SEtalk: Sleep Is Not a Waste of Time

Raise your hand if you've ever pulled an all-nighter.

熬过通宵的人请举手。

Oh, I can see plenty of hands out there!

哦，我看到好多人举手了！

Don't worry. I used to be the champion of all-nighters myself.

别担心，我自己以前就是通宵冠军。

But tonight, I want to convince you to stop.

但今晚，我想说服你们别再这样做了。

Sleep isn't a break from learning. It's part of learning.

睡眠不是学习的中断，而是学习的一部分。

Let's go back to 1924, to a lab at Cornell University.

让我们回到1924年，Cornell大学的一间实验室。

Two researchers asked people to learn lists of nonsense syllables.

两位研究者让受试者背诵一串串无意义的音节。

Then some went to sleep, and others stayed awake.

之后，一部分人去睡觉，另一部分人保持清醒。

The sleepers remembered far more of the lists!

睡过觉的人记住的内容多得多！

But what is the brain actually doing at night?

可是，大脑在夜里到底在做什么呢？

In the 1990s, scientists recorded brain cells in rats.

上世纪90年代，科学家记录了大鼠脑细胞的活动。

Certain cells fired as the rats ran through a maze.

大鼠跑迷宫时，某些细胞会放电。

Later, as the rats slept, the same cells fired together again!

后来，大鼠睡着时，同一批细胞又一起放电了！

It was as if they were replaying the maze!

就好像它们在脑中重播那个迷宫一样！

Here's the simplest way I can put it.

我用最简单的方式来说。

During the day, your brain collects information.

白天，你的大脑在收集信息。

At night, sleep is when your brain presses 'save'!

到了夜里，睡眠就是大脑按下“保存”键的时候！

So what happens if you skip the night?

那如果你干脆不睡呢？

In 2007, a team at Harvard tested exactly that.

2007年，Harvard的一个团队专门测试了这一点。

One group slept normally. The other stayed awake all night.

一组正常睡觉，另一组整晚不睡。

The next day, both groups tried to learn new pictures.

第二天，两组人都试着记住一批新图片。

For the sleepless group, making new memories was much harder.

对没睡觉的那组来说，形成新记忆难多了。

Their ability dropped by about forty percent!

他们的这种能力下降了大约40%！

I learned this the hard way, at university.

我是在大学时吃了苦头才明白这一点的。

Before my biology final, I studied all night with coffee.

生物期末考试前，我靠咖啡熬了一整夜复习。

In the morning, I read the first question —

第二天早上，我读完第一道题——

and my mind was completely blank.

脑子里一片空白。

I'd studied for twelve hours, and remembered almost nothing.

我学了12个小时，却几乎什么都想不起来。

So here's my advice for your next big exam.

所以，关于你们下一场重要考试，我的建议是这样的。

Don't trade sleep for study the night before.

考试前一晚，别拿睡眠去换复习时间。

Review the hardest material just before bed,

睡前复习最难的内容，

and let your brain do the rest while you sleep.

剩下的就交给睡梦中的大脑吧。

Protect seven to nine hours a night.

每晚保证7到9个小时的睡眠。

That's not wasted time. That's when learning happens!

那不是浪费时间，那正是学习发生的时候！

Thank you.

谢谢大家。