How sleep affects your emotions | Sleeping with Science, a TED series

So exactly, how does a lack of sleep impact our emotional brain?

Translator: H.L. Au Reviewer: C iff

咁到底，唔夠瞓點樣影響到 我哋情感大腦呢？

Why does that lack of sleep make us

點解唔夠瞓會令我哋

so emotionally irrational and hyperreactive?

容易受剌激同埋過度反應呢？

[Sleeping with Science]

〔與科學共枕〕

Well, several years ago, we conducted a brain imaging study.

咁幾年前，我哋進行咗腦成像研究

And we took a group of healthy adults.

我哋用一班健康嘅成人

And we either gave them a full night of sleep

一係就畀佢哋瞓足成晚

or we sleep-deprived them.

一係就唔畀佢哋瞓

And then the next day, we placed them inside an MRI scanner,

然後第二日就幫佢哋做磁力共振造影

and we looked at how their emotional brain was reacting.

睇下佢哋情感大腦點反應

And we focused on one structure in particular,

我哋重點留意一個結構

it's called the amygdala.

佢叫「杏仁核」

And the amygdala is one of the centerpiece regions

而杏仁核係產生 強烈情緒反應嘅核心區域之一

for the generation of strong emotional reactions,

including negative emotional reactions.

當中包括負面情緒反應

Now when we looked at those people who had had a full night of sleep,

宜家我哋望下瞓足成晚嘅人

what we saw was a nice, appropriate moderate degree

我哋見到嘅係

一個唔錯、適當溫和程度反應嘅杏仁核

of reactivity from the amygdala.

It wasn't as though there was no response at all,

雖然佢好似冇反應

but it was an appropriate response.

但其實呢個先係適當嘅反應

Yet in those people who were sleep-deprived,

但係，冇得瞓嘅人

that deep emotional brain center was in fact, hyperactive.

佢嘅深度情感大腦中樞就非常活躍

Indeed, the amygdala was almost 60 percent more responsive

實際上，係唔夠瞓嘅情況下

佢杏仁核嘅反應仲高咗 60％

under conditions of a lack of sleep.

But why was that the case?

但點解會咁？

And what we went on to discover,

我哋之後繼續發現

is that there's another brain region that's involved.

係關腦入面另一個區域事

This brain region is called the prefrontal cortex,

呢個區域叫前額葉皮層

and it sits directly above your eyes.

就喺正你雙眼上面

And you can think of the prefrontal cortex

你可以想像前額葉皮層

almost like the CEO of your brain.

就好似你腦入面嘅「行政總裁」

It's very good at making high-level, executive, top-down

佢擅長做高級、行政、由上而下嘅

control decisions and reactions.

決策同反應

In fact, it's one of the most evolved regions of our brain.

佢其實係大腦最發達嘅區域之一

And one of the parts of the brain that it controls

而佢其中一個控制嘅大腦部分

is this deep emotional center, the amygdala.

就係深度情感中樞，杏仁核

Now in those people who had had a full night of sleep,

咁嗰啲瞓足成晚嘅人

there was a nice, strong communication and connection

就同前額葉皮層會之間

between the prefrontal cortex,

有良好嘅溝通同連接

regulating that deep emotional brain center.

調節著深層情感大腦中樞

But in those people who were sleep-deprived,

但冇得瞓嘅人

that communication, that connection between the prefrontal cortex

前額葉皮層同 深杏仁核情感大腦中樞之間

and that deep amygdala emotional brain center

嘅溝通同埋連繫

had essentially been severed.

基本上就被切斷咗

And as a consequence,

而後果就係

the amygdala was responding far more reactively

杏仁核嘅反應更加活躍

due to a lack of sleep.

因為唔夠瞓

It's almost as though without sleep

唔夠瞓就好似會令到

we become all emotional accelerator pedal,

我哋變咗所有情緒嘅加速油門

and too little regulatory control brake.

但又唔夠控制調節嘅剎車制

And that seems to be the reason that we become so unbuckled

咁睇嚟就係我哋啲情緒

in terms of our emotional integrity

當瞓得唔好嘅時候

when we haven't been sleeping well.

好似冇扣安全帶咁飛哂出嚟嘅原因

So that's the bad that can happen

呢個就係唔畀你瞓嘅壞處

if I take sleep away from you.

But it turns out

但原來

that there's something good that happens

當你有得瞓返嘅時候會有好事發生

when you get your sleep back.

And sleep, particularly rapid eye movement sleep,

睡眠，特別係快速眼動睡眠

actually offers a form of emotional first aid.

佢其實會提供一種形式嘅情緒急救

Because it's during sleep at night

因為夜晚我哋瞓覺嘅時候

that we take these difficult emotional experiences

我哋會將呢啲日頭發生嘅

that we've been having during the day,

難受情感體驗

and that sleep acts almost like a nocturnal soothing balm,

咁睡眠就會好似夜用潤膚膏咁

taking the sharp edges off those difficult experiences.

將呢啲難受嘅體驗嘅鋒利位磨走

And so perhaps it's not time that heals all wounds,

所以唔係「時間會醫好一切」

it's time during sleep that provides that form of emotional convalescence.

而係瞓覺時間 係一種形式嘅情緒恢復期

So that when we come back the next day,

咁我哋第二日再面對嘅時候

we're able to cope with those emotional memories.

我哋就可以應付呢啲情感記憶