Lost sleep leads to loss of brain cells, study suggests 研究：喪失睡眠導致大腦細胞流失

South Korean marines sleep on a ferry in the Yellow Sea on April 10.
南韓海軍陸戰隊隊員四月十日在黃海海域，於渡船上睡覺。

Photo: Reuters
照片：路透社

Sleep loss may be more serious than previously thought, causing a permanent loss of brain cells, research suggests.

In mice, prolonged lack of sleep led to 25 percent of certain brain cells dying, according to a study in The Journal of Neuroscience.

If the same is true in humans, it may be futile to try to catch up on missed sleep, say US scientists.

They think it may one day be possible to develop a drug to protect the brain from the side-effects of lost sleep.

The study looked at lab mice that were kept awake to replicate the kind of sleep loss common in modern life, through night shifts or long hours in the office.

A team at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine studied certain brain cells which are involved in keeping the brain alert.

After several days of sleep patterns similar to those followed by night workers — three days of night shifts with only four to five hours sleep in 24 hours — the mice lost 25 percent of the brain cells.

(Liberty Times)

研究顯示，喪失睡眠會導致大腦細胞永久流失，可能比過去想像的還要嚴重。

針對老鼠的實驗顯示，長期缺乏睡眠導致百分之二十五的特定大腦細胞垂死，根據《神經科學期刊》刊登的研究。

如果相同的情況發生在人類身上，試圖彌補失去的睡眠可能沒有用，美國科學家說。

他們認為，未來或許可能研發出能保護大腦不受喪失睡眠副作用影響的藥物。

這份研究觀察保持醒覺的實驗室老鼠，複製現代生活中因上夜班或長時間工作而常見的喪失睡眠情況。

賓州大學醫學院的團隊，研究與保持大腦警覺相關的大腦細胞。

經過幾天類似夜間工作者的睡眠模式，也就是三天上夜班、每二十四小時只睡四到五小時，老鼠喪失百分之二十五的大腦細胞。

（自由時報／翻譯：自由時報國際新聞中心）

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. prolonged adj. 長期的 

例: Prolonged use of the drug is known to have harmful side-effects.

(長期使用藥物已知會有不良副作用。)

2. futile adj.無益的 

例: It’s quite futile trying to reason with him. He just won’t listen.

(跟他講理沒有用，他不會聽。)

3. catch up v. phr.趕上

例: He was off school for a while and is finding it hard to catch up.

(他離開學校一陣子，現在發現很難趕上。)

BONUS:

A : We have to go back to work tomorrow.

B : I know. It feels like the weekend goes by so incredibly fast.

A : It’s kind of depressing.

B : Try to get to bed earlier tonight. Be sure to get plenty of rest so you can give it your best tomorrow.

A : 明天又要上班了。

B : 對啊！感覺假日時間過超快的。

A : 真令人提不起勁。

B : 今晚早點休息養足精神，明天好好加油吧！

The full moon may make it hard to sleep: study 研究：滿月會讓人難以入眠

Photo: Getty Images/AFP

照片：蓋帝圖像／法新社

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。)

Exercise, less sitting time, linked to better sleep 少坐多動 或可改善睡眠

A boy tries out a treadmill at a promotional event in Beijing, China on April 29.
一名男孩四月二十九日在中國北京試用一款跑步機。

Photo: EPA
照片：歐新社

Insomniacs looking for a good night’s sleep may want to hit the treadmill, take a walk or play a game of golf or tennis, because a new report released on March 4 shows that exercise promotes good sleep, and the more vigorous the workout the better.

Just 10 minutes of exercise a day could make a difference in the duration and quality of sleep, the survey by the non-profit National Sleep Foundation showed.

“We found that exercise and great sleep go together, hand in hand,” Max Hirshkowitz, a sleep researcher and the chair of the poll task force, said in an interview.

“We also found a step-wise increase in how vigorous the quality is, in terms of how much you exercise. So if you say you exercise a lot, we found better sleep quality. For people who don’t exercise at all we found more sleep problems.”

Earlier research studies have shown the impact of exercise on sleep, but Hirshkowitz, who is a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said the survey is the first to detail the benefits of exercise in a nationally representative poll of this size.

People who described themselves as exercisers reported better sleep than their more sedentary counterparts, although the amount of sleep, an average of just under seven hours on weeknights, was the same.

(Reuters)

想要一夜好眠的失眠患者或許會想在跑步機上跑步、散步、打高爾夫或網球了，因為三月四日公布的一項研究報告顯示，運動可以改善睡眠，且強度越大，功效越明顯。

非營利組織「全國睡眠基金會」的調查結果顯示，每天只要十分鐘的運動時間，可改善睡眠時間長度與品質。

負責該項調研小組的睡眠專家馬克斯‧赫許可維茲在採訪中指出：「我們發現，運動與高品質的睡眠，息息相關。」

「我們同時發現運動量與睡眠品質兩者的關聯呈逐步增加的方式，因此運動較多的人睡眠品質更好一些，而一點都不運動的人，則面臨更多的睡眠問題。」

此前已有研究顯示運動對睡眠有影響，而目前在休士頓貝勒醫學院擔任教授的赫許可維茲表示，該調查是第一個具有全美國代表性、詳述運動好處的調查。

相較於經常久坐的人來說，將自己定位為愛好運動的受訪者普遍睡眠品質較好，而這兩個群體的平均睡眠時間則大致相等，在週間夜晚均為略少於七個小時。

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. vigorous adj.

激烈的 (ji1 lie4 de5)

例: Vigorous activities help you burn more calories.

(激烈運動有助消耗更多卡路里。)

2. step-wise adj.

逐步的；循序漸進的 (zhu2 bu4 de5; xun2 xu4 jian4 jin4 de5)

例: It is a step-wise method.

(這是一個循序漸進的方法。)

3. sedentary adj.

不常運動的；久坐的 (bu4 chang2 yun4 dong4 de5; jiu3 zuo4 de5)

例: I’m bored with sedentary work.

(我對久坐的工作已膩了。)

Prana Pulse Flow

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