我们睡觉时,舌头在干嘛

While we're busy catching some zs, our body is still working around the clock all hours of the night to keep our essential organs functioning as needed. While many systems slow down during the course of the night, our brain is still busy consolidating information, while our body is busy regulating hormone production, digesting food, and boosting immunity, amongst other tasks (via Sleep Foundation). As it turns out, another organ is also hard at work while we're snoozing away and it's an organ that you probably never would've guessed — the tongue.

当我们忙于打盹的时候，我们的身体仍在夜以继日地工作，以保证我们的重要器官正常运转。虽然很多系统在夜间会减慢速度，但我们的大脑仍在忙于巩固信息，而我们的身体则在忙于调节荷尔蒙的产生、消化食物、增强免疫力以及其他任务。事实证明，在我们睡觉的时候，另一个器官也在努力工作，这是一个你可能永远不会猜到的器官——舌头。

The tongue serves many different functions such as swallowing, the formation of speech, and taste detection (via Journal of the South African Dental Association). Kept moist by a mucous membrane, the surface of the tongue is covered in papillae, which are the bumps that contain our taste buds (via WebMD). The nerves that run from the tongue to the brain are able to communicate which of the main taste categories are being detected — sour, sweet, salty, or bitter.

舌头具有许多不同的功能，如吞咽、言语形成和味觉检测(《南非牙科协会杂志》)。舌头的表面由粘膜保持湿润，覆盖着乳头，这是包含我们味蕾的突起。从舌头到大脑的神经能够传达被检测到的主要味觉类别——酸、甜、咸或苦。

It's safe to assume that you're probably not eating in your sleep. So if your tongue isn't busy detecting flavors, what is it doing instead during the nighttime?

可以肯定的是，你可能不会在睡觉时吃东西。那么，如果你的舌头没有忙于品尝味道，那么在夜间它在做什么呢?

While asleep, our salivary glands slow down their levels of saliva production (via LêDowns Dentistry). Our tongues then work the saliva still being produced towards the back of the throat for swallowing (via Kids Health). Not only does this help avoid excessive drooling while sleeping, but it also betters our quality of rest by preventing sleep disturbances from constant swallowing.

睡觉时，我们的唾液腺会降低唾液分泌水平(LêDowns牙科)。然后，我们的舌头将唾液分泌到喉咙后部用于吞咽(儿童健康)。这不仅有助于避免睡觉时过度流口水，而且还可以通过防止不停的吞咽而影响睡眠，从而提高我们的休息质量。

On the other hand, your tongue can also hinder your quality of sleep. According to The Joint Chiropractic, your tongue's positioning in your mouth while sleeping can influence just how restful your night's sleep will be. To prevent airway blockage, the tongue should sit at the roof of your mouth behind your top front teeth. Assuming this relaxed position will trigger the release of hormones including dopamine and serotonin, which can enhance your quality of sleep. The key is to keep the muscle loose rather than tense. Should your tongue drift away from the roof of the mouth while sleeping, this can lead to teeth grinding and open mouth breathing, as well as shoulder and mouth tension.

另一方面，舌头也会影响你的睡眠质量。根据联合脊骨疗法，睡觉时舌头在嘴里的位置会影响你晚上的睡眠。为了防止呼吸道堵塞，舌头应该位于上门牙后面的上颚。假设这种放松的姿势会触发包括多巴胺和血清素在内的激素的释放，这可以提高你的睡眠质量。关键是保持肌肉放松而不是紧张。如果你的舌头在睡觉时偏离了上腭，这可能会导致磨牙和口呼吸，以及肩膀和嘴的紧张。

Who would have thought that our tongue could play such an important role in our sleep cycle? By keeping your tongue properly positioned and letting it do its job, you may find your night's sleep to be all the more restful.

谁会想到我们的舌头会在我们的睡眠周期中扮演如此重要的角色?通过保持舌头的正确位置并让它发挥作用，你可能会发现晚上的睡眠更加安静。