Sleeping on the road can be difficult, especially on the first night in a new place. This is something plenty of travelers have experienced, and scientists may have finally learned why.
旅途中睡觉可能会有困难,特别是在新地方的第一个晚上。这是很多游客经历过的,科学家们最终也许会知道为什么。
Researchers at Brown University decided to look into this so-called "first-night effect" in a new study in Current Biology.
布朗大学的研究人员决定在当代生物学的最新研究中深入调查这个所谓的“第一夜效应”。
It turns out the reason for that first sleepless night is that when you should be in your deepest sleep, your brain's left hemisphere keeps watch instead, ready to wake you up if anything scary happens.
结果证明第一个无眠之夜的原因是,当你在沉睡的时候,你的大脑左半球仍在提防,如果有任何可怕的事情发生,随时准备唤醒你。
The researchers played random beeping sounds in volunteers' ears while they slept in an unfamiliar place. The volunteers were more likely to wake up when they heard the noise in their right ear which is connected to the left brain hemisphere than in their left ear.
当志愿者在陌生的地方睡觉时,研究人员在他们的耳朵播放随机哔哔的声音。相比于左耳,当志愿者的右耳听到声音时更可能被唤醒,右耳连接着大脑左半球。
It's the first time this half on/half off sleep pattern has been seen in humans, and it only seems to last for the first night. The researchers claim the brain is playing night watchman.
这是首次半睡眠模式在人类观察,似乎只维持第一个晚上。研究人员声称大脑在扮演守夜人。
Travel experts have loads of recommendations on how to sleep better in a new place, like bringing your own pillow. As for the researchers at Brown, they said they'll use a magnet to turn the left brain off and see if that works.
旅行专家们对如何在一个新的地方睡得更好提供很多建议,像带上自己的枕头。作为布朗的研究人员,他们说他们会用磁体把左大脑关闭,看看这是否有效。
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