What if you only slept a couple of hours every night?

如果你每晚都只睡幾個小時會怎樣？

Is sleep really that important to your health and well-being?

睡眠真的對你的健康和幸福非常重要嗎？

Let's find out together … and then maybe we'll take a well-earned nap.

我們一起來找找答案，然後說不定也可以打個好盹。

Well, it looks like some people might only really need a few hours of sleep called "short sleepers" or the "sleepless elite".

對啦，有些人確實是只需要幾個小時的睡眠，我們稱這個族群為「短睡型人」或「少睡精英」。

These individuals might make up about 1% of our society and are the early birds and night owls of the world, only needing a few hours a night with the sandman.

而這些人可能僅佔我們社會的 1％，也就是世人所稱的「早起的鳥兒」和「夜貓子」，他們只需要睡上短短數小時，就可以和睡魔搏鬥。

Maybe even just 1!

也許甚至只要一小時！

However, some scientists disagree on if these individuals are still at their best health at only a few hours of sleep a night.

然而，有些科學家並不認為這些人一整晚只睡幾個小時，能夠讓身體保持最佳的健康狀態。

And even if they are and this is true, keep in mind that they're only a very small percent of the population.

即使是這樣，也別忘了他們只佔總人口之中非常少的一部份。

Most of us need quite a few more hours of sleep a night than that.

我們大多數的人跟他們比起來，還是要多睡上幾個小時。

But just how much?

但是，多多少呢？

The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get between 7-9 hours of sleep and teenagers get around 8-10.

國家睡眠基金會建議，成人大約得睡上 7 到 9 個小時，而青少年大概得睡 8 到 10 個小時左右。

This amount increases the younger a person is, with newborn babies needing 14-17 hours of sleep for optimal health.

越年輕的人需要睡越多，新生兒通常需要 14 到 17 個小時的睡眠才能保持最佳健康狀態。

And for all my teenage friends who find it hard to stay awake in class, the sleep experts at the National Sleep Foundation have your back.

我那些在課堂上發現自己難保持清醒的青少年朋友們呀，國家睡眠基金會的睡眠專家會挺你到底。

They say your biological internal clocks help keep you awake later in the evening, making it so that you want to stay asleep during those early morning classes.

他們說你體內的生理時鐘會讓你在傍晚時保持清醒，而早上上課時則會一直想要夢周公。

Phew! I thought it was just me.

唷！還好，我以為只有我是這樣。

It seems like getting the right amount of sleep is important to staying healthy for most people.

看來，對大多數人來說，適量的睡眠對於保持健康是非常重要的。

With a study that looked at older adults, researchers found that sleeping less than 6 hours or more than 10 a night was associated with a higher likelihood of healthcare use.

在一項針對高齡長者的調查中，研究者發現那些每晚睡眠少於6 個小時或高於 10 個小時以上的老人，需要醫療服務的可能性比較高。

Shorter sleep durations were linked with greater odds of emergency department visits.

短睡型的人有較高的機率會被送到醫院急診室。

And longer sleep durations linked up with greater odds of overnight hospital stay.

而長睡型的人則是住院過夜的機率大增。

Maybe the saying should be the right amount of sleep a day can keep the doctor away!

或許我們該說：每天擁有適當的睡眠量，可以讓醫生遠離你！

Yeah let's make it up of that, 'cause I'm not a big fan of apples.

好，我們就這樣說吧！因為我不是很喜歡吃蘋果。(註：俗諺說，每天吃蘋果，醫生遠離我。)

Disrupting your sleep seems to have negative consequences on your health as well.

同樣的，如果你的睡眠常被打斷，也會對你的健康造成負面影響。

Based on current studies, sleep disruption has been reported to increase the risk of incident dementia.

根據目前研究報告，睡眠中斷會提高老人癡呆的風險。

One such study examined 737 older adults and found that greater amounts of sleep fragmentation was associated with an increase in cognitive decline.

有一項研究調查 737 名老年人，發現大量斷斷續續的睡眠會使認知衰退提高。

Sleeping less also seems to have a correlation with Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia.

睡眠較少似乎也與阿茲海默症有關，而這也是癡呆症最普遍的形式。

In a 2017 review article published by the Oxford University Press, it's been hypothesized that human's natural selection for shorter sleep cycles has compromised the efficacy of the physiological mechanisms that protect against Alzheimer's disease during sleep.

牛津大學出版的 2017 年出版的一篇回顧性論文顯示，研究假設人類在選擇短睡眠週期時，就已損害在睡眠期間保護對抗阿茲海默症的生理機制。

They believe this because humans sleep less than other primates, but have a much higher prevalence of Alzheimer's disease pathology.

他們認為這是因為人類的睡眠不如其他靈長類動物來得多，但卻有較多阿茲海默症的流行病例。

This article was very recent, but further research to shed more light on this could potentially go a long way with protecting people from Alzheimer's disease!

這是一份最近發表的研究，但要讓這個發現明朗化還有賴後續研究，至於要讓人們免受阿茲海默症的影響，可能還有很長的路要走！

Long story short, you should probably get some sleep, because your body depends on it.

長話短說就是你應該好好睡覺，因為你的身體非常需要它。

So what have you found to be the best amount of sleep for you?

所以，你知道要睡多久才適合你自己嗎？

Any tips on how to catch a few more Z's?

你有任何保持睡好覺的技巧嗎？

Let me know down in the comments below!

下面的評論欄中讓我知道！

If you guys haven't heard, Life Noggin has relaunched a channel called "Play Noggin".

如果你還沒聽說，Life Noggin 開了一個新頻道叫做 「Play Noggin」。

It's all about exploring the science of your favorite video games.

在頻道中我會談論那些最受歡迎的電玩中的科學。

So if you love Life Noggin and wanna know even more, check it out.

所以如果你喜歡 Life Noggin也想知道更多，去看看吧！

Some Minecraft users dedicated countless hours to building in game computers.

有些《當個創世神》的玩家花無數個小時在遊戲中建構世界。

One such user, Carls Limerson, even built one that simulates Minecraft within Minecraft.

使用者 Carls Limerson 甚至在《當個創世神》中建了一個模擬的《當個創世神》。

As always, I'm Blocko, this has been Life Noggin

還是老樣子，我是方塊仔，這裡是 Life Noggin。

Don't forget to keep on thinking.

別忘了繼續思考。