曾和平

如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)某段音樂(lè)一直在腦中不斷重復(fù)，這就是所謂的“耳蟲(chóng)上腦”。耳蟲(chóng)現(xiàn)象一般發(fā)生在白天，但最近科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，睡覺(jué)時(shí)耳蟲(chóng)也會(huì)在你腦中開(kāi)啟單曲循環(huán)模式，影響睡眠。

We’re all familiar with songs getting stuck in our head while we’re awake， but it turns out this can happen during sleep as well. A new study investigating the phenomenon indicates that earworms invading our brains at night could cause problems in getting to sleep and staying asleep.

“Our brains continue to process music even when none is playing， including apparently while we are asleep，”says neuroscientist Michael Scullin from Baylor University.

He and colleagues used surveys of 199 people， as well as a sleep lab test involving 50 volunteers， to measure how listening to music before bedtime affects sleep. In particular， the team focused on catchy earworms， technically

我們?cè)谇逍褧r(shí)應(yīng)該都有過(guò)歌曲旋律在大腦中揮之不去的經(jīng)歷，但事實(shí)證明，這種“耳蟲(chóng)”現(xiàn)象在睡覺(jué)時(shí)也會(huì)出現(xiàn)。針對(duì)這一現(xiàn)象的新研究表明，夜里“入侵”大腦的耳蟲(chóng)可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致睡眠問(wèn)題，讓人睡不安穩(wěn)。

貝勒大學(xué)的神經(jīng)科學(xué)家邁克爾·斯卡林說(shuō)：“即使外界沒(méi)有播放音樂(lè)，我們的大腦也會(huì)繼續(xù)處理音樂(lè)，包括睡覺(jué)的時(shí)候。”

為了衡量睡前聽(tīng)音樂(lè)對(duì)睡眠的影響，斯卡林和同事們調(diào)查了199個(gè)人，并對(duì)50名志愿者開(kāi)展了睡眠實(shí)驗(yàn)。研究小組特別關(guān)注所謂的洗腦神曲，學(xué)名叫作“無(wú)意識(shí)音像”。

known as “involuntary musical imagery”.

In the survey part of the study， participants who frequently listened to music during the day were more likely to report persistent nighttime earworms， which then had a negative effect on sleep quality through the night.

For the lab test， individuals were played instrumental or standard versions of Shake It Off by Taylor Swift， Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen， and Don’t Stop Believin’by Journey. Polysomnography tests were used to measure subsequent sleep quality.

Earworms were reported throughout the night by participants， with those catching an earworm taking longer to fall asleep， spending more time in the light stages of sleep， and waking up more times during the night.

Surprisingly， the instrumental versions of the songs caused about twice as many earworms （and more subsequent sleep problems） than the versions with vocals.

“We thought that people would have earworms at bedtime when they were trying to fall asleep， but we certainly didn’t know that people would report regularly waking up from sleep with an earworm，”says Scullin“. But we saw that in both the survey and experimental study.”

Brain scans showed more slow oscillations during sleep in the people who reported getting an earworm—a sign of memory reactivation. The brain region involved， the primary audio cortex， is also linked to earworm processing when people are awake.

Past studies have linked late-night music listening with better sleep in those with insomnia， perhaps because it can relax the body. The researchers behind the new study suggest that actually it might be worse for our sleep—that even after the tunes stop， our brains continue to process them for several hours.

Scullin suggests avoiding listening to music right before bed to limit the chance of a catchy tune taking hold in our minds. Engaging in some other cognitive activity before sleeping， like making a list of jobs for the next day， might also help clear the mind， Scullin says.

“Everyone knows that music listening feels good，”says Scullin. “Adolescents and young adults routinely listen to music near bedtime. But sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.”

“The more you listen to music， the more likely you are to catch an earworm that won’t go away at bedtime. When that happens， chances are your sleep is going to suffer.”

The research has been published in Psychological Science.

調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，白天經(jīng)常聽(tīng)音樂(lè)的參與者更有可能在夜里“耳蟲(chóng)上腦”，而夜間耳蟲(chóng)會(huì)對(duì)一整晚的睡眠質(zhì)量造成負(fù)面影響。

在實(shí)驗(yàn)室測(cè)試中，研究人員為參與者播放了泰勒·斯威夫特的《擺脫》、卡莉·雷·杰普森的《打電話(huà)給我》和Journey樂(lè)隊(duì)的《不要放棄信念》，并使用多導(dǎo)睡眠圖來(lái)測(cè)評(píng)他們接下來(lái)的睡眠質(zhì)量。

據(jù)參與者報(bào)告，一整晚都有耳蟲(chóng)現(xiàn)象出現(xiàn)，那些耳蟲(chóng)上腦的人需要更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間才能入睡，淺睡眠時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)，而且夜里醒來(lái)的次數(shù)更多。

令人驚訝的是，器樂(lè)版本的歌曲引發(fā)的耳蟲(chóng)現(xiàn)象次數(shù)是人聲演唱版本的兩倍左右，導(dǎo)致的睡眠問(wèn)題也更多。

斯卡林說(shuō)：“我們?cè)詾椋藗冊(cè)谠噲D入睡時(shí)會(huì)被耳蟲(chóng)困擾，但是我們不知道，人們?cè)谝估飼?huì)時(shí)常被耳蟲(chóng)吵醒。但是我們從調(diào)查和實(shí)驗(yàn)中都發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn)?！?/p>

大腦掃描顯示，自稱(chēng)遭遇耳蟲(chóng)困擾的人在睡眠期間大腦出現(xiàn)更多慢速振動(dòng)，這是記憶被重新激活的跡象。所涉及的大腦區(qū)域是初級(jí)聽(tīng)覺(jué)皮層，這也是人們清醒時(shí)大腦處理耳蟲(chóng)的相關(guān)區(qū)域。

過(guò)去的研究曾將深夜聽(tīng)音樂(lè)與改善失眠者的睡眠質(zhì)量聯(lián)系在一起，這或許是因?yàn)槁?tīng)音樂(lè)可以讓身體放松。這項(xiàng)新研究背后的研究人員指出，實(shí)際上，睡前聽(tīng)音樂(lè)可能對(duì)我們的睡眠更不利，因?yàn)榧词乖谇油Ｖ共シ藕?，我們的大腦仍會(huì)花數(shù)個(gè)小時(shí)繼續(xù)對(duì)其進(jìn)行處理。

斯卡林建議盡量別在睡前聽(tīng)音樂(lè)，以免那些朗朗上口的旋律占據(jù)我們的腦海。斯卡林指出，在睡覺(jué)前從事其他的一些認(rèn)知活動(dòng)，比如列出第二天的工作清單，也可能有助于理清思緒。

斯卡林說(shuō)：“大家都知道聽(tīng)音樂(lè)的感覺(jué)很好。青少年和年輕人會(huì)習(xí)慣性地在睡前聽(tīng)音樂(lè)。但是有時(shí)候好事太多反變壞事?！?/p>

“你聽(tīng)的音樂(lè)越多，你就越可能在睡覺(jué)時(shí)遭遇耳蟲(chóng)。這種情況發(fā)生時(shí)，你的睡眠有可能會(huì)受到影響。”

這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)表在《心理科學(xué)》上。