Why some people can thrive on less sleep



Host: How many hours of sleep per night does a human being need to be healthy? I bet you've answered eight hours, but that's not quite true according to recent scientific findings.



Dr Ptacek: This is misunderstood. That's like saying everybody should be five feet ten inches tall and if you're shorter than 5'10, you've got a problem.



Host: Not all of us need the same amount of sleep to be well-rested and function at a high level. And it's not a matter of behaviour or choice. It's in the genes. Some people are genetically designed to be what is called 'natural short sleepers'. This means they only need four to six hours of sleep per night and still wake up feeling fresh.



Dr Ptacek: Others have called these folks 'elite sleepers', and I think it makes sense. They get by with much less sleep and still perform at a high level. And it is true that it is a real asset in today's work world.



(Elite sleepers: Are they the key to unlocking sleep efficiency?)



Host: For the past 25 years, Dr Ptacek and his team have been analysing the sleeping patterns of over 100 families.



Dr Ptacek: In the beginning, all of our work was really focused on trying to figure out what the diagnostic criteria should be to call someone a 'familial advanced sleep phase' person.



Host: An 'advanced sleeping phase' person is also known as a 'morning lark'. Someone that goes to bed early and wakes up early.



Dr Ptacek: Some people came to our attention who are extreme morning larks, but who stayed up too late to meet our criteria. It became clear to us then that there were families that were morning larks, yes, but they were also night owls. And that's when we had this idea that perhaps these families have something different and that is 'natural short sleep'. That allows them to wake up early and to stay up late.



Host: So far, four genes related to 'natural short sleep' were identified. But it's likely to be more. The challenge is – these genes are quite rare. Dr Ptacek estimates that only one person in a thousand is an 'elite sleeper'. The good news is that they might unlock the secrets in sleep efficiency for all of us.



Dr Ptacek: We have a very strong impression that these folks are healthier than average. We have measured, using questionnaires, measured people's resilience and 'natural short sleep' groups scored much higher on the resilience scales than non-short sleepers. These people are sleeping so much less and they're still doing well, that maybe they're sleeping more efficiently. And then the question is: 'What does that mean? '



Host: We might be getting closer to this answer. In a new study, 'natural short sleep' genes were introduced in mice with Alzheimer's disease, and the animals became more resilient.



Dr Ptacek: This is very exciting because it suggests that we might be able to target that biology for therapeutic use, not just with regard to neurodegenerative diseases, but psychiatric diseases, diabetes, obesity, many cancers.



Something is happening when we're sleeping that allows us to restore our functions, to wake up the next day and perform well. If we could do that better by understanding how sleep efficiency is regulated, then we think this could have a huge impact on human health.



词汇表

well-rested [wel-ˈrestɪd] 休息充分的，精神饱满的

gene [dʒiːn] 基因，遗传因子

genetically [dʒəˈnetɪkli] 从基因方面，遗传上地

natural short sleeper 天生短睡眠者

feel fresh 感觉精神焕发，心旷神怡

elite sleeper [eɪˈliːt ˈsliːpə(r)] 精英睡眠者（天生只需要较少睡眠时间，通常每晚4到6个小时，就能保持精力充沛的人）

asset [ˈæset] 优势，有用的东西；资产

unlock [ˌʌnˈlɒk] 开启，解锁，揭开

sleep efficiency [ɪˈfɪʃnsi] 睡眠效率（衡量睡眠质量的指标）

diagnostic criteria [ˌdaɪəɡˈnɒstɪk kraɪˈtɪəriə] 诊断标准

familial advanced sleep phase [fəˈmɪliəl ədˈvɑːnst sliːp feɪz] 家族性早睡早起综合征（一种睡眠障碍，患者入睡和醒来时间均比常人早）

morning lark [lɑːk] 早起鸟，早起的人（习惯早起的人）

night owl [aʊl] 夜猫子（习惯晚睡的人）

questionnaire [ˌkwestʃəˈneə(r)] 调查问卷

resilience [rɪˈzɪliəns] 韧性，弹性，适应力

Alzheimer's disease [ˈæltshaɪməz dɪziːz] 阿尔茨海默病，老年痴呆症

therapeutic [ˌθerəˈpjuːtɪk] 治疗的，有疗效的

neurodegenerative disease [ˌnjʊərəʊdɪˈdʒenərətɪv] 神经退行性疾病，神经变性疾病（指与神经细胞功能逐渐丧失相关的疾病）

psychiatric disease [ˌsaɪkiˈætrɪk] 精神疾病

diabetes [ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz] 糖尿病

obesity [əʊˈbiːsəti] 肥胖症

restore [rɪˈstɔː(r)] 恢复，修复；归还



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