做一個讓人清醒的夢

英語島

每個人平均一個晚上作上4到7個夢，一個活到80歲的人，一生中要作將近20萬個夢!古代希臘和羅馬人認為，夢是天神想要傳達的 旨意;過去中國人相信，夢是人們 與過世親友相會的媒介;後來心理 學家提出不同的見解:佛洛依德(Sigmund Freud)認定夢與性及侵 略有關，榮格(Carl Jung)則持正面態度，指出夢能提供自我暗示， 幫助作夢者解決生活中所面臨的問題。一直到科學發達的今日，我們終於能夠藉由拍攝、記錄人睡覺時的腦部狀況。夢是什麼?科學家怎麼解讀夢?進入本文前，請先想想以下單字:

(A)繫上(B)活躍的(C)神智清明的

How do you film and record dreams and dreaming? Scientists who study dreaming (A) attach wires to the head of a person who is sleeping. The wires connect to an electroencephalograph to record electrical activity in the brain and draw an encephalogram (EEG).

Scientists discovered that human bodies (1)go through several periods of sleep each night. One of these periods is called Rapid Eye Movement (REM). During REM sleep, our bodies do not move at all. Our eyes, however, move back and forth very quickly while they are closed. This is the time when we dream.

The studies show that the part of the brain in which we feel emotion is very (B) active when we dream. The front part of the brain, which is the center of our higher level thinking processes like organization and memory, is much less active. Scientists believe this is why our dreams often seem strange and(2) out of order.

There is an interesting phenomenon: sometimes people know during a dream that they are dreaming. This kind of dreaming is called (C)lucid dreaming. Scientists believe we can train ourselves by paying very close attention to recall our lucid dreams and writing them down. This is one way to become more imaginative and creative.

In the future, scientists will continue the studies of dreams and dreaming. The purpose of these studies will be focused on understanding why some people have problems sleeping. Maybe after understanding more about dreams and dreaming, people’s sleep quality can be improved and their emotions during the day can be better controlled.

如何拍攝和記錄夢境呢?科學家的作法是將金屬線黏貼在受試者的頭皮上，然後連結至腦波儀，就能畫出腦波圖。

科學家發現，人體在睡眠過程中會經歷好幾個階段，其中一個階段叫作「快速動眼期」，此時雖然身體完全靜止不動，但翻開眼皮卻能看見眼球在來回快速地轉動，正是在這段期間，受試者就開始作夢了。

作夢的時候，腦中感受情緒的部位會變得十分活躍;但負責管理高階思考，譬如組織、記憶的部分卻較少活動。科學家認為，這足以解釋為什麼夢的內容往往十分奇怪且混亂。

有趣的是，人有時可以知道自己正在作夢，這種夢叫作「清醒夢」。科學家要求受試者在作了「清醒夢」之後，專心回憶夢的內容並寫下來，這種訓練可以讓人變得更富有想像力和創造力。

未來，科學家將繼續進行夢的相關研究，而研究目的主要在瞭解人們的睡眠障礙。也許在更了解作夢的行為後，可以改善現代人的睡眠品質，並幫助人們控制平日的情緒。

口語字彙

1. go through

經歷、承受

Matthew has gone through a difficult time these past couple months.

馬修前幾個月歷經了一段難 熬的日子。

2. out of order

失序、不受控

His behavior in the meeting was out of order.

他在會議上的行徑整個失控了。