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一项对老鼠的研究发现，睡眠断断续续，会影响记忆功能。
美国国家科学发现研究院的研究项目可解释与阿兹海默症（老年痴呆症）以及睡眠呼吸暂停综合症等情况相关的记忆问题。 The Stanford University research found disrupting sleep made it harder for the animals to recognise familiar objects. 斯坦福大学的研究发现如果动物的睡眠被扰乱，他们将更难以识别熟悉的事物。 A UK sleep expert said the brain used deep sleep to evaluate the day's events and decide what to keep. 一名英国睡眠专家称大脑通过深度睡眠来评估当天发生的事件，并决定什么被记录下来。 This study looked at sleep that was fragmented, but not shorter or less intense than normal for the mice. 而此次研究观察的是断断续续的，但是不比正常睡眠时间短或强度弱的睡眠。
研究使用一种称为光遗传学的技术，经遗传工程处理一些特定的细胞，使其在灯光下可受控制。 They targeted a type of brain cell that plays a key role in switching between the states of being asleep and being awake. 研究人员选定的是一种对切换睡眠状态和清醒状态起关键作用的脑细胞。
老鼠记忆测试 The researchers then sent light pulses directly into the brains of mice while they slept. 当老鼠睡着后研究人员将光脉冲直接注入老鼠大脑。 This meant they could disrupt their sleep without affecting total sleep time or the quality or composition of sleep. 因而他们能够在不影响老鼠的睡眠总量，质量以及睡眠构造的前提下扰乱其睡眠。 The animals were then placed in a box with two objects, one of which they had encountered before. 然后将老鼠连同两件物品一起放在一个盒子内，其中一件物品是他们曾经见到过的。 Mice would naturally spend more time examining the newer object, and those who had been allowed uninterrupted sleep did just that. 正常情况下，老鼠会花更多的时间研究新物品，而那些睡眠未被扰乱的老鼠就是这样做的。 But those whose sleep had been disrupted were equally interested in both objects, suggesting their memories had been affected. 但是那些睡眠被扰乱了的老鼠对两件物品表示同等的兴趣，由此推测，他们的记忆功能受到了影响。 Writing in the journal, the researchers, led by Dr Luis de Lecea, said: "Sleep continuity is one of the main factors affected in various pathological conditions that impact memory, including Alzheimer's and other age-related cognitive deficits." 以路易斯·德·莱赛亚博士为首的研究者们在期刊中写到：“连续性睡眠是在各种病理情况的作用下，影响记忆力的主要因素之一。这些病理情况包括阿兹海默症（老年痴呆症）和其他与年龄相关的认知障碍。” Broken sleep also affects people addicted to alcohol, and those with sleep apnoea - a condition in which the throat repeatedly narrows or closes during sleep, restricting oxygen and causing the patient to wake up. 睡眠扰乱同样对嗜酒者以及患有睡眠呼吸暂停综合症的人有影响。睡眠呼吸暂停是指睡觉过程中，喉咙频繁收紧会关闭，限制氧气呼入，促使病人惊醒。 The researchers add there is no evidence of a causal link between sleep disruption and any of these conditions. 不过研究人员称还没有证据能够证明睡眠扰乱和这些病理情况之间存在因果联系。 But they added: "We conclude that regardless of the total amount of sleep or sleep intensity, a minimal unit of uninterrupted sleep is crucial for memory consolidation." 但是他们补充道：“撇开睡眠的总时间和强度，我们断定极少量的不受打扰的睡眠对于记忆的巩固至关重要。” Independent sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley, a former chairman of the British Sleep Society, said: "During the day, we accumulate all these memories. 英国睡眠协会前任主席，独立睡眠专家尼尔·斯坦利博士说：“白天，我们积累所有的记忆，有时候我们也整理发生的事件。而有一些事件我们需要将其‘锁定’为永恒的坚实的记忆，这个‘锁定’过程就发生在深度睡眠的时候。因此任何影响睡眠的行为都将或多或少地影响‘锁定’的过程。” Dr Stanley said there was particularly striking evidence that people with sleep apnoea had particular problems "locking down" memories. 斯坦利博士说已经有显著证据证明，患有睡眠呼吸暂停症的人“锁定”记忆特别困难。 And he added that people with Alzheimer's often had trouble sleeping, but said: "There is something there. But whether it's the degeneration of the brain that causes poor sleep, or poor sleep that aids the degeneration of the brain has not been determined." 他补充道患有阿兹海默症（老年痴呆症）的人经常有睡眠问题，但是他说，“确实存在这样的现象。不过究竟是大脑退化引起睡眠不好，还是睡眠不好促使大脑退化，目前尚无定论。” Miranda Watson, director of communications at the British Lung Foundation, said: "For patients with the dangerous sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnoea, this study will come as no surprise. 英国肺脏基金会的总监米兰达·沃森说：“为了那些患有危险性的睡眠障碍，以及妨碍性的睡眠呼吸暂停的病者，这项研究是意料之中的。” "Patients regularly stop breathing during the night when their airways become blocked depriving them of a full night's rest. “在晚间气道阻塞时，病人有规律地停止呼吸，因而不能享受一整晚的休息。” "This interrupted sleep can cause extreme day time tiredness and memory loss." “这种扰乱睡眠会导致白天极度困乏和记忆力丧失。” |
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