Who wouldn't love acing a geography exam,

誰不想在地理考試拿一百分呢？

remembering all the locations of the countries on a map

考試必須要記得地圖上所有的位置，

or avoiding embarrassing situations of suddenly forgetting the person's name

或是避免尷尬的情況發生，

standing right in front of you.

突然忘記正坐在你面前的對方名字。

It turns out that memory, like other muscles in the body,

事實證明，記憶力和身上其他肌肉一樣，

can be strengthened and enhanced.

是可以加強的。

But instead of practicing with flash cards,

或許有一個有趣的方式，

there may be an interesting way

可以替代單字卡練習，

that we can hack our memory while we sleep.

那就是我們可以在熟睡期駭入自己的記憶。

(Music)

(音樂)

Why do we sleep?

為什麼我們要睡覺？

This has been a question asked since the early days of civilization.

自早期文明以來就出現的問題。

And while we may not know the exact answer,

雖然我們沒有正解，

there are a number of really good theories about why we need it.

但有很多很棒的理論可以解釋為什麼我們需要睡覺。

Sleep is when the brain transfers short-term memories

睡覺是頭腦將一整天所經歷過的事情，

experienced throughout the day

從短期記憶轉換到

into long-term memories.

長期記憶的過程。

This process is called memory consolidation,

這個過程成為記憶鞏固，

and it's the memory consolidation theory that has scientists wondering

這個記憶鞏固理論讓科學家們想知道，

if we can enhance certain memories over others.

我們是否可以增強某些記憶。

There was a paper recently in the journal "Science"

有一個近期研究在「科學」期刊中刊登，

by Ken Paller and his colleagues at Northwestern

這研究是由 Ken Paller 和他的同事在西北完成的。

that seemed to show that this may be true,

研究結果顯似這個理論似乎是真的，

and that piqued our curiosity.

也激起了我們的好奇心。

Joud has been working on a DIY version of this task

Joud 一直都在研究此任務的 DIY 版本，

to see if we can improve memories through the use of sound in sleep.

以查看我們是否可以在睡眠中透過聲音改善記憶。

So Joud, how do you test if we can improve our memories with sleep?

Joud，你是怎麼測試我們是否可以在睡眠中改善記憶？

We need a human subject.

我們需要一個參與者。

[Step 1: Play a game]

[第一步：玩遊戲]

We have a memory game that we have on an iPad,

我們在 iPad 上有一個記憶力遊戲，

and then we make our subject play this game

然後我們讓參與者玩這個遊戲，

and remember the images and where they appear on the screen.

他必須記得每個圖案顯示在螢幕上的位置。

So this is like a memory game you can play when you're a child.

所以這個記憶遊戲有點像小時候玩的那種，

which picture was where.

必須記得圖片所在的位置。

And we tie each picture with a sound that represents it.

然後我們將每張圖片和各自所代表的聲音結合。

So, if you can see a picture of a car, for example,

所以舉例來說，如果你看到車子的圖片，

and you would hear the car engine.

你就會聽到車子引擎聲音。

(Car engine starting)

(車子引擎聲出現)

Just before you go to sleep we're going to test you.

在你睡覺之前，我們會測驗你的記憶。

We're going to see how well you remember where the pictures are.

我們會測驗你可以記住多少圖片的位置。

Every time you see the picture, you're going to hear the sound.

每當你看到圖片時，你就會聽到圖片代表的聲音。

And now comes the experiment.

現在就是實驗開始。

You're going to go take a nap.

你會去睡個午覺。

[Step 2: Take a nap]

[第二步：睡午覺]

And while you're sleeping, we're going to be recording your EEG.

當你在睡覺時，我們會記錄你的腦波。

And then we wait for them to go into what's called the slow-wave sleep,

然後我們會等腦波進入慢波睡眠，

which is the deepest phase of your sleep where it's really hard for you to wake up.

也就是較不易醒來，最熟睡的階段。

OK, pause.

好的，暫停。

So, here's some information on sleep.

這裡有一些關於睡眠的知識。

There are four stages: we have lighter stages of sleep and REM,

睡眠分為四個階段：有淺眠和快速動眼期，

but what we're interested in is called slow-wave sleep.

但我們對慢波睡眠 (熟睡期) 較有興趣。

And it gets its name from the electrical signals

它的名字來自於大腦中，

called Delta waves that we record from the brain.

稱為三角波的電子訊號。

Now, this is the part of sleep where scientists believe

科學家認為記憶鞏固，

that memory consolidation can happen.

就是在這個階段產生的。

In this deep period of sleep,

在熟睡期，

we're going to do something that you don't know we're going to do.

我們會做你不知道的事情。

Here's where the tricky part comes, and we start playing our cues. (Cricket sound)

有趣的部分就在這裡，我們開始播放剛剛圖片的聲音。（蟋蟀聲）

(Car engine starting)

(車子引擎聲)

Do you play all the cues?

你有放所有圖片的聲音嗎？

No. We only want to play half of them to see if there's a difference.

沒有，我們只放一半，想藉此觀察結果是否有差異。

So your hypothesis is

所以你的假設是在睡覺期間聽到的聲音，

the one that they were listening to while they're sleeping

會讓參與者表現得更好，

they're going to do better at when they wake up.

記得更多圖片位置。

Yes, exactly.

對，就是這樣。

When you wake back up and play the game again,

當你醒來再玩一次遊戲，

do you do better or worse than before a nap?

你會比睡前表現得更好還是更差？

What we found is that if we played you a cue during your sleep,

我們發現如果我們在你熟睡時放圖片的聲音，

for example, a car.

例如：車子，

You would remember the position of that car

當你醒來再玩的時候，

when you woke back up again.

你會記得車子的位置。

But if we didn't play you the cue during the sleep,

但如果我們沒有在你熟睡時放聲音，

for example, a guitar.

例如：吉他，

you'd be less likely to remember that guitar when you woke up.

當你起床後你會較容易忘記吉他的位置，

The memories that were cued they remembered better

即使他們在睡覺時不記得有聽過這些聲音，

than the ones they weren't,

用聲音提示的記憶比沒用聲音提示的記憶記的更久，

even though when they woke up, they don't remember hearing those sounds?

是這樣嗎？

Yes exactly. We ask them.

是的。

We know they're sleeping, they can't hear it, they wake up,

我們知道他們在睡覺，聽不到聲音，

they do better on those than the ones you didn't play.

但他們醒來，記憶卻表現得比沒聽到聲音來的好。

- That's amazing. - It's like magic.

- 這太神奇了！- 就像魔法一樣。

Joud ran this experiment on 12 people and the results were significant.

Joud 對 12 個人進行這個時間，結果都是顯著差異的。

It's not that you remember things better; it's that you forget them less.

不是說你記得更好，而是忘記得較少。

I was a huge skeptic when I first heard that you could do better at a memory test

當我第一次聽到你可以在睡眠中放音樂，

just by playing sounds during sleep.

來進行記憶測試時，我感到非常懷疑。

But we have replicated these experiment for ourselves

但是我們重複做這些實驗。

The facts and memories we collect throughout the day are very fragile,

我們每天收集的事情和記憶是非常脆弱的，

and they are easily lost and forgotten.

這些記憶很容易丟失或被遺忘，

But by reactivating them during sleep, even without us being aware,

但是在我們沒有意識到的睡眠中激活記憶，

it seems like we could make them more stable and less prone to forgetting.

似乎可以讓我們將事情記得更久，較不易忘記。

That's pretty incredible.

這真是令人難以置信！

Our brains are still active even when we're not.

我們的大腦在我們睡覺時還是很活躍。

So if you're like me and a bit forgetful,

所以如果你和我一樣健忘，

perhaps a solution is a pair of headphones and a soft couch.

你可能可以戴上耳機，躺在柔軟的沙發上。