金融时报:睡觉就能“涨知识”？

睡觉就能“涨知识”？

最新研究称睡眠可以有效地帮助记忆学习——做梦和记忆巩固有着密不可分的关系。所以想要学习一门新的语言，可能在上面睡一觉也是不错的方式。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

probe探查；用探针探测[prəʊb]

physiological生理学的，生理的[,fɪzɪə'lɒdʒɪkəl]

REM快速眼动睡眠

participant参与的；有关系的[pɑː'tɪsɪp(ə)nt]

consolidation巩固；合并；团结[kən,sɒlɪ'deɪʃən]

lag落后；迟延[læg]

If you want to learn, sleep on it（313 words）

By Denis Schluppeck

If you want to learn a language, try sleeping on it. This is the advice from researchers at Swansea University who are studying the interaction between sleep patterns, dreaming and memory consolidation — the process for laying down more securely memories in the brain.

In a forthcoming study in the Journal of Sleep Research, the scientists looked at how sleep and the value attached to pieces of information affect their memorability. Participants in the study slept in a specially designed lab, while their brain activity was being monitored.

Native English speakers who had recently arrived in Wales had to memorise Welsh words and were tested on them 12 hours later. One group had to remember the information during the daytime, while the other slept on it in the lab.

The sleepers performed significantly better in a test of their newly acquired vocabulary — and caring about the Welsh language further improved performance.

Related work in the sleep lab, presented at the British Science Festival, aims to understand whether dreams have a physiological role or whether they are a byproduct of other events occurring during sleep. To understand the timing and content of dreams, the team analysed the dreams participants reported in their own words, immediately on being woken.

This research found that the likelihood of experiencing a dream is particularly high — about 80 per cent — during REM sleep. This part of the sleep cycle, characterised by rapid eye movements, is thought to play an important role in memory consolidation.

Electrical activity in the brain varies significantly at different stages of sleep. This helped researchers to monitor sleep duration and quality, and to wake participants at particular points in the sleep cycle.

The research found daytime events were more likely to be incorporated into dreams with a one-day delay and to recur after another five to seven nights. This phenomenon has been termed the dream-lag effect.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which is not right about the study of researchers at Swansea University?

A.speaking

B.sleep patterns

C.dreaming

D.memory consolidation

答案(1)

2.Which is not right about the study in the Journal of Sleep Research?

A.how sleep and value attached affect memorability

B.monitored body movement

C.participants slept in the designed lab

D.monitored brain activity

答案(2)

3.Which is not right about the related work in the sleep lab?

A.whether dreams have a physiological role

B.whether dreams are the conditioned reflex

C.whether dreams are a byproduct

D.timing and content of dreams

答案(3)

4.What is the percentage of the likelihood of experiencing a dream?

A.50 per cent

B.60 per cent

C.80 per cent

D.85 per cent

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：A.speaking

解释：英国斯旺西大学的研究者在做一项有关睡眠类型，做梦和记忆巩固之前关系的研究。

(2)答案：B.monitored body movement

解释：在睡眠调研的日志中，科学家观察了睡眠和附加的碎片信息如何影响着参与实验者的睡眠，并且他们要睡在特殊设计的实验室中，他们的大脑活动也会被时刻监控着。

(3)答案：B.whether dreams are the conditioned reflex

解释：睡眠实验室的相关工作想通过研究来了解做梦是否有着生理学的角色，他们是否是梦中发生的其他事件的副产品，还要了解做梦的时间和内容。

(4)答案：C.80 per cent

解释：调研发现在睡眠中出现做梦的概率非常高，大概有百分之八十的可能性。