VOA慢速英语: 你睡觉时，你的大脑还在工作(双语)

[page]参考译文[/page]

While You Sleep, Your Brain Works

你睡觉时，你的大脑还在工作

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

Why do we need sleep?

为什么我们需要睡觉?

Is bedtime just a time for dreaming? Do our brains turnoff for the night? What if I told you that scientists recently discovered that our brains may be just as busy at night as they are during the day?

睡觉的时间是只是做梦吗?我们的大脑在晚上会关闭吗?如果我告诉你，最近科学家发现我们的电脑在晚上可能会和白天一样忙绿，你信吗?

While we sleep, our brains are doing much more than getting ready for the next day. Researchers at the University of Rochester found that the brain may be busy cleaning house -- cleaning out harmful waste materials.

当我们睡觉时，我们的大脑所做的工作远比仅仅为第二天做准备要多得多。美国罗彻斯特大学的研究人员发现，大脑可能在忙于打扫屋子——清除掉有害的废料。

As with many studies, the researchers turned to mice for help. They studied mice that had colored dye injected into their brains. They observed the mice brains as they slept and when they were awake. The researchers say they saw that the brains of sleeping mice were hard at work.

就像很多其他研究一样，研究人员也拿老鼠来做实验。他们将有色染料注入到老鼠的大脑中，来进行研究。他们分别对老鼠睡觉时和醒着时的大脑进行了观察。研究人员称，他们发现老鼠睡着时，大脑还在努力工作。

Working Double Duty

要执行双重任务

Dr. Maiken Nedergaard led the study. The brain expert says our brains perform two very different jobs. It seems they have daytime jobs. Later they “moonlight” at a nighttime job.

梅肯·内德歌德博士主持该研究工作，这位脑部专家称，我们的大脑执行了两个迥然不同的工作。似乎它们有白天的工作内容，过后还在夜间从事夜间活动进行兼职。

“Moonlighting” is working a nighttime job in addition to a day job. And this study says that is what our brains seem to be doing – working an extra job at night without additional pay for overtime.

“兼职”是指除了白天的工作外，还从事夜间工作。这项就表明，这似乎就是我们的大脑正在做的——在晚上从事额外工作，还没有被额外支付加班费。

“When we are awake, the brain cells are working very hard at processing all the information about our surroundings. Whereas when we are asleep, they work very, very hard at removing all the waste that builds up when we are awake."

“当我们清醒时，我们的大脑细胞在很努力的整理加工我们周围环境中的所有信息。然而，当我们睡着时，它们在非常努力的清除我们清醒时所堆积的垃圾。”

The researchers say that the waste material includes poisons, or toxins, responsible for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

研究人员称，这些废弃物包括毒物或毒素，这些有毒物质能够引起像阿尔茨海默(老年痴呆)等大脑失调疾病。

They also found that during sleep, the brain’s cells shrink, or become smaller. This shrinking permits waste to be removed more effectively.

他们还发现，在睡眠时间，大脑的细胞会萎缩或变得更小。这种萎缩可以更有效的清除废弃物。

Dr. Nedergaard says these toxins end up in the liver. There, they are broken down and then removed from the body.

内德歌德博士称，这些毒素最后到了肝脏，在那里，这些毒素被分解，然后排出身体。

"So our study suggests we need to sleep because we have a macroscopic cleaning system that removes many of the toxic waste products from the brain."

“所以我们的研究表明，我们需要睡觉，因为我们有一个宏观清洗系统，可以清除掉很多大脑产生的有毒废弃物。”

The brain’s cleaning system could only be studied with new imaging technologies. The test animal must be alive in order to see for this brain process to be seen as it happens.

大脑清洗系统只能用新的大脑成像技术来进行研究。为了使研究人员能够看到大脑的整个过程，被测试的动物必须活着。

Dr. Nedergaard says the next step is to look for the process in human brains. She said the results demonstrate just how important sleep is to health and fighting disease. The research may also one day lead to treatments to prevent or help fight neurological disorders.

内德歌德博士称，下一步是寻找人类大脑的活动过程。她称，该结果表明睡眠对于健康和对抗疾病是多么重要。这项研究有一天也可能被用于帮助治疗和预防神经障碍。

7 Tips for Better Sleeping

能获得较好睡眠的7个小技巧

Do you have trouble sleeping? Not being able to sleep is called insomnia. According to the United States National Sleep Foundation, here are some tips for a good night’s sleep:

你睡眠有问题吗?不能睡着觉叫做失眠。美国国家睡眠基金会为了让大家能够睡个好觉，在这里提供了一些小技巧：

· Go to bed about the same time each night, even on weekends. This helps to “set” your body’s “sleep clock.”

·尽量保持每晚在同一时间上床睡觉，即使是周末也要保持一致。这有助于设定你身体的睡眠时钟。

· Exercise every day.

每天锻炼身体。

· Have a calm, relaxing bedtime routine – Take a warm bath or drink a hot cup of tea.

有一个平静，令人放松的就寝过程——洗个热水澡或者喝一杯热茶。

· Try not to take long naps during the day. Periods of sleep during the daytime can interfere with sleep at night.

白天尽量不要花很长的时间小睡，白天睡眠时间会妨碍到晚上的睡眠。

· Make sure you have a pleasant environment where you sleep. For most people, a cool, quiet and dark room is best for sleeping.

睡觉时，确保自己处于一个令人舒服愉快的环境中，对于大多数人来说，一个凉爽，安静，黑暗的屋子最适合睡眠。

· Avoid using television, computers and other electronic screens before bedtime.

避免在睡前使用电视，电脑，和其他有电子屏幕的电子设备。

· Also avoid alcohol, cigarettes and heavy meals before bedtime.

在睡前还应避免饮酒，抽烟和吃太多食物。

And from VOA Learning English, that’s the Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.

这就是本期的美国之音慢速英语健康报道，我是安娜·马泰奥。

[page]听力原文[/page]

While You Sleep, Your Brain Works

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

Why do we need sleep?

Is bedtime just a time for dreaming? Do our brains turnoff for the night? What if I told you that scientistsrecently discovered that our brains may be just as busyat night as they are during the day?

While we sleep, our brains are doing much more thangetting ready for the next day. Researchers at theUniversity of Rochester found that the brain may bebusy cleaning house -- cleaning out harmful waste materials.

As with many studies, the researchers turned to mice for help. They studiedmice that had colored dye injected into their brains. They observed the micebrains as they slept and when they were awake. The researchers say theysaw that the brains of sleeping mice were hard at work.

Working Double Duty

Dr. Maiken Nedergaard led the study. The brain expert says our brainsperform two very different jobs. It seems they have daytime jobs. Later they“moonlight” at a nighttime job.

“Moonlighting” is working a nighttime job in addition to a day job. And thisstudy says that is what our brains seem to be doing – working an extra job atnight without additional pay for overtime.

“When we are awake, the brain cells are working very hard at processing allthe information about our surroundings. Whereas when we are asleep, theywork very, very hard at removing all the waste that builds up when we areawake."

The researchers say that the waste material includes poisons, or toxins,responsible for brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

They also found that during sleep, the brain’s cellsshrink, or become smaller. This shrinking permitswaste to be removed more effectively.

Dr. Nedergaard says these toxins end up in the liver. There, they are broken down and then removed from the body.

"So our study suggests we need to sleep because wehave a macroscopic cleaning system that removesmany of the toxic waste products from the brain."

The brain’s cleaning system could only be studied with new imagingtechnologies. The test animal must be alive in order to see for this brainprocess to be seen as it happens.

Dr. Nedergaard says the next step is to look for the process in human brains. She said the results demonstrate just how important sleep is to health andfighting disease. The research may also one day lead to treatments toprevent or help fight neurological disorders.

7 Tips for Better Sleeping

Do you have trouble sleeping? Not being able to sleep is called insomnia. According to the United States National Sleep Foundation, here are some tipsfor a good night’s sleep:

· Go to bed about the same time each night, even on weekends. This helps to “set” your body’s “sleep clock.”

· Exercise every day.

· Have a calm, relaxing bedtime routine – Take a warm bath or drink a hot cup of tea.

· Try not to take long naps during the day. Periods of sleep during the daytime can interfere with sleep at night.

· Make sure you have a pleasant environment where you sleep. For most people, a cool, quiet and dark room is best for sleeping.

· Avoid using television, computers and other electronic screens before bedtime.

· Also avoid alcohol, cigarettes and heavy meals before bedtime.

And from VOA Learning English, that’s the Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.