Sleep Is Your Superpower | Matt Walker | TED

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

Well, I would like to start with testicles.

额，我想先说说睾丸。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Men who sleep five hours a night

那些每晚只睡五个小时的男性

have significantly smaller testicles than those who sleep seven hours or more.

相比每晚睡够至少七个小时的男性， 有着更小的睾丸。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

In addition, men who routinely sleep just four to five hours a night

除此之外，习惯性只睡 四到五个小时的男性，

will have a level of testosterone

他们的睾酮水平

which is that of someone 10 years their senior.

和比他们年长十岁的人差不多。

So a lack of sleep will age a man by a decade

所以，从睾酮这一关键的健康指标来看，

in terms of that critical aspect of wellness.

缺乏睡眠会让男性老十岁。

And we see equivalent impairments in female reproductive health

我们在女性的生殖健康上也看到了

caused by a lack of sleep.

由缺乏睡眠导致的同等损害。

This is the best news that I have for you today.

这是今天我给你们准备的最好的消息。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

From this point, it may only get worse.

从现在开始，事情只会变得更糟。

Not only will I tell you about the wonderfully good things

我不仅会告诉你们在你们睡觉时，

that happen when you get sleep,

会发生的美妙的事情，

but the alarmingly bad things that happen when you don't get enough,

还会告诉你们当睡眠不足时， 发生在你们大脑和身体上的

both for your brain and for your body.

非常糟糕的事情。

Let me start with the brain

让我从大脑以及

and the functions of learning and memory,

学习和记忆的功能开始讲起，

because what we've discovered over the past 10 or so years

因为我们在过去十年的研究发现，

is that you need sleep after learning

在你学习完后，应该睡觉，

to essentially hit the save button on those new memories

以按下新记忆的保存按钮，

so that you don't forget.

这样才不会遗忘。

But recently, we discovered that you also need sleep before learning

但是最近，我们发现在学习之前 你也需要睡眠，

to actually prepare your brain,

来准备好自己的头脑，

almost like a dry sponge

就像是一块干海绵，

ready to initially soak up new information.

准备好开始吸收新的知识。

And without sleep, the memory circuits of the brain

没有睡眠的话，大脑的记忆回路

essentially become waterlogged, as it were,

就像是被堵塞住了，

and you can't absorb new memories.

而你将不能吸收新的记忆。

So let me show you the data.

让我向你们展示一下数据。

Here in this study, we decided to test the hypothesis

在这个研究中，我们测试了 这么一个假设，

that pulling the all-nighter was a good idea.

即熬夜到底是不是不错的做法。

So we took a group of individuals

我们招募了一组被试，

and we assigned them to one of two experimental groups:

然后将其分为两组：

a sleep group and a sleep deprivation group.

睡眠充足组和睡眠不足组。

Now the sleep group, they're going to get a full eight hours of slumber,

睡眠充足组的被试可以睡够八个小时，

but the deprivation group, we're going to keep them awake

而睡眠不足组的被试则在实验室中， 在全程监控下，

in the laboratory, under full supervision.

不断地被我们叫醒。

There's no naps or caffeine, by the way, so it's miserable for everyone involved.

顺便说一句，他们没有小睡或咖啡因的支持， 所以确实很痛苦。

And then the next day,

第二天，

we're going to place those participants inside an MRI scanner

我们把这些被试放进MRI扫描仪，

and we're going to have them try and learn a whole list of new facts

让他们试着学习一整列的新知识，

as we're taking snapshots of brain activity.

同时记录下他们的大脑活动情况。

And then we're going to test them

然后，我们测试他们，

to see how effective that learning has been.

来看看他们的学习到底有没有效。

And that's what you're looking at here on the vertical axis.

这就是你们所看的纵轴。

And when you put those two groups head to head,

当把这两组被试比较时，

what you find is a quite significant, 40-percent deficit

你们可以发现没有充足睡眠的大脑

in the ability of the brain to make new memories without sleep.

在储存新记忆的能力上 有40%的显著差距。

I think this should be concerning,

我觉得这一发现令人担忧，

considering what we know is happening to sleep

考虑到我们的受教育人群

in our education populations right now.

在睡眠上正在经历的事情。

In fact, to put that in context,

事实上，说的具体些，

it would be the difference in a child acing an exam

就是学生在考试中得高分

versus failing it miserably -- 40 percent.

和考砸了之间的差距——40%。

And we've gone on to discover what goes wrong within your brain

我们进一步研究大脑中 到底哪里出错

to produce these types of learning disabilities.

产生了这种学习障碍。

And there's a structure that sits

在大脑的左侧和右侧，

on the left and the right side of your brain, called the hippocampus.

有着这么一块区域，叫做海马体。

And you can think of the hippocampus

你们可以把海马体想成

almost like the informational inbox of your brain.

大脑的信息收件箱。

It's very good at receiving new memory files

海马体很擅长接收新的“记忆文件”，

and then holding on to them.

并保留这些文件。

And when you look at this structure

当你们观察

in those people who'd had a full night of sleep,

那些睡了一整晚的被试的海马体时，

we saw lots of healthy learning-related activity.

我们看到的是许多健康的 与学习相关的大脑活动。

Yet in those people who were sleep-deprived,

但是在那些睡眠不足的被试身上，

we actually couldn't find any significant signal whatsoever.

我们基本上找不到任何明显的信号。

So it's almost as though sleep deprivation had shut down your memory inbox,

这就好像睡眠不足关闭了记忆收件箱，

and any new incoming files -- they were just being bounced.

任何新进的文件——都被退回了。

You couldn't effectively commit new experiences to memory.

你不能有效的将新的经历转化为记忆。

So that's the bad that can happen if I were to take sleep away from you,

这就是假如我剥夺你的睡眠时， 会发生的糟糕事情，

but let me just come back to that control group for a second.

但容我稍微讲一下对照组。

Do you remember those folks that got a full eight hours of sleep?

你们还记得那些睡够了八个小时的被试吗？

Well, we can ask a very different question:

我们可以问一个非常不同的问题：

What is it about the physiological quality of your sleep

让你每天睡眠时

when you do get it

恢复和提高你的

that restores and enhances your memory and learning ability

记忆力和学习能力的生理质量

each and every day?

是什么样的？

And by placing electrodes all over the head,

通过在头部放置电极，

what we've discovered is that there are big, powerful brainwaves

我们所发现的是，在睡眠的最深阶段

that happen during the very deepest stages of sleep

会产生巨大而强大的脑电波，

that have riding on top of them

这些脑电波之上会有

these spectacular bursts of electrical activity

我们称之为睡眠纺锤波的

that we call sleep spindles.

壮观的电活动爆发。

And it's the combined quality of these deep-sleep brainwaves

正是这些深度睡眠脑电波的综合作用，

that acts like a file-transfer mechanism at night,

在夜间起到了文件传输机制的作用，

shifting memories from a short-term vulnerable reservoir

将记忆从一个短期的 易受遗忘的存储库

to a more permanent long-term storage site within the brain,

转移到大脑中一个更永久 的长期存储库，

and therefore protecting them, making them safe.

因此得以保存它们， 使它们不至受损。

And it is important that we understand

重要的是，我们要了解在睡眠中

what during sleep actually transacts these memory benefits,

究竟是什么在发挥这些记忆的作用，

because there are real medical and societal implications.

因为这对医学和社会都有实际的影响。

And let me just tell you about one area

让我告诉你们

that we've moved this work out into, clinically,

我们已经把这项研究转移到临床的一个领域，

which is the context of aging and dementia.

即衰老和痴呆。

Because it's of course no secret that, as we get older,

因为随着我们变老， 我们的学习和记忆能力

our learning and memory abilities begin to fade and decline.

开始衰退和减弱当然 并不是什么秘密。

But what we've also discovered

但我们也发现的是

is that a physiological signature of aging is that your sleep gets worse,

衰老的一个生理特征是 你的睡眠质量变差了，

especially that deep quality of sleep that I was just discussing.

尤其在我刚才谈到的 深度睡眠质量中。

And only last year, we finally published evidence

仅仅在去年，我们最终发表了证据

that these two things, they're not simply co-occurring,

表明这两件事，它们 不是简单的同时发生，

they are significantly interrelated.

它们是显著相互关联的。

And it suggests that the disruption of deep sleep

这表明深度睡眠的中断

is an underappreciated factor

是导致衰老时认知能力和记忆能力衰退

that is contributing to cognitive decline or memory decline

的一个低估因素，

in aging, and most recently we've discovered,

最近我们还发现，

in Alzheimer's disease as well.

老年痴呆症也是如此。

Now, I know this is remarkably depressing news.

我知道这个消息是如此令人沮丧。

It's in the mail. It's coming at you.

它在邮寄途中，正在走向你。

But there's a potential silver lining here.

但也有一线希望。

Unlike many of the other factors that we know are associated with aging,

跟其他我们已知跟衰老 有关的因素不同的是，

for example changes in the physical structure of the brain,

比如大脑物理结构的改变，

that's fiendishly difficult to treat.

这是非常难以治疗的。

But that sleep is a missing piece in the explanatory puzzle

但睡眠是解释衰老和 阿尔茨海默症谜题中

of aging and Alzheimer's is exciting

缺失的一块倒是令人兴奋，

because we may be able to do something about it.

因为我们也许能做点啥对策。

And one way that we are approaching this at my sleep center

在我的睡眠中心解决这个问题的方法之一

is not by using sleeping pills, by the way.

不是使用安眠药，顺便说一句。

Unfortunately, they are blunt instruments that do not produce naturalistic sleep.

不幸的是，安眠药是钝器， 不能产生自然主义的睡眠。

Instead, we're actually developing a method based on this.

反之，我们基于这个原理开发了一个方法。

It's called direct current brain stimulation.

叫做脑直流电刺激方法。

You insert a small amount of voltage into the brain,

你在大脑中注入少量的电压，

so small you typically don't feel it,

小到你基本上感受不到，

but it has a measurable impact.

但却具有可衡量的影响。

Now if you apply this stimulation during sleep in young, healthy adults,

现在如果你在年轻，健康的 成人睡眠时采用这种刺激，

as if you're sort of singing in time with those deep-sleep brainwaves,

就好像你在用那些沉睡的脑电波唱歌一样，

not only can you amplify the size of those deep-sleep brainwaves,

你不仅能够放大这些深度睡眠脑电波，

but in doing so, we can almost double the amount of memory benefit

而且这样做，我们可以增强从睡眠中获得

that you get from sleep.

的记忆好处的两倍。

The question now is whether we can translate

现在的问题是我们能否

this same affordable, potentially portable piece of technology

将这经济实惠，潜在的便携技术

into older adults and those with dementia.

应用到老年人和老年痴呆群体中。

Can we restore back some healthy quality of deep sleep,

我们能否恢复深度睡眠的健康质量，

and in doing so, can we salvage aspects of their learning

并且通过这样做，我们 能否挽救他们的学习

and memory function?

和记忆功能？

That is my real hope now.

这是我目前真实的希望。

That's one of our moon-shot goals, as it were.

可以说，这是我们的登月目标之一。

So that's an example of sleep for your brain,

所以这是大脑睡眠的一个例子，

but sleep is just as essential for your body.

但睡眠对你的身体也同样重要。

We've already spoken about sleep loss and your reproductive system.

我们已经讨论过睡眠不足 和生殖系统的关系。

Or I could tell you about sleep loss and your cardiovascular system,

或者我可以告诉你睡眠不足 和你的心血管系统，

and that all it takes is one hour.

而这只需要一个小时。

Because there is a global experiment performed on 1.6 billion people

因为有一个全球性的实验每年在70个国家

across 70 countries twice a year,

的16亿人身上进行两次，

and it's called daylight saving time.

这个实验叫做夏令时。

Now, in the spring, when we lose one hour of sleep,

现在，在春天，当我们少一个小时睡眠时，

we see a subsequent 24-percent increase in heart attacks that following day.

我们看到接下来的第二天 心脏病发作会增加24%。

In the autumn, when we gain an hour of sleep,

在秋季，当我们获得一个小时的睡眠时，

we see a 21-percent reduction in heart attacks.

我们看到心脏病发作会减少21%。

Isn't that incredible?

是不是让人难以置信？

And you see exactly the same profile for car crashes, road traffic accidents,

你会看到同样的情况发生在车祸，交通事故，

even suicide rates.

甚至自杀率上。

But as a deeper dive, I want to focus on this:

但为了更深入些，我想要专注这个：

sleep loss and your immune system.

睡眠不足和你的免疫系统。

And here, I'll introduce these delightful blue elements in the image.

这里，我将介绍图片中 这些明亮的蓝色元素。

They are called natural killer cells,

它们被称为自然杀伤细胞，

and you can think of natural killer cells almost like the secret service agents

你可以把自然杀伤细胞 想象成你免疫系统中的

of your immune system.

特勤局特工。

They are very good at identifying dangerous, unwanted elements

它们非常擅长识别危险和无需的物体

and eliminating them.

并消灭它们。

In fact, what they're doing here is destroying a cancerous tumor mass.

事实上，它们正在做的是 摧毁一个癌变的肿瘤团块。

So what you wish for is a virile set of these immune assassins

所以你一定时刻希望拥有这群有能力

at all times,

的刺客，

and tragically, that's what you don't have if you're not sleeping enough.

但悲剧的是，当你睡眠不足时， 你不能拥有它们。

So here in this experiment,

所以在这个实验中，

you're not going to have your sleep deprived for an entire night,

你不会整晚都被剥夺睡眠，

you're simply going to have your sleep restricted to four hours

你一个晚上的睡眠将会被限制在

for one single night,

4个小时，

and then we're going to look to see what's the percent reduction

然后我们来看看你的免疫细胞

in immune cell activity that you suffer.

会受到多大比例的影响。

And it's not small -- it's not 10 percent,

这并不是个小数目——不是10%，

it's not 20 percent.

不是20%。

There was a 70-percent drop in natural killer cell activity.

自然杀伤细胞的活力下降高达70%。

That's a concerning state of immune deficiency,

这是个令人担忧的免疫缺陷状态，

and you can perhaps understand why we're now finding

你可能能够理解 我们现在发现的

significant links between short sleep duration

短睡眠时间和你患多种癌症

and your risk for the development of numerous forms of cancer.

的风险之间存在重要联系。

Currently, that list includes cancer of the bowel,

目前，这一名单包括肠癌、

cancer of the prostate and cancer of the breast.

前列腺癌和乳腺癌。

In fact, the link between a lack of sleep and cancer is now so strong

事实上，睡眠不足和癌症 之间的联系是如此紧密，

that the World Health Organization

以致世界卫生组织

has classified any form of nighttime shift work

将任何形式的夜班工作

as a probable carcinogen,

列为可能的致癌物质，

because of a disruption of your sleep-wake rhythms.

因为你的睡眠-觉醒节律被打乱了。

So you may have heard of that old maxim

你可能听过这句老话，

that you can sleep when you're dead.

你死后自当长眠。

Well, I'm being quite serious now --

我现在是认真的——

it is mortally unwise advice.

这是极其不明智的建议。

We know this from epidemiological studies across millions of individuals.

我们从数百万人的流行病学 研究中了解到这一点。

There's a simple truth:

事实很简单：

the shorter your sleep, the shorter your life.

睡眠越少，生命越短。

Short sleep predicts all-cause mortality.

睡眠不足预示着全因死亡率。

And if increasing your risk for the development of cancer

如果让你增加患上癌症

or even Alzheimer's disease

或者甚至老年痴呆症的风险