Going to bed at the same time every night could give your child's brain a boost, a recent study found.
新近的一项研究发现，每天晚上让孩子在同一钟点上床睡觉有助于大脑发育。
Researchers at University College London found that when 3-year-olds have a regular bedtime they perform better on cognitive tests administered at age 7 than children whose bedtimes weren't consistent. The findings represent a new twist on an expanding body of research showing that inadequate sleep in children and adolescents hurts academic performance and overall health.
伦敦大学学院(University College London)的研究人员发现，三岁的儿童如果保持规律的就寝时间，等他们到了七岁接受认知能力测试时，就会比那些就寝时间不规律的孩子表现更佳。先前已有越来越多的研究表明，儿童和成年人睡眠不足会影响他们的学习成绩、损害其整体健康状况，这一发现是这方面研究的一个新转折点。
The latest study considered other factors that can influence bedtime and cognitive development, such as kids skipping breakfast or having a television in their bedroom. After accounting for these, the study found that going to bed very early or very late didn't affect cognitive performance, so long as the bedtime was consistent.
最新的这项研究将其他一些可能影响就寝时间和认知发展的因素也考虑进来了，比如孩子不吃早饭或是卧室里有电视机。在将这些因素统统考虑进来后，该研究发现，只要在同一个时间点上床睡觉，不论是早睡还是晚睡，都不会影响孩子的认知表现。
'The surprising thing was the later bedtimes weren't significantly affecting children's test scores once we took other factors into account,' said Amanda Sacker, director of the International Center for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health at University College London and a co-author of the study. 'I think the message for parents is . . . maybe a regular bedtime even slightly later is advisable.'
伦敦大学学院社会与健康生命过程研究国际中心(International Center for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health)负责人、该研究的合着者阿曼达•赛克(Amanda Sacker)说：“令人惊讶的是，一旦我们将其他的因素都考虑进来后，就会发现，晚一点睡觉不会对孩子们的考试成绩产生大的影响。我觉得，对家长们来说……固定的就寝时间即便是稍微晚一点也是可取的。”
The researchers suggested that having inconsistent bedtimes may hurt a child's cognitive development by disrupting circadian rhythms. It also might result in sleep deprivation and therefore affect brain plasticity -- changes in the synapses and neural pathways -- at critical ages of brain development.
研究人员表示，就寝时间不规律可能会扰乱生物周期节律进而有损孩子的认知发展。它可能还会导致睡眠不足、从而在大脑发育的关键时期影响大脑的可塑性──即神经元突触和神经通路的变化。
Sleep experts often focus largely on how much sleep children get. While that is important, 'we tend to not pay as much attention to this issue of circadian disruption,' said Judith Owens, director of sleep medicine at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., who wasn't involved with the study.
睡眠领域的专家重点关注的常常是儿童能获得多少睡眠。虽然这个问题也很重要，但华盛顿美国国家儿童医疗中心(Children's National Medical Center)睡眠医学部的负责人朱迪思•欧文斯(Judith Owens)说：“我们更倾向于关注昼夜节律被打乱这个问题。”欧文斯并未参与前述那项研究。
Insufficient sleep and irregular bedtimes may each affect cognitive development through different mechanisms, Dr. Owens said. 'The kid who has both [problems] may beat even higher risk for these cognitive impairments,' she said.
欧文斯博士说，睡眠不足和就寝时间不规律可能会通过不同的机制影响认知发展。她说：“一个孩子如果睡得时间少又睡得不规律，那他（她）患上认知障碍的风险就会更高。”
The study, published online in July in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, examined data on bedtimes and cognitive scores for 11,178 children.
《流行病学与公共卫生杂志》(Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health)网络版在7月份刊发了这一研究，该研究共分析了11,178名儿童的就寝时间及认知得分的数据。
The children were participants in the U.K.'s Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative longterm study of infants born between 2000 and 2002.
这些儿童都是英国千禧世代研究(Millennium Cohort Study)的参与者。这是一项具有全国代表性的长期研究，研究对象是那些在2000年至2002年间出生的儿童。
Mothers were asked about their children's bedtimes at 3, 5 and 7 years of age. Nearly 20% of the 3-year-olds didn't have a regular bedtime. That figure dropped to 9.1% at age 5 and 8.2% at age 7. Mothers were also asked about socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and family routines.
母亲们被问及孩子们在三岁、五岁以及七岁时的就寝时间。在三岁幼童中，几乎有20%的人就寝时间不规律。这一数据在五岁的儿童中降至9.1%，在七岁孩子中减少至8.2%。母亲们还被问到了社会经济学和人口学特征以及家庭日常生活习惯方面的问题。
When the children were 7 years old, they received cognitive assessments in reading, math and spatial abilities. The poorest test scores were recorded by children who went to bed very early or very late, and by those who had inconsistent bedtimes, said Dr. Sacker. But once other factors in the home were taken into account only the inconsistent bedtime was associated with lower scores, she said.
当孩子们到了七岁的时候，他们便接受了阅读、数学和空间能力方面的认知评估。赛克尔博士说，记录中得分最低的全是那些睡得特别早或特别晚的孩子，还有那些就寝时间不规律的孩子。她说，但将家里其他的因素考虑进来之后，则只剩睡觉时间不规律这一项与较低的分数相关联了。
A consistent pattern of sleep behavior mattered. 'Those who had irregular bedtimes at all three ages had significantly poorer scores than those who had regular bedtimes,' Dr. Sacker said. This was especially true for girls who didn't establish consistent bedtimes between 3 and 7 years old.
拥有一个长期规律的睡眠行为是至关重要的。塞克尔博士说：“不论孩子在哪个年龄段就寝时间不规律，他们的得分都比按时睡觉的孩子要低得多。”对于就寝时间不规律的三到七岁的女孩儿而言，情况更是如此。
Yvonne Kelly, a co-author of the study and a professor in the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, said the researchers aren't sure why girls seemed to be more affected. She noted that the difference in scores between these groups of girls and boys wasn't statistically significant for the reading and spatial tests, but it was for the math test.
该研究的合着者、伦敦大学学院流行病学及公共卫生系教授伊冯娜•凯莉(Yvonne Kelly)说，研究人员不太清楚为什么女孩似乎更易受到就寝时间不规律的影响。她指出，这几组男孩女孩在阅读和空间能力测试中的统计得分差异并不十分显著，但数学考试的分差却比较明显。
'I don't think for one moment that boys are immune to these things and girls are more affected,' Dr. Kelly said.
凯莉博士说：“我不认为女孩更易受到影响，而男孩却丝毫不受其影响。”
The researchers didn't have data on the total number of hours children slept overnight because mothers weren't asked about what time the children woke up.
研究人员手头没有孩子们一整夜总共睡了几个小时的数据，因为母亲们并未被问及孩子起床的时间。
In general school-age kids -- kindergarten through eighth-grade -- should be getting about 10 hours of sleep, while 3- and 4-year-olds might need 11 to 13 hours, including day-time naps, said Shalini Paruthi, director of the pediatric sleep and research center at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center at Saint Louis University.
圣路易斯大学(Saint Louis University)SSM卡迪那•格伦农儿童医学中心(SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center)儿童睡眠与研究中心的负责人莎琳尼•派鲁锡(Shalini Paruthi)说，一般的学龄期儿童──从幼儿园到八年级──应该需要大约10个小时的睡眠，但三到四岁的孩子可能需要11到13个小时的睡眠，其中包括白天的小睡。
Dr. Paruthi said the good news from the study is that the majority of the children went to bed at a consistent time, reinforcing advice from sleep specialists. 'The younger the child is, the better it is to get into the habit of a regular bedtime,' said Dr. Paruthi, who wasn't affiliated with the study. She recommends a 15-minute, pre-bedtime routine to help the brain transition from a more alert to a quiet state.
派鲁锡博士说，这一研究带给我们的好消息是：大多数孩子都遵循了睡眠专家的建议，就寝时间都很规律。派鲁锡博士说：“孩子越小，让其养成按时睡觉的习惯越好。”派鲁锡并未参与前述那项研究。她建议每天安排一个15分钟的睡前活动时间，以此帮大脑从一个更警醒的状态过渡到安静的状态。
And in order to keep the body's internal clock in sync with the brain, bedtimes on weekends and in the summer should only stray from the normal time by an hour or less, Dr. Paruthi said. 'The internal clock in the brain and the body like to have consistency every day,' she said.
为了使你身体的生物钟与大脑保持同步，即便在周末或夏天，你也只能比平时正常的就寝时间早睡或晚睡最多一个小时。派鲁锡博士说：“你体内的生物钟和大脑希望你每一天都能保持步调一致。”