New research appearing in the April 9 issue of_ The Journal ofNeuroscience_ highlights the important role sleep plays in strengthening andmaintaining the accuracy of a memory and hints at why the brain shuts outsensory information during periods of deep sleep.
2014年4月9日发行的《神经科学杂志》中的最新研究成果表明，睡眠在加强和保持记忆的准确性方面起着重要的作用，同时它也暗示了在深度睡眠时期大脑为何能够屏蔽那些敏感的信息。
The study found that introduceing new odor information to an animalwhile it sleeps compromises its ability to remember thedifference between new and previously encountered smells while awake.
研究发现，如果在动物睡觉时向它提供一些新的气味信息的话，将会减弱其在清醒时候对于最新气味和以前遇到的气味的区别记忆能力。
During sleep, the brain performs a number of important repair andmaintenance duties that are necessary for normal functioning, including movinginformation from short-term to long-term memory.
在睡眠期间,大脑仍在履行一些重要的正常运作必需的修理和维护工作,包括将一些短期记忆转化为长期记忆。
Previous studies show that the "replay" of recently learnedinformation during sleep plays an important role in memory storage.
以前的研究表明,睡眠期间的最近学到的信息的 “回放”工作，在记忆的存储方面扮演着重要的角色。
However, it was unknown whether introducing newinformation during slow-wave sleep (SWS) -- a phase of deep sleep during which the brain's sensory systems are far lessresponsive to external stimuli -- affects memory.
然而，对于在慢波睡眠阶段（深度睡眠阶段，大脑的感觉系统对于外部刺激没有反应时）向大脑提供新的信息是否会影响记忆，目前尚不可知。
In the current study, Dylan Barnes and Donald Wilson,PhD, of the City University of New York, the Nathan KlineInstitute for Psychiatric Research, and New YorkUniversity Langone Medical School exposed rats to new and previouslyencountered odor information while the animals slept.
在目前的研究中，迪伦巴恩斯和唐纳德·威尔逊（纽约城市大学、内森·克莱恩精神病研究所和纽约大学的Langone医学院的博士）将正在睡眠的小白鼠暴露在新的气味信息和旧的气味信息之中。
To precisely control the animals' odor experience duringperiods of wakefulness and sleep, the researchers delivered electricalstimulation to brain circuits involved in odor processing rather than relyingon the delivery of real odors to the animals.
为了精确控制动物在清醒和睡眠期间的气味经验，研究者向正在涉及气味处理的大脑回路提供了电流刺激，而不是依靠传送真实的气味。
Exposure to new odor information during sleep made it moredifficult for the animals to distinguish the learned odor from the other odors.
在睡眠期间被暴露在新的气味信息中，使动物对于新的信息和旧的信息的区分工作变得更为艰辛。
"While previous work has demonstrated the role ofsleep replay on memory strength, these are the first data to show that memoryaccuracy can also independently be influenced during sleep," Wilson said.
“虽然以前的工作已经证明了睡眠的记忆重播功能，但这却是第一个可以表明睡眠可以独立影响记忆准确性的数据，”威尔逊说。
Before introducing odor information to the animals as theyslept, Barnes and Wilson taught the animals to associate specific odorinformation with a mild foot shock while they were awake. After the animalslearned to make the association between the odor experience and shock(demonstrated by enhanced fearful behavior), Barnes and Wilson recreated theodor experience when the animals were in SWS.
在给将要入睡的小白鼠介绍气味信息之前，巴恩斯和威尔逊会在小白鼠醒着的时候给它们做一个温柔的脚部电击，使它们能将电击和特定的气味信息联系起来。在小白鼠能将气味经验和电击信息联系起来之后(通过害怕的行为表现出来),巴恩斯和威尔逊在小白鼠进入深度睡眠后再次重建气味体验。
Animals that received a replay of the learned odorexperience during SWS demonstrated increased memory for the odor compared withanimals that received a similar replay of the odor while awake. In contrast,the animals that received a replay of new odor information as they sleptdemonstrated greater difficulty distinguishing the learned odor they were previouslyexposed to from others.
在深度睡眠中进行一个气味经验的重播的小白鼠，比在清醒时候接受相同的气味经验的重播的小白鼠，表现出更深刻的记忆。相反，在深度睡眠中的接受到一个最新气味信息重播的小白鼠，很难区别这种气味和它们以前接收到的气味信息。
"We know that during slow-wave sleep, the brain'ssensory systems are far less responsive to normal inputs," Wilson said."Our data suggest this sensory isolation may help allow replay of learnedinformation in the absence of external interference, providing strong, precisememory of important information."
我们知道,在慢波睡眠阶段,大脑的感官系统不太适应正常输入,”威尔逊说。“我们的数据表明这种感觉隔离，在没有外部干扰的情况下，可能有助于学习过的信息的回放,提供强大的、精确的、重要信息的记忆。”
Jan Born, PhD, a neuroscientist who studies sleep at theUniversity of Tübingen and was not involved in this research, noted suchinformation may one day prove important for efforts to reduce traumaticmemories.
Jan Born博士，一位在图宾根大学研究专门从事睡眠研究且没有参与这项研究的神经学家,指出这项研究成果某天或许能够证明减少创伤记忆研究工作的重要性。
"The question of whether cueing memories duringsleep, and specifically during slow-wave sleep, can be used to modify specificmemories is currently a hot topic due to the potential for such information tolead us to new ways to weaken the unwanted memories commonly found inpsychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress and anxietydisorders," he explained.
他解释到：“在睡眠中，尤其是在深度睡眠中给记忆提供暗示能否抚平特殊的记忆，目前时一个热门话题。这取决于这样的研究成果是否能够为我们提供解决一种新方法来削弱那些精神疾病普遍存在的创伤性记忆，如创伤后的压力和焦虑性障碍,”
This research was funded by the National Institute onDeafness and Other Communication Disorders.
这项研究是由国家耳聋和其他沟通障碍研究所提供资助。
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