我们何时开始做梦

 Why we dream continues to elude¹ us. Scientists have proven we need to dream. When robbed of their dreams, rats die within four weeks.

We also know that at seven months a fetus² is dreaming, its muscles and eye movements giving the tell-tale signs of REM (or rapid eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep. But what happens before seven months? When do our dreams begin?

Research published in Chaos³, a journal of The American Institute of Physics, provides the first attempt at an answer.

Mathematicians⁴ analyzed⁵ the brainwaves of a fetal sheep in utero, at 15-weeks. The brain signals at that stage are quite complex, set against noise that is difficult to dampen. But using sophisticated mathematics, scientists discerned a pattern of cortical activation⁶ and deactivation⁷, cycling every five to ten minutes — this, the scientists note, is a crude precursor⁸ to the longer cycles of REM and non-REM sleep.

We can only guess at the content—do sleep dream of electric androids? But the study shows that dreamlike sleep develops before rapid eye movements. And the discovery may give researchers new insight into the purpose of sleep and dreams.

我们为什么做梦的问题一直难以解释。科学家们已经证明，我们需要做梦。不让老鼠做梦，它们在4周内就会死亡。

我们还知道7个月大小的胎儿也做梦，胎儿的肌肉和眼动能清清楚楚地反映出快速眼动睡眠（REM）和非快速眼动睡眠（non-REM）信号。但是，7个月之前是什么样子呢？我们是何时开始做梦的？

发表在美国物理学会《混沌》（Chaos）杂志上的研究试图第一次给出这些问题的答案。

数学家分析了子宫内15周的绵羊胎儿的脑波。对比那些难于减弱的噪音信号，这个时期的脑波信号已经非常复杂。但是通过使用复杂的数学计算，科学家们发现了 一种皮质激活和去活的模式，这种活动每隔5到10分钟循环一次。科学家们注意到，这种脑波活动模式就是周期更长的快速眼动睡眠（REM）和非快速眼动睡眠 （non-REM）的粗略前身。

我们只能仅仅猜测梦的内容——睡梦中会出现电子机器人么？但是该项研究表明，梦一般的睡眠在快速眼动之前就有了。而且该研究发现可能会对睡眠和梦的目的给出新的见解。

1 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

2 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 mathematicians   

数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗？ 来自英汉文学
• Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分

5 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 activation   

n. 激活，催化作用

参考例句：

• A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。

7 deactivation   

n.钝化（作用），惰性化；非活动化；去活化

参考例句：

• There can be important consequences of activation or deactivation. 在这里可能有活化或钝化的重要结果。 来自辞典例句
• The deactivation of a device, program, or system. 使一个设备、程序或系统停止工作。 来自辞典例句

8 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。