Quality Sleep "Rescues Memories"

　　Even facts "forgotten" by people during a busy day may be retrieved if this is followed by agood night's sleep.

　　Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to remember simple words. Manyfound their memories letting them down1 towards the end of the day, but the followingmorning, those who had slept well could recall much more .

　　Researchers, writing in the journal Nature2, said the brain could"rescue"lost memories duringthe night.

　　When the brain is first asked to remember something, that memory is laid down in an "unstable "state , meaning that it is possible that it could be lost. At some point, the brainconsolidates those it deems important into a" stable ", more permanent state. However,theChicago researchers suggested that it was possible for a" stable "memory to be made "unstable"again. This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away again in theface of new experiences.

　　The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created through a speechsynthesizer which were purposely difficult to understand. Initially, the written version of theword was available , but afterwards the volunteers were asked to identify the word from theaudio version only. Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to tail off3 asthe day ended.

　　However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night's sleep , they were able to recallsome words that they had" forgotten"the previous evening. Dr Daniel, one of the studyauthors, said:"Sleep consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent interferenceor decay. Sleep also appears to'recover'or restore memories. "He said :" If performance isreduced by decay, sleep might actively recover what has been lost. "

　　Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill University in Montreal,said:"Memory research is undergoing a transformation — no longer is memory thought to be ahard-wiring of the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and restorage. "

　　Sleep helps some memories"mature"and also prunes out unimportant memories.

　　練習題：

　　Ⅰ. True or False:

　　1. Researchers asked volunteers from the University of Chicago to remember simple words.

　　2. The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment played word games.

　　3. The volunteers can see and hear the words first, then they can hear them only.

　　4. Sleep makes memories powerful, protecting them against later harm.

　　Ⅱ. Question:

　　Who compares memories with the process of storage and restorage?

　　Ⅰ. 1. F 2. F 3 . T 4 . T

　　Ⅱ. Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill University in Montreal.

　　睡眠質量高, 單詞記得牢

　　如果晚上睡個好覺, 即使白天由于忙碌而“遺忘”的一些事情也可以重新回憶起來。

　　芝加哥大學的研究者們要求志愿者們記住一些簡單的單詞。到了晚上, 他們中的許多人對自己的記憶力都感到失望。但是第二天早晨, 那些睡得好的人能回想起來更多的單詞。

　　研究者們在《自然》雜志發表論文說: 大腦可以在晚間“修復”失去的記憶。

　　當大腦最初被要求記住一些東西時, 那段記憶處于一種“不穩定的”狀態, 這意味著它很可能會丟失。在有些時刻, 大腦會將那些它認為重要的記憶強化為“ 穩定的”狀態, 也就是更持久的狀態。然而, 芝加哥大學的研究者們提示說“ 穩定的”記憶也可能會轉變為“不穩定的”。這就意味著當遇到新的情況時, 記憶可能會被修改, 隨后重新排列。

　　參加試驗的12 名志愿者收聽了通過語音合成器產生的特別難懂的單詞。剛開始還給志愿者提供單詞腳本, 但是后來就要求他們僅僅通過聲音來辨別單詞。實驗顯示: 一天快結束的時候, 準確回憶單詞的能力隨一天的漸近結束而減弱。

　　然而, 當志愿者們睡了個好覺過后再次接受測試的時候, 他們能夠回憶起一些他們前一天晚上已經“ 遺忘”的單詞。

　　這篇論文的作者之一丹尼爾博士說: “睡眠可以鞏固記憶, 防止它們隨后受到干擾或衰減。睡眠看來也可以‘重新發現’或恢復記憶”他說:“如果記憶功能因為記憶力衰退而降低, 睡眠可以有效地恢復丟失的記憶。”

　　蒙特利爾市麥基爾大學心理學系的卡里姆· 納德博士說:“ 記憶力研究正在轉型———記憶不再被認為是大腦的硬件, 而似乎是一個儲存和再儲存的過程。” 睡眠使某些記憶變得“成熟”, 同時也刪掉了那些不重要的記憶。

　　1. let somebody down ( 使……失望) ; a down expression ( 沮喪的表情) 。

　　2.《自然》雜志。美國出版的科學學術雜志。世界各國的科學家都把他們的科研成果拿到那里發表, 中國大學的排行榜的依據之一是該校在《自然》雜志上發表文章數量的多寡。有趣的是, 排名越靠前的大學出國熱也就越厲害, 換而言之, 中國的大學為美國等發達國家的人才培養做出了杰出貢獻。

　　3. 零零落落地落在后頭, 弄得零零落落, 漸漸變細, 漸漸減少, 漸漸消失, 如: The path tails off into thewoods. ( 小徑逐漸消失在樹林中。) tail 可作名詞, 如: cannot make head or tail of ( 不知道是什么事情) ; close on sb.’s tail ( 迫近某人后頭, 就在某人后頭) ; get one’s tail down ( 畏縮, 害怕, 喪失勇氣) ; get/ keep one’s tail up ( 情緒很高, 振奮, 有勇氣, 有精神) ; go into tails ( 穿燕尾服等) ; keep the tail inwaters ( 興隆, 走運) ; play at heads and tails( 扔硬幣猜正面還是反面) ; turn tail ( 退走, 掉頭, 逃走) ;twist the tail of ( 做出使……討厭的事情, 觸犯……) ; with the tail between the legs ( 夾著尾巴, 驚恐, 垂頭喪氣, 畏縮) 。