TED | 一定要睡个好觉

演讲简介

大脑仅占人体重量的百分之二，却要消耗人体能量的四分之一。那么，这个独特的器官是如何汲取营养的，也许更重要的是，如何清除废物的呢？一些新的研究告诉你——通过睡眠。

 

 

 

 

演讲精彩片段（节选）欣赏

 

Now, I’ve just talked a lot about waste clearance, but I haven’t been very specific about the kinds of waste that the brain needs to be clearing during sleep in order to stay healthy. The waste product that these recent studies focused most on is amyloid-beta ['æmɪlɒɪd], which is a protein that’s made in the brain all the time. My brain’s making amyloid-beta right now, and so is yours.

到现在，我们已经说了很多关于废物清理的事，但是我还没有具体介绍废物的种类，那些为了保持我们健康， 大脑必须要清理的废物的种类。 近期的研究关注最多的废物是淀粉样β蛋白，这是一种大脑始终会产生的蛋白质。就在此刻，我的大脑就正在产生淀粉样β蛋白，你的也是。

 

But in patients with Alzheimer’s ['altshaɪmə] disease, amyloid-beta builds up and aggregates in the spaces between the brain’s cells, instead of being cleared away like it’s supposed to be, and it’s this buildup of amyloid-beta that’s thought to be one of the key steps in the development of that terrible disease. So we measured how fast amyloid-beta is cleared from the brain when it’s awake versus when it’s asleep, and we found that indeed, the clearance of amyloid-beta is much more rapid from the sleeping brain.

但是患有老年痴呆症的人，在他们脑细胞的间隙中淀粉样β蛋白生成、聚集，不能被及时清除。 淀粉样β蛋白的累积是形成这种疾病的关键。 所以我们测量了在清醒状态下和沉睡时大脑清理淀粉样β蛋白的速度，并进行对比。 我们发现，处于睡眠中的大脑淀粉样β蛋白的清除速率更快。

 

So if sleep, then, is part of the brain’s solution to the problem of waste clearance, then this may dramatically change how we think about the relationship between sleep, amyloid-beta, and Alzheimer’s disease. A series of recent clinical studies suggest that among patients who haven’t yet developed Alzheimer’s disease, worsening sleep quality and sleep duration are associated with a greater amount of amyloid-beta building up in the brain.

那么，如果睡眠是大脑进行废物清理的 关键步骤， 那么这就会奇迹般地改变我们 对睡眠、淀粉样β蛋白和老年痴呆症的认识。 一系列临床试验证明，在那些老年痴呆症还不是很严重的患者中， 睡眠质量和时间的恶化是与大脑中淀粉样β蛋白的的集聚有着很大的关系的。

 

And while it’s important to point out that these studies don’t prove that lack of sleep or poor sleep cause Alzheimer’s disease, they do suggest that the failure of the brain to keep its house clean by clearing away waste like amyloid-beta may contribute to the development of conditions like Alzheimer’s.

然而，值得指出的是，这些研究没有证实睡眠的缺乏或者低质量的睡眠会引起老年痴呆症； 但明确指出如果大脑，不及时清理废物（如淀粉样β蛋白） 来维持它自身的清洁， 很可能会促进像老年痴呆症这样的病症的恶化。

 

So what this new research tells us, then, is that the one thing that all of you already knew about sleep, that even Galen understood about sleep, that it refreshes and clears the mind, may actually be a big part of what sleep is all about. See, you and I, we go to sleep every single night, but our brains, they never rest. While our body is still and our mind is off walking in dreams somewhere, the elegant machinery of the brain is quietly hard at work cleaning and maintaining this unimaginably complex machine.

那么，这个新的研究告诉我们， 也就是我现在要告诉你们每个人的。现在我们都知道， 即使伽林也都知道，关于睡眠最重要的一点大概就是睡觉会使我们的思维变得清醒。 那么，我们每晚都在睡觉， 但是我们的大脑却从未休息过。 虽然我们的身体看起来不动了， 但是我们的思维却在到处梦游。 大脑的这些组织 始终在辛苦地工作，来保持这个极其复杂的“机器”的清洁。

 

Like our housework, it’s a dirty and a thankless job, but it’s also important. In your house, if you stop cleaning your kitchen for a month, your home will become completely unlivable very quickly.

就好像我们的家务，那是个脏兮兮、费力不讨好的工作，但是却是那么的重要。 如果你有一个月都不打扫你的厨房，很快你的家就会变得住不下去。

 

But in the brain, the consequences of falling behind may be much greater than the embarrassment of dirty countertops, because when it comes to cleaning the brain, it is the very health and function of the mind and the body that’s at stake, which is why understanding these very basic housekeeping functions of the brain today may be critical for preventing and treating diseases of the mind tomorrow. Thank you. (Applause)

但是如果换作大脑，拖延“不做家务”的后果将会比我们不清理厨房台面的后果要严重得多。 那是因为，对于大脑来说，不及时清理垃圾会危及我们思维、身体健康和功能。 今天我们大脑所做的这些基础的、家务一般的苦差事，可能对防治疗明天的精神疾病具有重要的意义。谢谢你们！