????如果真是這樣的話，為什么這些藥物的使用者堅(jiān)稱(chēng)自己睡得更好了呢？蘭德?tīng)柕慕忉屖?，安必恩和魯尼斯塔等藥物?huì)導(dǎo)致“順逆行遺忘（anteretrograde amnesia），使大腦暫時(shí)很難形成新的短期記憶。”因此，他堅(jiān)稱(chēng)，即使整個(gè)晚上輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)，當(dāng)你早上醒來(lái)時(shí)也根本意識(shí)不到這一點(diǎn)（許多醫(yī)生認(rèn)為，無(wú)知或許對(duì)我們有好處——這是寬慰話；我們不記得的失眠不會(huì)讓我們產(chǎn)生焦慮感）。

????蘭德?tīng)栐跁?shū)中提到了許多與打瞌睡的歷史和進(jìn)化生物學(xué)有關(guān)的事實(shí)，非常引人入勝。他運(yùn)用口語(yǔ)化、易于閱讀的語(yǔ)言，詮釋了男人和女人睡眠方式存在的差異，以及夫婦分開(kāi)睡為什么效果反而更好等問(wèn)題。此外，他還聲稱(chēng)，床墊無(wú)關(guān)乎睡眠質(zhì)量，他援引的一項(xiàng)研究顯示，不管是在混凝土板上，還是在加熱的高科技床墊上，受試者都睡得一樣好。然而，就總體而言，蘭德?tīng)枦](méi)有、也不打算為夜不能寐者提供太多具有操作性的建議。

????這本書(shū)提及的最可行的睡眠訣竅或許與體育博彩有關(guān)。我們的晝夜節(jié)律時(shí)常讓我們?cè)诖蠹s早上9點(diǎn)到下午2點(diǎn)左右這段時(shí)間內(nèi)保持警覺(jué)，“在這個(gè)時(shí)間點(diǎn)上我們需要開(kāi)始考慮小睡一下，”蘭德?tīng)枌?xiě)道。下午6點(diǎn)左右時(shí)，我們的身體獲得另一輪能量注入，效果可持續(xù)至晚上10點(diǎn)鐘左右?！傲α?、柔韌性和反應(yīng)時(shí)間會(huì)激增?！蹦慊蛟S會(huì)問(wèn)，這跟“周一橄欖球之夜（Monday Night Football）”有什么關(guān)系呢？無(wú)論比賽地點(diǎn)是在什么地方，周一的橄欖球賽通常都在美國(guó)東部時(shí)間下午8點(diǎn)半開(kāi)賽，因此對(duì)于西海岸球隊(duì)而言，比賽時(shí)間總是下午5點(diǎn)半——正好是他們的夜晚能量獲得提升的時(shí)候。而東海灣球隊(duì)“在首節(jié)比賽結(jié)束之前，其身體的巔峰狀態(tài)就已結(jié)束。”研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，在過(guò)去25年間，無(wú)論是否擁有主場(chǎng)優(yōu)勢(shì)，西海岸球隊(duì)在大約63%的時(shí)間里都擊敗了東海岸球隊(duì)，平均多出了2次觸地得分，并且在70%的時(shí)間里贏得得分差。謝謝你，大衛(wèi)?蘭德?tīng)枺?/p>

????《夢(mèng)境》一書(shū)最強(qiáng)大、最揮之不去的效果就是一種失落感：我們?cè)?jīng)睡得如此之好，睡得如此動(dòng)人，這種美好經(jīng)歷再也不會(huì)有了！我們基本上已經(jīng)放棄了打瞌睡的習(xí)慣，甚至在一些曾經(jīng)把午睡奉為一項(xiàng)人權(quán)的國(guó)家也是如此（盡管廣泛的研究顯示，短短15分鐘的午睡就可以提高一個(gè)人的認(rèn)知能力）。

????當(dāng)蘭德?tīng)柦沂境隽硪粋€(gè)已經(jīng)被我們舍棄的儀式（我們“夜間生活”一段既甜蜜又隱秘的間隔期）時(shí)，這種頭痛感就加劇了。喬叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》（Canterbury Tales）和其他早期文本都提到過(guò)“首次睡眠”和“二次睡眠”。歐洲人過(guò)去習(xí)慣從日落時(shí)分一覺(jué)睡到午夜之后，在那時(shí)他們通常會(huì)心滿意足地保持大約1小時(shí)的清醒，然后再繼續(xù)睡覺(jué)至太陽(yáng)升起的時(shí)候（最近一項(xiàng)研究顯示，長(zhǎng)時(shí)間撤回人造光也能夠產(chǎn)生同樣的間隔期）。在這段清醒的夜半時(shí)分，人們通常會(huì)“祈禱、閱讀、沉思或者做愛(ài)?！?/p>

????研究顯示，這個(gè)間隔期“或許是他們一生中最放松的時(shí)間段，”標(biāo)志是身體產(chǎn)生出更多的

????催乳激素。這種激素有破除壓力的效果，它“正是人們?cè)跇O度興奮后感到放松的原因所在?！币恍┓枪I(yè)化社會(huì)依然在實(shí)踐著這種分割式睡眠，但在西方國(guó)家，這一神奇的時(shí)光似乎已無(wú)法挽回了。正如蘭德?tīng)柕闹魉?，我們的睡眠時(shí)常是一段異常艱辛、最終以猛然覺(jué)醒結(jié)束的旅程。

????譯者：任文科

????If that's the case, why do users of these meds insist they sleep better? Randall's explanation is that drugs like Ambien and Lunesta cause "anteretrograde amnesia … making it temporarily harder for the brain to form new short-term memories.'' So even if you toss and turn all through the night, he maintains, you simply won't realize it when you wake up in the a.m. (Many doctors think that ignorance may do us some good, placebo-style; the insomnia we don't remember won't make us anxious.)

????Randall presents a pile of often-fascinating facts on the history and evolutionary biology of the nod. In colloquial, easy-reading prose, he explains how men and women sleep differently, and why couples would do better to sleep apart. He also argues that mattresses don't matter, citing a study in which subjects slept just as well on a concrete slab as on a heated, high-tech prototype mattress. In general, however, Randall doesn't -- and doesn't set out to -- offer much practical advice that the individual toss-and-turner can use.

????The most actionable tip in the book may be on sports betting. Our circadian rhythms keep us alert from around 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. or so, "which is when we start thinking about a nap,'' Randall writes. At round 6 p.m., the body gets another energy infusion that lasts until roughly 10 p.m. "Strength, flexibility and reaction times surge." What does all that have to do with Monday Night Football, you ask? MNF games kick off at or just after 8:30 p.m. EST, no matter where they're played, so it's always 5:30 p.m. for West coast teams -- just about time for their evening power boost. East coast teams "are past their natural performance peaks before the first quarter ends.'' Over 25 years researchers studied, West coast teams defeated Easterners 63% of the time, by an average of two touchdowns -- and beat the point spread 70% of the time, regardless of who was home or away. Thank you, David K. Randall!

????One of Dreamland's strongest and most lingering after-effects is a sense of loss, the notion that we once slept so much better -- even beautifully -- and never will again. We've largely abandoned the nap, even in countries where the siesta was once a human right. (This in spite of extensive research showing that as little as 15 minutes of napping improves cognitive abilities.)

????That ache increases when Randall reveals a different ritual we've forsaken, a sweet, secret interval in our "life after dark.'' Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and other early texts refer to "first sleep'' and "second sleep.'' It seems that Europeans used to sleep from sundown or thereabouts until after midnight, when they would regularly, contentedly stay awake for an hour or so, and then snooze until sunrise or morning. (A recent study that withdrew artificial light for an extended period produced these same intervals.) That awake-break was spent "praying, reading, contemplating … or having sex.''

????Research indicates this period was "probably the most relaxing block of time in their lives,'' marked by higher production of prolactin, a stress-busting hormone "responsible for the relaxed feeling after an orgasm.'' Some non-industrialized societies still practice split sleep, but here that magic hour seems irretrievable. As Randall's book shows, ours is all too often a troubled sleep, followed by rude awakenings.