Swiss researchers said on July 25 that people really do have a hard time getting a good night’s sleep when the moon is full, even when they cannot see it.
The results of a study on 33 volunteers published in the journal Current Biology showed that people took longer to fall asleep at night and slept for a shorter time during a full moon.
The volunteers were monitored on two separate nights, and were not aware of the cycle of the moon during their time in the sleep lab.
When there was a full moon, people slept an average of 19 minutes less and took five minutes longer to fall asleep than they did when there was a new moon.
“The lunar cycle seems to influence human sleep, even when one does not ’see’ the moon and is not aware of the actual moon phase,” said Christian Cajochen of the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel.
Study participants also reported feeling less well-rested, and showed lower levels of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep and wake cycles, during the full moon.
“To our knowledge, this is the first report of a lunar influence on objective sleep parameters,” the study said.
(AFP)
瑞士研究人員七月二十五日指出，當月圓時，人們難以得到好的睡眠品質，就算他們看不見月亮也一樣。
一項刊載於《當代生物學》、針對三十三位自願者所進行的實驗指出，月圓之夜時，人們花更久的時間入睡，而且睡眠時間會較短。
受試者在兩個不同的夜晚被監測著，而且他們在睡眠實驗室的時候並未被告知當時月亮圓缺情形。
當滿月之夜時，受試者較新月夜平均少睡十九分鐘，而且至少晚五分鐘才入眠。
瑞士巴塞爾大學精神病醫院的克里斯提安‧凱喬承說：「月亮的盈虧變化似乎會影響人類睡眠，不管我們是否親眼看見月亮，或知不知道今天月亮的盈虧情況。」
在月圓之夜的時候，受試者也表示覺得睡眠品質不好，顯示出腦中褪黑激素含量較低，褪黑激素是與生理時鐘相關的荷爾蒙。
研究表示：「就我們所知，這是第一份月亮會影響睡眠的報告。」
（法新社／翻譯：自由時報國際新聞中心）
TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字
1. asleep adv.
睡著地；缺乏警惕地 (shui4 zhao2 de5; que1 fa2 jing3 ti4 de5)
例: Do you have trouble falling asleep?
(你有難入眠的困擾嗎？)
2. monitor v.
監控；監測 (jian1 kong4; jian1 ce4)
例: Please continue to monitor his vitals.
(請持續監控他的生命跡象。)
3. be aware of phr.
意識到 (yi4 shi4 dao4)
例: He doesn’t seem to be aware of how serious the problem is.
(他好像沒意識到這嚴重的問題。)
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