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We've probably all done this at some point in our lives:
我們可能在生活中都會經歷這樣的事情：
it's the night before a big exam, and … you haven't started studying yet.
第二天就要大考了，還沒開始學習呢。
You'll just have to cram as much information as possible into your brain in one night and hope you remember it tomorrow.
你要在一夜之間把盡可能多的信息塞進大腦，并希望明天能記住。
Wouldn't it be nice if you could just go to sleep, have a recording of everything you need to know playing in the background, and wake up ready for the test?
如果能在睡覺時播放你需要知道的所有知識的錄音，然后醒來準備考試，這不是很好嗎?
Unfortunately for those of us who are chronic procrastinators, that doesn't work.
不幸的是，對于我們這些拖拉的人來說，這個方法是行不通的。
You can't learn new information while you sleep.
人們不能在睡覺的時候學習新的知識。
But it turns out that you can boost your recall of what you studied while you were awake.
但事實證明，醒著的時候，可以提高對所學內容的回憶。
The idea that you can learn totally new information while you sleep has been debunked for a long time.
長期以來，人們一直認為睡覺可以學到新知識。
Way back in 1955, researchers showed pretty conclusively that it doesn't work.
早在1955年，研究人員就相當肯定地證明這種方法是行不通的。
Earlier studies had suggested that people could learn new things just by hearing them in their sleep,
早期研究表明，人們可以通過在睡夢中聽到新事物來學習新事物，
but there were problems with the methods used in those studies,
但是這些研究中使用的方法存在問題，
so the team wanted to look into it more closely.
所以研究小組想進行更深入地研究。
Using an EEG, which measures brain activity, to monitor how deeply asleep the subjects were,
通過測量大腦活動的腦電圖，來監測受試者的熟睡程度，
they found that people were only able to remember the information played to them if they heard it when they were in the lighter stages of sleep.
他們發現，只有在睡眠較淺的時候聽到給他們播放的信息，他們才能記住這些信息。
The … really, really light stages.
非常非常淺的睡眠。
So light, in fact, that the participants were actually mostly awake.
事實上，睡眠很淺，以至于受試者幾乎是醒著的。
62 years later, that study's conclusions still stand:
62年后，這項研究的結論仍然成立：
there's no good evidence that you can learn totally new information in your sleep.
沒有足夠的證據表明，人可以在睡眠中學習全新的信息。
But scientists have found that there might be a way to boost the part of the learning process that happens during sleep.
但科學家們發現，也許有一種方法可以在睡眠過程中促進學習。
Sleep plays a vital role in how you create and store memories.
睡眠在你如何建立和儲存記憶方面起著至關重要的作用。
While you're awake, you learn all sorts of new stuff, taking in facts and experiences just from going about your everyday life.
醒著的時候，你會學到各種各樣的新知識，從日常生活中獲取的事實和經驗。
That's when your brain encodes memories, making new connections between neurons so you can remember it all later.
這時你的大腦對記憶進行編碼，在神經元之間建立新的連接，這樣你之后就能記住所有的知識。
Then, when you go to sleep, your brain goes through the consolidation phase of memory formation.
然后，當你入睡時，大腦進入鞏固記憶的階段。
Scientists aren't totally sure how that works,
科學家并不完全確定大腦的工作原理，
but they think your brain turns all that stuff you just learned into solid, long term memories by reactivating them and strengthening those new connections.
但是他們認為，大腦重新激活并加強那些新的聯系，把剛剛學到的知識變成了牢固、長期的記憶。
And recent research has found that there are ways to kind of hack that process.
最近研究發現，有一些方法可以破解這一過程。
In a 2007 study, for example, a group of neuroscientists had people learn the locations of a bunch of different objects while it smelled like roses,
例如，2007年的一項研究中，一組神經科學家讓人們在聞玫瑰的同時，了解一堆不同物體的位置，
then made it smell like roses again while they were asleep.
然后在他們睡著的時候再次聞到玫瑰。
When they woke up, the subjects were better at remembering where the objects were, compared to when they did the same task without any smells.
當受試者醒來時，和在沒有氣味的情況下對物體位置的記憶相比，他們在有氣味的情況下能更好地記住物體位置，
The researchers proposed that when the subjects smelled roses while they slept, that boosted the memory consolidation process because their brains associated the smell with the memories of the object locations.
研究人員指出，受試者在睡覺時聞到玫瑰香味時，大腦會將這種氣味與對物體位置的記憶聯系起來，從而鞏固記憶。
Basically, the smell acted as a cue to their brains to reactivate those memories, strengthening the connections between the neurons that stored them.
基本上，這種氣味是大腦重新激活這些記憶的線索，加強了儲存這些記憶的神經元之間的聯系。
And stronger connections meant they had an easier time recalling the memories when they woke up.
更強的聯系意味著他們醒來后更容易回憶起往事。
That 2007 study was small, but later studies that tested the idea found similar results.
2007年的研究規模較小，但后來檢驗這一觀點的研究發現了類似的結果。
And other research has found that this works with more than just odor cues.
其它研究發現，這種方法不僅適用于氣味提示。
You can do it with sound, too.
也適用于聲音。
For example, in a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience in 2013, 60 people were asked to place 72 images in different locations on a computer screen.
例如，2013年發表在《神經科學雜志》上的一項研究中，60人被要求在電腦屏幕上的不同位置放置72幅圖像。
Each time they placed an item, a corresponding sound was played—so for example, if they were placing down a picture of a cat, they'd hear a meow.
每放置一副圖像，就會播放相應的聲音——例如，如果他們放一張貓的照片，會聽到貓叫。
They were told that remembering each of these items later on would earn them a certain number of points.
他們被告知，以后記住每個圖像將會贏得一定分數。
Half of the items had super high point values, and half were super low.
一半圖像具有超高值，一半圖像具有超低值。
But to get the most points possible, they had to remember where they placed absolutely everything.
但是為了得到盡可能多的分數，他們必須記住所有圖像都放在哪里。
And with 72 items, that wouldn't be easy.
記住72幅圖像就不容易了。
After they'd made their placements, the subjects took a 90 minute nap—just about enough for one full cycle of sleep.
受試者小睡90分鐘——剛好夠一個完整的睡眠周期。
While the people in the experimental group were sleeping, they were played 18 of the sounds associated with low value items.
當受試者睡覺時，他們聽到了18種與低價值圖像相關的聲音。
The people in the control group just slept with white noise playing instead.
對照組的人只是在播放白噪音的情況下睡覺。
Once they were wide awake and trying to remember the locations of as many items as they could for those sweet, sweet science points,
一旦受試者完全睡醒并試圖記住盡可能多的圖像的位置，
the subjects mostly remembered the ones with high point values.
受試者大多記得那些得分高的。
But the people in the experimental group also tended to remember the low-value items—the ones they'd been reminded of while they slept.
但是對照組的人也往往記得低值圖像——睡時提醒他們記住的圖像
The researchers concluded that, just like in the studies on odor cues, the sounds cued the subjects' brains to reactivate the memories associated with them.
研究人員得出的結論是，和氣味提示的研究一樣，聲音提示受試者的大腦重新激活與之相關的記憶。
That strengthened those memories, so they were better at recalling them later.
這加強了他們的記憶，所以之后他們更能回想起來。
And, again like with odor cues, other studies have also found that sound cues can boost your recall.
另外，和氣味提示一樣，其他研究也發現聲音提示可以提高記憶力。
For example, in a 2014 study that involved 68 subjects, a group of researchers found that playing sound cues while people were asleep helped them learn a new language.
例如，在2014年一項涉及68名受試者的研究中，一組研究人員發現，人們在睡覺時播放聲音有助于學習一門新語言。
They had people learn 120 new words and their translations, then played some of those new words back to them while they slept.
他們讓受試者學習120個新單詞和翻譯，然后在他們睡覺時放一些新單詞給他們聽。
The team found that people were able to remember about 10% more of the cued words than the words they hadn't heard while they were asleep.
研究小組發現，人們能夠記住的單詞比他們睡覺時不聽聲音記住的單詞多10%。
But, in a follow-up study published the next year, the same group of researchers found that if they played the new words and their translations,
但是，在第二年發表的一項后續研究中，同一組研究人員發現，如果他們播放新詞及其翻譯，
the memory boost went away.
記憶增強消失了。
So, it wasn't hearing the information while they slept that helped them remember it.
所以，并不是睡覺時聽到的信息。
It was the sound they associated with the memory.
而是與記憶聯系在一起的聲音幫助他們記憶。
When they heard the word and its translation, it became more than a simple sound cue, and the second word interfered with the memory consolidation process.
當他們聽到這個詞和它的翻譯，它就不僅僅是一個簡單的聲音提示，而第二個詞干擾了記憶。
So the next time you're cramming for a test, you might want to try connecting the new information with certain sounds or smells,
所以下次準備考試死記硬背的時候，你可以試著把新信息和某些聲音或氣味聯系起來，
then letting yourself hear or smell those things again when you go to sleep.
然后在你睡覺的時候讓自己再次聽到或聞到這些東西。
You still might not do as well as you would have if you'd just studied properly,
如果你好好學習的話，可能結果還是不理想，
but hacking your memory could help you get a few more questions right.
但是了解記憶可以幫助你答對更多的問題。
Good luck!
祝你好運！
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感謝收看本期心理科學秀！
If you want to learn more cool stuff like this about our weird human brains,
如果你想了解更多關于人類大腦的新奇酷炫的事兒，
you can go to youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe.
可以登陸youtube.com/scishowpsych訂閱我們的節目。
