睡眠质量和焦虑之间的因果联系

新的证据揭示了睡眠质量和焦虑之间的因果联系

Everybody knows to get a good night's sleep if they want to feel their best, but the emotional consequences of not having adequate rest could be far greater than we ever realised, according to new neurological research.

每个人都知道，如果想让自己感觉最好，晚上睡个好觉是必要的，但根据最新的神经学研究，睡眠不足的情绪后果可能比我们想象的要严重得多。

In a new study analysing the brain scans of healthy volunteers, scientists say they've established a "causal connection" between the quality of sleep people get and resulting anxiety levels the next day – a link that could have "societal relevance", given the anxiety epidemic gripping America and elsewhere.

在一项分析健康志愿者脑部扫描的新研究中，科学家们表示，他们已经在睡眠质量和第二天的焦虑水平之间建立了一种“因果联系”——鉴于美国和其他地方普遍存在的焦虑，这种联系可能具有“社会相关性”。

"We have identified a new function of deep sleep, one that decreases anxiety overnight by reorganising connections in the brain," says neuroscientist Matthew Walker from the University of California, Berkeley.

加州大学伯克利分校的神经学家马修·沃克说:“我们已经发现了深度睡眠的一种新功能，通过重组大脑的连接，可以在一夜之间减少焦虑。”

"Deep sleep seems to be a natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night."

“深度睡眠似乎是一种天然的焦虑抑制剂，只要我们每天晚上都这样做。”

Of course, none of this should come as an outright shock. For years, scientists have been warning about what happens in the brain when we don't get enough sleep, and numerous extreme experiments have charted the grave physiological consequences of sleep deprivation.

当然，这一切都不应成为一种彻底的冲击。多年来，科学家们一直在警告我们，当我们没有足够的睡眠时，大脑会发生什么，无数的极端实验已经记录了睡眠不足的严重生理后果。

Despite this, millions upon millions of us don't sleep as much as we know we're supposed to, and Walker's new research illustrates another big problem stemming from that.

尽管如此，数以百万计的人并不像我们知道的那样睡得多，沃克的新研究揭示了由此产生的另一个大问题。

The researchers scanned the brains of 18 healthy young adults in two experimental sessions, during which they watched video clips depicting 'aversive' scenarios, designed to elicit an emotional response.

研究人员对18名健康年轻人的大脑进行了两次扫描，在这两次实验中，他们观看了描述“厌恶”场景的视频剪辑，目的是引起情绪反应。

One of these sessions occurred in the morning, after the participants enjoyed a full night of sleep. The other session took place on another morning, after they'd stayed up all night in the laboratory, doing things like reading, watching movies, and playing board games (while being monitored to ensure they didn't rest).

其中一个阶段发生在早上，在参与者享受了一整晚的睡眠之后。另一个实验是在另一个早上进行的，他们在实验室里熬了一整夜，做了一些事情，比如阅读、看电影和玩棋盘游戏(同时被监控以确保他们没有休息)。

After the sessions, the participants had their anxiety levels measured by a psychological test called the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the results showed the sleepless night effectively triggered a 30 percent increase in anxiety levels.

会议结束后，参与者通过一项名为“状态-特质焦虑量表”的心理测试来测量他们的焦虑水平，结果显示，失眠之夜实际上导致焦虑水平增加了30%。

"Notably, 78 percent of all participants in the sleep-deprived condition reported an increase in anxiety, confirming a robust impact of sleep loss on the escalation of anxiety in healthy individuals," the authors explain in their paper.

作者在他们的论文中解释说:“值得注意的是，在睡眠不足的情况下，78%的参与者报告说他们的焦虑增加了，这证实了睡眠不足对健康个体的焦虑升级有着强大的影响。”

What's more, half of the sleep-deprived participants actually exceeded anxiety levels that serve as a base threshold for symptoms of clinical anxiety disorders – and all it took to get there was one sleepless night.

更重要的是，被剥夺睡眠的参与者中，有一半人的焦虑水平超过了临床焦虑症症状的基本阈值——他们只需要一个不眠之夜。

"Without sleep, it's almost as if the brain is too heavy on the emotional accelerator pedal, without enough brake," Walker says.

沃克说:“没有睡眠，就好像大脑的情感油门踩得太重，却没有足够的刹车。”

The fMRI scans from the sessions showed increased emotional reactivity following sleep loss in the amygdala (which helps control our fight or flight reflex) and the dorsal anterior cingulate, which flares during negative emotional responses.

功能磁共振成像扫描显示，睡眠不足后，杏仁核(有助于控制我们的战斗或逃跑反射)和背侧前扣带皮层(在消极情绪反应时活动)的情绪反应增强。

While activity in those brain regions was heightened in the sleepless volunteers, activity in the medial prefrontal cortex – which helps regulate emotions like anxiety – was basically shut down.

睡眠不足的志愿者大脑中这些区域的活动增强了，而内侧前额叶皮层的活动基本停止了。

Conversely, polysomnographic readings taken while the sleeping participants slept indicated that the least anxiety was experienced by those who enjoyed the longest periods of deep sleep, called non-REM (NREM) slow-wave sleep (SWS).

相反，在睡眠参与者睡眠时进行的多导睡眠描记读数表明，那些享受最长时间深度睡眠(即非快速眼动睡眠(NREM)慢波睡眠(SWS))的人经历的焦虑最少。

"Our experimental studies demonstrate that, within this interaction, sleep loss can causally and directionally instigate high levels of anxiety in individuals who were otherwise non-clinically anxious when sleep-rested," the researchers explain.

研究人员解释说:“我们的实验研究表明，在这种相互作用中，睡眠缺失会导致和定向地让那些在睡眠不足时没有临床焦虑的人产生高度焦虑。”

"This finding defines a causal influence of disrupted sleep on the development of anxiety, beyond simply a co-occurring symptom of anxiety disorders."

“这一发现定义了睡眠中断对焦虑发展的因果影响，而不仅仅是焦虑症的共同出现症状。”