The brain benefits of deep sleep -- and how to get more of it | Dan Gartenberg

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

What if you could make your sleep more efficient?

如果能讓你的睡眠更有效率，如何？

As a sleep scientist,

身為睡眠科學家，

this is the question that has captivated me

在過去的十年間，

for the past 10 years.

我對這個問題很著迷。

Because while the lightbulb and technology have brought about a world

雖然電燈泡和科技已經造成了

of 24-hour work and productivity,

二十四小時工作和生產力的世界，

it has come at the cost

但這是有代價的，

of our naturally occurring circadian rhythm

代價就是我們自然的晝夜節律、

and our body's need for sleep.

以及我們的身體對睡眠的需求。

The circadian rhythm dictates our energy level throughout the day,

晝夜節律支配了我們 一整天中的能量多寡，

and only recently we've been conducting a global experiment on this rhythm,

到最近，我們才針對此節律 進行了一項全球性實驗，

which is putting our sleep health

讓我們的睡眠健康，

and ultimately our life quality in jeopardy.

以及最終，我們的生命品質， 置身危險之中。

Because of this,

因為這個理由，

we aren't getting the sleep we need,

我們沒有得到我們需要的睡眠，

with the average American sleeping a whole hour less

美國人的平均睡眠時間

比 1940 年代整整少了一小時。

than they did in the 1940s.

For some reason,

因為某種原因，

we decided to wear it as a badge of honor

我們決定把它當榮譽獎章來戴，

that we can get by on not enough sleep.

以睡眠不足卻仍能過活為榮。

This all adds up to a real health crisis.

這些通通加起來， 就成了真實的健康危機。

Most of us know that poor sleep is linked to diseases

大部份人知道睡眠不足和疾病相關，

like Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease,

比如阿茲海默症、心血管疾病、

stroke and diabetes.

中風、糖尿病。

And if you go untreated with a sleep disorder like sleep apnea,

如果你有睡眠失調， 像睡眠窒息，卻沒去治療，

you're more likely to get many of these illnesses.

你就更可能會得到許多這類疾病。

But did you know about sleep's impact on your mental states?

但你知道睡眠對你的 心理狀態有什麼衝擊嗎？

Poor sleep makes us make risky, rash decisions

睡眠不足會讓我們做出 冒險、魯莽的決策，

and is a drain on our capacity for empathy.

且它會消耗掉我們同理的能力。

When sleep deprivation literally makes us more sensitive to our own pain,

因為缺乏睡眠 真的讓我們對痛苦更敏感，

it's not so surprising that we have a hard time relating to others

那就不足為怪，當我們睡眠不足時，

會很難和別人和睦相處，

and just generally being a good and healthy person

連大體上做個健康的好人都很難。

when we're sleep-deprived.

Scientists are now starting to understand

科學家現在開始了解到

how not only the quantity

睡眠的量與品質

but also the quality of sleep impacts our health and well-being.

都會影響我們的健康和幸福。

My research focuses

我的研究重點

on what many scientists believe is the most regenerative stage of sleep:

是許多科學家認為 最有再生力的睡眠階段：

deep sleep.

深度睡眠。

We now know that generally speaking,

我們現在知道，一般來說，

there are three stages of sleep:

睡眠有三個階段：

light sleep,

淺睡期、

rapid eye movement or REM

快速動眼期、

and deep sleep.

及深度睡眠期。

We measure these stages by connecting electrodes to the scalp, chin and chest.

我們測量這些階段的方式， 是把電擊貼在頭皮、下巴、胸口。

In light sleep and REM,

在淺睡期與快速動眼期、

our brain waves are very similar to our brain waves in waking life.

我們的腦波和我們醒著時非常相似。

But our brain waves in deep sleep have these long-burst brain waves

但深睡時的腦波， 有很多長長的脈衝，

that are very different from our waking life brain waves.

和醒著時的腦波很不一樣。

These long-burst brain waves are called delta waves.

這些長的脈衝 被稱為 δ（delta）波。

When we don't get the deep sleep we need,

當我們沒有得到我們需要的深睡時，

it inhibits our ability to learn

就會阻礙我們的學習能力、

and for our cells and bodies to recover.

我們的細胞和身體的恢復能力。

Deep sleep is how we convert all those interactions

深睡讓我們把白天的互動

that we make during the day

into our long-term memory and personalities.

轉換為長期記憶和個性。

As we get older,

當我們漸年長，

we're more likely to lose these regenerative delta waves.

我們就越有可能會失去 這些有再生力的 δ 波。

So in way, deep sleep and delta waves

所以從某個角度來看，深睡與 δ 波

are actually a marker for biological youth.

其實算是生理年輕的標記。

So naturally, I wanted to get more deep sleep for myself

當然我要自己多深睡點，

and I literally tried almost every gadget, gizmo, device and hack out there --

而我真的幾乎試過每一種

找得到的小玩意兒、小發明、裝置，

consumer-grade, clinical-grade,

消費者等級或臨床實驗等級的。

what have you.

I learned a lot, and I found I really do need, like most people,

我學了很多，並且發現 我和大部份人一樣，

eight hours of sleep.

真的需要睡足八小時。

I even shifted my circadian component

我甚至改變了我的生理節奏，

by changing my meals, exercise and light exposure,

方法是改變我的進餐、運動、 和曝露在光線下的時間，

but I still couldn't find a way to get a deeper night of sleep ...

但仍然找不到睡得更深沉的方式，

that is until I met Dr. Dmitry Gerashchenko

直到我遇到了狄米崔蓋瑞山柯博士，

from Harvard Medical School.

他是哈佛教授。

Dmitry told me about a new finding in the literature,

狄米崔告訴我文獻中的一項新發現，

where a lab out of Germany showed that if you could play certain sounds

一間德國的實驗室發現，

如果能夠在人們睡眠的 正確時間播放某些聲音，

at the right time in people's sleep,

you could actually make sleep deeper and more efficient.

就能讓睡眠更深、更有效。

And what's more, is that this lab showed

還有，這間實驗室也發現，

that you actually could improve next-day memory performance

可用這種聲音 來改善隔天的記憶表現。

with this sound.

Dmitry and I teamed up,

我和狄米崔合作，

and we began working on a way to build this technology.

我們開始想辦法建立這種技術。

With our research lab collaborators at Penn State,

我們和在賓州州大實驗室的合作者

we designed experiments in order to validate our system.

一起設計實驗來驗證我們的系統。

And we've since received grant funding from the National Science Foundation

我們從國家科學基金會 和國立衛生研究院

and the National Institute of Health

得到補助金資助，

to develop this deep-sleep stimulating technology.

來開發這種深度睡眠刺激技術。

Here's how it works.

它是這樣運作的。

People came into the lab

人們來到實驗室，

and we hooked them up to a number of devices,

我們把他們和幾個裝置連結，

two of which I have on right here --

我這裡戴著其中兩個裝置，

not a fashion statement.

可不是時尚宣言。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

When we detected that people were in deep sleep,

當我們偵測到人們在深睡時，

we played the deep-sleep stimulating sounds

就播放能刺激他們睡得更深的聲音。

that were shown to make them have deeper sleep.

I'm going to demo this sound for you right now.

我現在就來展示一下這個聲音。

(Repeating sound waves)

（重覆聲波）

Pretty weird, right?

很怪異，是吧？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So that sound is actually at the same burst frequency as your brain waves

這聲音的脈衝頻率

其實和你的深睡腦波相同。

when your brain is in deep sleep.

That sound pattern actually primes your mind

那種聲音模式

事實上能使你的大腦準備好，

to have more of these regenerative delta waves.

產生更多這些有再生力的 δ 波。

When we asked participants the next day about the sounds,

當我們隔天問受試者這些聲音，

they were completely unaware that we played the sounds,

他們完全沒意識到我們曾播放聲音，

yet their brains responded with more of these delta waves.

而他們的腦卻產生 更多的 δ 波以呼應這種聲音。

Here's an image of someone's brain waves from the study that we conducted.

這張圖是某個人的腦波， 在我們的研究中記錄的。

See the bottom panel?

看到下面的區塊嗎？

This shows the sound being played at that burst frequency.

它呈現出這聲音是用 那種脈衝頻率來播放的。

Now look at the brain waves in the upper part of the graph.

看看圖中的上面區塊，那些是腦波。

You can see from the graph

從圖可以看出，

that the sound is actually producing more of these regenerative delta waves.

播放這聲音就能產生 更多有再生力的 δ 波。

We learned that we could accurately track sleep

我們學到能夠準確地追蹤睡眠，

without hooking people up to electrodes

而不用把電極貼在人身上，

and make people sleep deeper.

並且能讓人睡得更深。

We're continuing to develop

我們還在持續發展

the right sound environment and sleep habitat

對的聲音環境和睡眠地點，

to improve people's sleep health.

來改善人們的睡眠健康。

Our sleep isn't as regenerative as it could be,

我們的睡眠還可以更有再生力，

but maybe one day soon,

但也許，不久之後，

we could wear a small device

我們就可戴著一個小裝置，

and get more out of our sleep.

讓我們從睡眠中獲益良多。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）