考研英语阅读命题思路透析和真题揭秘(58)

Of all the components of a good night's sleep, dreams seem to be least within our control. In dreams, a window opens into a world where logic is suspended and dead people speak. A century ago, Freud formulated his revolutionary theory that dreams were the disguised shadows of our unconscious desires and rears; by the late 1970s, neurologists had switched to thinking of them as just "mental noise" the random byproducts of the neural-repair work that goes on during sleep. Now researchers suspect that dreams are part of the mind's emotional thermostat, regulating moods while the brain is "off-line". And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control, to help us sleep and feel better, "It's your dream" says Rosalind Cartwright, chair of psychology at Chicago's Medical Center. "If you don't like it, change it."

Evidence from brain imaging supports this view. The brain is as active during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep-when most vivid dreams occur-as it is when fully awake, says Dr, Eric Nofzinger at the University of Pittsburgh. But not all parts of the brain are equally involved, the limbic system (the "emotional brain")is especially active, while the prefrontal cortex (the center of intellect and reasoning) is relatively quiet. "We wake up from dreams happy of depressed, and those feelings can stay with us all day" says Stanford sleep researcher Dr, William Dement.

The link between dreams and emotions show up among the patients in Cartwright's clinic. Most people seem to have more bad dreams early in the night, progressing toward happier ones before awakening, suggesting that they are working through negative feelings generated during the day. Because our conscious mind is occupied with daily life we don't always think about the emotional significance of the day's events-until, it appears, we begins to dream.

And this process need not be left to the unconscious. Cartwright believes one can exercise conscious control over recurring bad dreams As soon as you awaken, identify what is upsetting about the dream. Visualize how you would like it to end instead, the next time is occurs, try to wake up just enough to control its course. With much practice people can learn to, literally, do it in their sleep.

At the end of the day, there's probably little reason to pay attention to our dreams at all unless they keep us from sleeping of "we wake u in a panic, "Cartwright says Terrorism, economic uncertainties and general feelings of insecurity have increased people's anxiety. Those suffering from persistent nightmares should seek help from a therapist For the rest of us, the brain has its ways of working through bad feelings. Sleep-or rather dream-on it and you'll feel better in the morning.

在所有构成良好睡眠的因素中，梦看起来是我们最难控制的。在睡梦中，一扇窗户开启了一个不同的世界，在其中逻辑失去功效、死者开始说话。一个世纪前，弗洛伊德提出了他具有革命性的理论，即梦是对我们潜意识里的欲望和恐惧的反映。到了20世纪70年代末期，神经学专家们转而把梦视为"心理噪音"--是睡眠过程中不停进行的神经修复过程中随机产生的副产品。现在研究人员怀疑，梦是大脑中情绪调节器的一部分，当大脑"下线"时，这个调温器就在调节情绪。一名学术权威认为，这些极其强烈的精神事件不仅可以得到利用，而且还能受到有意识的控制，从而帮助我们获得更好的睡眠和感觉。芝加哥医疗中心心理部主任Rosalind Carwright说，"如果你不喜欢它，那就改变它。"

来自于大脑成像的证据支持这一观点。在快速眼动睡眠期间--大部分最生动的梦就发生在这个时候--大脑十分活跃，就像完全清醒时一样，匹兹堡大学的Eric Nofzinger博士说。但是，并非大脑的各个部分的参与情况都是这样；大脑边缘系统（即"情感大脑"）异常活跃，而前额皮层（即智力和推理中心）就相对平静。"无论我们从梦中醒来时是高兴还是沮丧，这些情感都可能伴随我们一整天，"斯坦福大学睡眠研究院William Dement博士说。

梦与情感之间的联系在Cartwright诊所的病人们中有所体现。在夜里早些时候，大多数人在前半夜似乎会更容易做恶梦，等到快睡醒前就逐渐变为较愉快的梦，这表示他们正在化解白天产生的负面情绪。由于我们的意识被日常生活占据，所以我们并不总是会思考白天所发生事件的情感意义--我们被开始做梦时，这种影响才出现。

但这一过程并不一定要留到我们无意识的时候。Cartwright认为，人们可以通过练习有意识地控制反复出现的恶梦。一旦醒来，马上弄清楚是什么在梦中困扰你，进而可以想象你希望如何结束这个梦，当同样的梦再次出现的时候，想办法醒来，以便控制梦的发展。一般来说，经过大量的练习后，人们是能够学会在睡眠中控制梦境的。

Cartwright还指出，在一天快结束的时候，我们可能没有太多理由关注我们做的那些梦，除非它们使我们难以入睡或让"我们从惊恐中醒来"。恐怖活动、经济的不稳定性和通常的不安全感会增加人们的焦虑。长期受恶梦困扰的人应当寻求医生的帮助；而至于其他人，大脑自有它自己化解不好情绪的办法。放心地睡觉--或者做梦--早上醒来时你会感觉好一些。