Dreaming May Make You Smarter
做梦也能增强记忆力
People who enjoy a dream-filled sleep are significantly better at recalling information and making links between facts when they wake, scientists found.
科学家发现，睡觉爱做梦的人在他们醒着的时候记忆力和关联事物的能力都会显著增强。
But recharging with a shallow nap offers no such mental boost, the research suggests.
该研究同时也声明仅仅是打个小盹就不会产生如此神奇的功效。
The results of the study add to the growing body of evidence that Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is crucial to the brain's ability to lay down and consolidate memories.
这一研究印证了先前大量证据已经证明了的一个观点，那就是快速眼动睡眠（REM）阶段对大脑巩固记忆的能力至关重要。
An average night's repose includes four or five spells of REM sleep, but these bursts tend to be lengthier towards the end of the night.
在夜间睡眠过程中，通常会有四到五个周期的REM 阶段。直到天亮之前，REM 间隔周期呈逐渐延长的趋势。
This means that adults who get less than the recommended seven to eight hours a night-and therefore insufficient REM sleep-may be damaging their mind's ability to form strong memories.
这就意味着，睡眠时间不足7-8 小时标准睡眠时间的成年人无法保障充分的REM 睡眠时间，因此他们形成牢固记忆的能力有可能会受损。
Although REM sleep is not classified as a type of deep sleep, it is only reached after the brain has passed through deep sleep stages.
REM 睡眠并不属于深度睡眠的范畴，只有在经过深度睡眠后，大脑才能进入REM 睡眠阶段。
Scientists have been working on connections between sleep, dreams and brain activity since the REM state was first identified in 1953 by US researchers.
自1953 年美国研究人员首次确认REM 睡眠状态以来，科学家一直致力于研究睡眠、梦境以及大脑活动三者之间的关联。
They found that people woken while their closed eyes made jerking movements recalled much more colorful and elaborate dreams than people woken during other stages of sleep.
他们发现从REM 状态中醒来的人，相对那些从其他睡眠状态中醒来的人来说，更善于记住丰富多彩的梦境的细节。
It is now believed that sleep acts as a sort of mental filing system, enabling the brain to sort relevant information that needs to be retained from useless information which can be discarded.
现在人们相信，睡眠过程就好比是在大脑内部进行文案整理工作。随着储存的记忆在大脑中进行位置转移，
This process may take place as memories are shifted from one part of the brain to others.
大脑从而对相关信息进行区分——摒弃无用信息，保留有用信息。
