英国Royal Holloway University心理学教授Jakke Tamminen说很多学生都会用临急抱佛脚的方式应付考试：”staying up all night right before an exam, in the hope of stuffing in as much knowledge as they can”。
Stuffing in是填入、装满。 Stuffing in knowledge是把书本内容硬塞进脑袋。但Tamminen就警告：”that’s the worst thing you can do”。
Pull an all-nighter解to stay up all night，通宵达旦，彻夜不眠。考试前夕，以pull an all-nighter来作最后冲刺是非常错误的做法，因为pull an all-nighter的唯一作用，只是令自己好过一点，以弥补平时准备不足。
睡眠深化记忆
Tamminen是研究睡眠对记忆力影响的专家。他的研究证明，其实书要读得好，睡眠的作用至大，因为”sleep itself is essential for embedding（使被铭记） knowledge in the brain”。他的研究是这样的：
In Tamminen’s ongoing research project, participants learn new vocabulary, then stay awake all night. Tamminen compares their memory of those words after a few nights, and then after a week. Even after several nights of recovery sleep（补充睡眠）, there is a substantial（重要的） difference in how quickly they recall those words compared to the control group of participants who didn’t face sleep deprivation（缺乏睡眠）.
他解释：”Sleep is really a central part of learning. Even though you’re not studying when you sleep, your brain is still studying. It’s almost like it’s working on your behalf. You can’t really get the full impact of the time you put into your studies unless you sleep.”
一早就上床睡觉可能会给人懒惰的感觉，但其实对读书有帮助。因为睡觉时脑袋仍在继续帮你温习。他最新的研究发现︰”… slow-wave sleep （SWS） is important for forming and retaining memories（深化记忆）, whether of vocabulary, grammar, or other knowledge.”
The interaction（互动） of different parts of the brain is key here. During SWS, the hippocampus（海马体）, which is good at quick learning, is in constant communication with the neocortex（新皮质）, to consolidate（整合） it for long term recall.
简单说，因为新学的知识需要在SWS睡眠时深化记忆，若日间学了新字，但当晚缺乏睡眠，那很快就会忘记。睡眠不只影响学习，也影响身体其他方面的运作，但科学界对睡眠只是在近年才有较深的认识。
影响身体运作
Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity（寿命）. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating（毁灭性的） health consequences when we don’t sleep.
Compared to the other basic drives in life – eating, drinking, and reproducing – the purpose of sleep remained elusive（难以找到的）.
UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab总监Matthew Walker教授在Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams中，讨论了最新的睡眠科学知识，并教大家如何好好利用睡眠和发梦的力量。
