(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Can Language Learning Happen During Sleep?
A new study suggests some language learning can take place during sleep.
Researchers from Switzerland's University of Bern say they discovered people were able to learn new language words during deep levels of sleep. Results of the study recently appeared in the publication Current Biology.
Sleeping hours are generally considered unproductive time. But several studies have suggested some learning activity can happen. Studies involving mice provided evidence that sleep learning is possible in the brain of mammals.
Other human studies, the Swiss researchers said, found that simple learning through sounds may be possible during sleep. But they added that "complex verbal learning" has not yet been demonstrated.
Much of the earlier research found that memories made when people were awake were reinforced and strengthened during sleep. This supported the idea that information learned while awake is replayed and deeply embedded in the sleeping brain.
The researchers theorized that, if replay during sleep improves the storage of information that is learned while awake, the processing and storage of new information should also be possible during sleep.
The research group was led by Katharina Henke, a professor at the University of Bern and founder of the school's Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory. The researchers carried out experiments on a group of young German-speaking men and women.
The experiments centered on periods of deep sleep called "up-states." They identified these slow-wave peaks as the best moments for sleep-learning.
During normal sleep, human brain cells are commonly active for a short period of time before they enter a state of brief inactivity, the researchers said. The two states are continuously changing.
The researchers observed individuals in a controlled environment during brief periods of sleep. They recorded brain activity as pairs of words were played for the study subjects. One word in the pair was a real German word. The other was a made-up foreign word.
For later identification purposes, the German words chosen were things clearly larger or smaller than a shoebox.
Each word pair was played four times, with the order of the words changed each time. The researchers said the word pairs were played at a rhythm that is similar to actual brain activity during deep sleep.
The goal was to create a lasting memory link between the false word and the German word that individuals could identify when awake.
When the subjects woke, they were presented with the false language words – both by sight and sound. They were then asked to guess whether the false word played during sleep represented an object smaller or larger than a shoebox.
During this part of the experiment, some of the subjects had their brain activity recorded by magnetic imaging technology. This was meant to measure brain activity when the subjects were giving their answers to the questions.
Results of the study found that a majority of subjects gave more correct answers about the sleep-learned words than would be expected if they had only guessed at random.
The researchers said they measured increased signals affecting a part of the brain known as the hippocampus. This brain structure is very important for building relational memory during non-sleep periods. The researchers said memory was best for word pairs presented during slow-wave peaks during sleep.
The study suggests that memory formation in sleep appears to be caused by the same brain structures that support vocabulary learning while awake.
The researchers say more studies are needed to support their findings. However, the experiments do provide new evidence that memories can be formed and vocabulary learning can take place in both conscious and unconscious states.
I'm Bryan Lynn.
重点解析
1.language learning 语言学习
In the course of the English language learning, I have experienced the pleasure of study.
在学英语的过程中，我体验到了学习的快乐。
2.at random 胡乱的；随便的
We received several answers, and we picked one at random.
我们收到了一些答复，并从中随机挑选了一个。
3.deep sleep 深度睡眠
Una soon fell into a deep sleep.
尤娜很快便沉沉睡去。
4.centered on 集中于
Her research is centered on the social effects of unemployment.
她的研究课题是失业对社会的影响。
5.A new study suggests some language learning can take place during sleep.
take place 发生；举行
Elections were postponed the day before polling was due to take place.
在预定进行投票的前一天选举被延期。
Peace talks failed to take place because of a dispute over the venue.
由于在谈判地点上存在分歧，和平谈判未能举行。
6.During normal sleep, human brain cells are commonly active for a short period of time before they enter a state of brief inactivity, the researchers said.
for a short period of time 短暂的；短时间的
The quote should not be binding and only be valid for a short period of time.
报价不应该是固定的，应该只在短期内有效。
I've only been in Madrid for a short period of time so I don't know many people here.
我来马德里的时间还不长，在这儿认识的人也不多。
参考译文
睡觉时也能进行语言学习？
一项新研究表明，睡觉时也能学习语言。
瑞士伯尔尼大学的研究人员称，他们发现，人们在深度睡眠时能够学习新的语言词汇。这项研究结果最近发表在《当代生物学》杂志上。
睡眠时间通常被认为是非生产性时间，但是一些研究表明，一些学习活动可在此期间进行。小白鼠的研究提供了证据，表明睡眠学习在哺乳动物的大脑中是可行的。
瑞士研究人员表示，其它的人类研究发现，睡眠时通过声音进行简单的学习是可能的。但是他们补充说，“复杂的语言学习”尚未得到证实。
许多早期研究发现，人们在清醒时产生的记忆在睡眠时得到了巩固、加强。这支持了一种观点，即人们在清醒状态下获得的信息会在睡眠时反复播放并深深植入大脑中。
研究人员推测，如果睡眠时的回放能够改善清醒时所获信息的存储，那么在睡眠时处理和储存新的信息应该也是可能的。
该研究小组由伯尔尼大学教授兼该校认知、学习与记忆中心创始人凯瑟琳娜·亨克（Katharina Henke）领导。研究人员对一组说德语的年轻人进行了实验。
该实验集中于深度睡眠的“上升状态期间”。他们认为，这些慢波峰值是睡眠学习的黄金时段。
研究人员表示，在正常睡眠期间，人类脑细胞在进入短暂不活跃状态前，通常会活跃一小段时间。这两种状态不断变化。
研究人员观察了在受控环境中处于短暂睡眠的实验个体。当为研究对象播放成组的单词时，他们记录下实验个体的大脑活动。单词组中有一个是真正的德语单词，另一个为编造的单词。
为了便于之后识别，所选的德语单词都是明显比鞋盒大或者小的物体。
每组单词播放四次，单词播放顺序每次都会调整。研究人员表示，这些单词组的播放节奏与深度睡眠时大脑的实际活动相似。
此举目的是在这些假单词和德语单词之间建立一种持久的记忆联系，让实验个体在清醒后能识别出来。
当实验个体清醒后，他们会通过视觉和听觉接触这些虚假单词。然后他们被要求猜出在睡眠时播放的这些假单词代表的物体比鞋盒大还是小。
在部分实验中，一些个体的大脑活动通过核磁共振成像技术被记录下来。这是为了测量实验个体在回答这些问题时的大脑活动。
研究结果发现，大多数实验个体在猜测有关睡眠学习单词时的正确率均超过了随机猜测的概率。
研究人员表示，他们测量到影响大脑海马体部分的信号不断增加。海马体这种大脑结构对于在非睡眠期间建立关系记忆非常重要。研究人员表示，单词组记忆的黄金时段出现在睡眠时的慢波峰值。
该研究表明，睡眠中的记忆形成似乎是由清醒时支持词汇学习的相同大脑结构所引起的。
研究人员称，还需要进行更多研究来支持他们的研究结果。然而，这些实验确实提供了新证据，表明记忆可以形成，词汇学习可在有意识和无意识状态下进行。
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