes

通过这种方式，它能够调节

in sync with the time of day.

一天中的时间同步的身体过程。

For example,

例如，

it causes your body temperature to increase in the morning

它会导致你的体温在早上升高，

and to decrease in the evening.

在晚上降低。

It choreographs the release of certain hormones at appropriate times.

它编排了在适当时间释放 某些激素的情况。

And in the evening, when it’s time to go to bed,

而到了晚上，该上床睡觉的时候，

it will also make you tired and sleepy.

也会让你感到疲倦和困倦。

But given this precise synchronization between internal or biological time

但是，鉴于内部或生物时间

and external time or environmental time,

与外部时间或环境时间 之间的这种精确同步，

it seems clear that the body clock

很明显，人体时钟

cannot be blind or isolated or shut off from the environment,

不能失明、

but rather, it needs to receive information about the time of day

隔离或与环境隔离，相反，它需要

from the environment

从环境中接收有关一天中时间的信息，

for it to synchronize with sun time.

才能与太阳时间同步。

And this is achieved by close connections

这是通过大脑内部生物钟 和我们的眼睛

between the internal biological clock in the brain and our eyes.

之间的密切联系来实现的。

And now you may know that in the human retina,

现在你可能 知道，在人体视网膜中，

there are different types of receptors,

有不同类型的受体，比如感光器，

so photoreceptors, so receptors that sense light.

也就是感知光的受体。

And classically, we distinguish two types, the rods and the cones.

通常，我们区分两种类型， 视杆细胞和视锥细胞

Now the rods only contribute to a visual impression

现在，只有在非常昏暗的照明条件下，

under very dim lighting conditions.

视杆细胞才能给人留下视觉印象。

And here, in the background, you now see a picture

在这里，在背景中，你现在看到

that might, more or less, be brought about by only the involvement of the rods.

的画面或多或少可能仅 通过视杆细胞的参与而产生。

And what you can see is that it's only shades of gray,

你能看到的是，它只有灰色阴影，

it's slightly blurred,

略微模糊，

and around the point of fixation, which is indicated by the gray dot here,

在注视点附近，这里的灰点所示

you have a little scotoma,

你有一个小黑点，

so an area where you can't really see anything.

所以在这个区域你什么都看不见。

Now who recognizes what that is?

现在谁能认出那是什么？

Yeah, excellent.

是的，太棒了。

But it's going to be way easier,

但是，这会变得更容易

and the majority of you will recognize what it is,

你们中的大多数人都会意识到它是什么，

when I now switch to the next slide,

当我现在切换到下一张幻灯片时，

which is brought about by the involvement of the cones.

这张幻灯片 是由视锥细胞的参与所产生的。

Of course, it's the town hall of Basel, but now you can appreciate the colors,

当然，这是巴塞尔的市政厅， 但现在你可以欣赏到它的色彩和

fine details.

精美的细节。

And if this was animated, you'd even see fine details in motion.

而且，如果这是动画， 你甚至会看到精细的动态细节。

But this is not the whole story, because only fairly recently,

但这还不是故事的全部， 因为直到最近，

only in the early 2000s, another type of cell has been discovered,

仅在2000年代初，才发现了 另一种细胞，

and we call them retinal ganglion cells.

我们称之为视网膜神经节细胞。

Now, you might ask yourselves, "What picture is she going to show next?"

现在，你可能会问自己 “她接下来要展示什么照片？”

But I'll have to disappoint you ...

但我得让你失望...

I’m not, and I actually can’t, show another picture.

我不是，实际上我无法再 显示一张照片。

Because from all we know,

因为据我们所知，

these cells do not contribute to a visual impression.

这些细胞不会给人留下视觉印象。

But they are exclusively designed

但是它们专为感知日光下的

to sense short wavelength proportions in daylight.

短波长比例而设计。

Sometimes, we also call this blue light.

有时，我们也称之为蓝光。

So they're designed to extract important information about the time of day

因此，它们旨在

from the environment

从环境中提取有关一天时间的重要信息，

and pass this on to the internal biological clock

并将其传递给大脑

in the brain.

的内部生物钟。

And I guess you've all experienced how well this biological timing system,

我想你们都经历过这种生物计时系统，

this connection between our biological clock and the external world, or our eyes,

这种生物 钟与外部世界或 眼睛之间的联系，是如何运作的。

works when we, for example, travel across time zones.

比如说，当我们穿越时区时。

Now how much light do we actually need?

现在我们到底需要多少光？

How much light is enough for the positive effects on, for instance,

多少光线足以对

sleep to occur?

睡眠等产生积极影响？

And I have to admit, this is not so easy to answer.

我必须承认， 这不是那么容易回答。

But I think what we have to keep in keep in mind

但我认为，我们必须 记住的是，生物计时系统

is that the biological timing system has evolved under the open sky

是在露天下演变而来的，

and not in offices or museums.

而不是在办公室或博物馆里演变的。

So it is also optimally tuned to the conditions we find outside.

因此，它还根据我们在外面发现 的条件进行了最佳调整。

Office light or light in rooms

办公室的灯光或房间里的灯光

is in no way comparable to what we find outside.

与我们在外面看到的光线完全无法比拟。

And therefore, from a scientific perspective,

因此，从科学的角度来看，

I can only recommend you to spend as much time as you can

我只能建议你在开阔的天空

under the open sky,

下度过尽可能多的时间，

but try to make it at least 30 minutes per day.

但要尽量每天至少花30分钟。

Now let's finally talk about sleep.

现在让我们终于谈谈睡眠了。

And I've repeatedly alluded to the fact that daylight is beneficial

我还反复提到了这样一个事实， 即日光对睡眠有益

and important for sleep.

且很重要。

And in this context, I'd like to share a little story.

在这种情况下，我想分享一个小故事。

So last year, I had to go to hospital for surgery.

所以去年，我不得不去医院做手术。

And generally, the hospital environment is a very challenging one for sleep.

通常，医院的睡眠环境非常具有挑战性。

Because you spend way too much time in bed, not moving much.

因为你在床上待的时间太多，不怎么动

You might be in pain.

你可能会很痛苦。

Now and then, someone comes in to check on you, even during the night.

时不时有人来检查你，即使在晚上。

And if you're as lucky as I was, you have a snoring roommate.

如果你和我一样幸运的话， 你有一个室友在打呼噜声。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And because you, of course, don't get a lot of daylight.

而且因为你的日光当然不多。

And that's why many people, while they're in hospital,

这就是为什么许多人在住院时

ask for sleep medication.

要求服用安眠药的原因。

But as I consider myself to be a generally good sleeper,

但是，由于我认为自己总体上睡得很好，

and also because I know how these drugs work,

也因为我知道这些药物是如何起作用的，

I didn’t want this.

我不想要这个。

But I knew there was something I could do to help my body sleep as well as possible,

但我知道，

even in this situation.

即使在这种情况下，我也能做些什么 来帮助我的身体尽可能地入睡。

And that was to maximize exposure to daylight.

那就是最大限度地暴露在日光下。

Because as a sleep scientist,

因为作为一名睡眠科学家，

of course, I know about the research findings.

我当然对研究结果了如指掌。

I know that the more daylight that you get,

我知道日照的时间越多

the more tired you will be in the evening,

晚上就越累

the easier it will be for you to fall asleep

越容易入睡，

and the better the experienced sleep quality.

睡眠质量也越好。

And in addition,

此外，

daylight exposure has also been shown to increase proportions of deep sleep,

日光照射也被证明 会增加深度睡眠的比例，

which again has been linked to processes of tissue repair,

而深度睡眠又与组织修复过程有关

something not to be underestimated after surgery.

这是手术后不可低估的。

And beyond the effects on sleep,

除了对睡眠的影响外，

we know that patients in brighter rooms experience less pain and less stress.

我们知道在更明亮的房间里的患者所 经历的疼痛更少，压力也更小。

And also the effects of daylight on mood are well established.

而且，日光对情绪的影响也是众所周知的。

So I thought it might be time for me to put into practice what I often preach.

因此，我认为可能是时候将我 经常宣扬的内容付诸实践了。

And I have to confess that usually

而且我必须承认，

I'm much better at giving advice than following it myself.

我总是给出好的建议但自己却很难做到

But here's what I did.

但是这是我做了的事

So first, when it became free,

首先，当你空闲时

I asked the nurses to move my bed to the window place,

我让护士们把我的床移到靠窗的地方，

because that does not only give you power of the fresh air supply,

因为这不仅能为你提供新鲜的空气，

which is highly recommended in the hospital,

这是医院激励推荐的，

but it also maximizes daylight exposure even though you're inside.

而且即使你在室内， 它也可以最大限度地增加日光照射。

Second, as soon as I could leave my bed again,

其次，我一能再次离开床，

I went to the park for short walks.

我回去公园里散步。

And last, every meal I had, I tried to take on the little balcony.

最后，我吃的每顿饭， 我都想去小阳台上吃。

Did it work?

它起作用了吗？

Well, it's a bit difficult to say,

好吧，这有点难以说，

because it of course was a single-case study.

因为这当然是一个单一案例研究。

But from patients suffering from insomnia,

但是，

so one of the most common sleep disorders,

对于失眠（最常见的睡眠障碍之一）的患者，

we know that light therapy is beneficial.

我们知道光疗是有益的。

And therefore, I would like to encourage all of you,

因此，我想鼓励你们所有人，

and perhaps especially those who might belong

特别是那些可能属于

to the 25 percent suffering from sleep problems,

那25％患有睡眠问题的人，

to start your own single-case study.

开始自己的单一案例研究。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）