這聽(tīng)起來(lái)像是每個(gè)學(xué)生的夢(mèng)想——8月26日在《自然—神經(jīng)科學(xué)》上發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究顯示，我們即便在夢(mèng)中也能夠?qū)W習(xí)到全新的信息,。
以色列雷霍沃特市威茨曼科學(xué)院的Anat Arzi和她的同事利用一種被稱(chēng)為經(jīng)典型條件反射的簡(jiǎn)單認(rèn)知形式,，從而讓55名健康的受試者在睡眠中學(xué)習(xí)氣味與聲音的關(guān)系。
在這項(xiàng)研究中,，睡眠中的受試者被重復(fù)暴露在一些令人愉快的氣味中,，例如除臭劑或香波，以及一些令人討厭的氣味中,，例如腐爛的魚(yú)和肉,。同時(shí)伴隨著每一種氣味，研究人員都會(huì)播放不同的聲音,。
研究人員指出,，通常人們?cè)诼劦较阄稌r(shí)會(huì)深呼吸，而聞到臭味時(shí)會(huì)盡量少吸氣,。觀察發(fā)現(xiàn),，經(jīng)過(guò)這樣的條件反射訓(xùn)練，睡眠中的受試者也會(huì)在聽(tīng)到與香味相關(guān)的聲音時(shí)深吸氣,，即使這時(shí)并沒(méi)有釋放香味,。
令人意想不到的是，在第二天受試者清醒的狀態(tài)下,，給他們播放相關(guān)聲音,，也會(huì)出現(xiàn)同樣的反應(yīng),，而他們還不知道自己在睡覺(jué)時(shí)經(jīng)受了這樣的條件反射訓(xùn)練,。
Arzi指出，睡眠時(shí)究竟能學(xué)習(xí)多復(fù)雜的東西，還需要進(jìn)一步探索,。她估計(jì),，這種學(xué)習(xí)能力應(yīng)該超出本次試驗(yàn)所顯示的內(nèi)容。
研究人員認(rèn)為,，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)還將帶來(lái)一種“睡眠療法”,，從而有助于改變一些不正常的行為，例如恐懼癥,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1038/nn.3193
PMC:
PMID:
Humans can learn new information during sleep
Anat Arzi, Limor Shedlesky, Mor Ben-Shaul, Khitam Nasser, Arie Oksenberg, Ilana S Hairston & Noam Sobel
During sleep, humans can strengthen previously acquired memories, but whether they can acquire entirely new information remains unknown. The nonverbal nature of the olfactory sniff response, in which pleasant odors drive stronger sniffs and unpleasant odors drive weaker sniffs, allowed us to test learning in humans during sleep. Using partial-reinforcement trace conditioning, we paired pleasant and unpleasant odors with different tones during sleep and then measured the sniff response to tones alone during the same nights' sleep and during ensuing wake. We found that sleeping subjects learned novel associations between tones and odors such that they then sniffed in response to tones alone. Moreover, these newly learned tone-induced sniffs differed according to the odor pleasantness that was previously associated with the tone during sleep. This acquired behavior persisted throughout the night and into ensuing wake, without later awareness of the learning process. Thus, humans learned new information during sleep.
