Moon Cycles Affect Human Sleep
月相影響人類睡眠
The lunar cycle affects the night sky, the tides and even the fertility of certain marine species. And it turns out, we can add your shuteye to the list. According to a new study, humans sleep poorly on nights near a full moon. The work is published in the journal Current Biology. [Christian Cajochen et al, Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep]
月相影響夜空,潮汐,甚至影響特定海洋物種的繁衍。最近我們發(fā)現(xiàn),睡眠跟月相也有關(guān)系。一份最新的研究顯示月圓時(shí)人類容易失眠。這個(gè)研究發(fā)表在《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》雜志上。
To test the moon's effect, 33 adult volunteers of both sexes and various ages spent several nights in a sleep lab. As they dozed, researchers monitored their brain activity, eye movements and hormone levels. On nights closer to a full moon, the subjects took an average of five minutes longer to fall asleep, and slept for 20 minutes less. In addition, brain activity decreased by 30 percent during the sleep stage that the brain normally uses to recover from its daylight work. And levels of melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate sleep cycles, dropped.
為了驗(yàn)證月亮的影響,33名年齡各異的成年男女自愿參與了實(shí)驗(yàn),他們在一個(gè)睡眠實(shí)驗(yàn)室度過了幾晚。當(dāng)他們睡覺的時(shí)候,研究人員監(jiān)測了他們的大腦活動(dòng),眼球活動(dòng)和激素水平。在月球接近滿月的夜晚,實(shí)驗(yàn)者平均花費(fèi)5分鐘入睡,睡眠減少20分鐘。而且大腦活動(dòng)在睡眠過程中減少30%,通常大腦通過活動(dòng)得到休息。幫助調(diào)節(jié)睡眠周期的褪黑素也減少了。
On these nights, the sleepers complained of poor sleep quality even though they were unaware of the lunar cycle. On the bright side, not a single participant turned into a werewolf.
月圓的晚上,實(shí)驗(yàn)者抱怨睡眠質(zhì)量之差,盡管他們沒有意識到月相的變化。幸運(yùn)的是,實(shí)驗(yàn)過程中,沒有人變成狼人。
—Sophie Bushwick