宠物之梦：狗狗的梦境揭秘

嘘！你猜~你家狗宝宝梦里面有你吗？

狗狗做梦都梦些什么？研究人员认为狗类的睡眼模式和人类相似——当狗狗抽搐、奔跑和呜咽时，就易于观察到

大多数狗狗的主人都曾注意到，在狗狗睡觉时，这些毛茸茸的小伙伴会抽搐、呜咽或摇摆尾巴。

研究人员以前曾证实过犬类确实会做梦。如今他们认为，狗狗做梦的方式和人类相似，甚至可能和我们一样会梦到它们白天的生活。研究人员认为，既然狗狗做梦像人类，那它们大脑的结构和功能在某些方面也和人类相似。

“我们为什么不能有很多相同之处呢？毕竟，人和狗在基因和生理上，95%都是一样的，”行为药理学家尼古拉斯·多德曼博士如是说。“人和狗狗的大脑相似，神经化学过程一样，本能反应和记忆也以相似的方式“联结”在一起。

专家们认为“显示人类正在做梦的标志”是快速眼部运动（REM），指的是一个人眼皮合上以后眼球的转动。研究人员确定狗狗也经历过快速眼部运动。

“狗狗做梦是很容易被监测到的，”不列颠哥伦比亚大学荣休心理学教授斯坦利·科伦对每日邮报网（DailyMail.com）说道，他也是《狗狗做梦吗？你家狗狗想要你知道的几乎所有事》的作者。

“典型中等体型的狗狗睡觉时，它们的呼吸相当有规律，睡眠周期过了约20分钟，就可以观察到狗狗的眼球在合上的眼皮底下转动，而它们的呼吸也变得不规律起来。”“有时可以看到抽搐，就像狗狗想做什么，那标志着狗狗正在做梦，梦的长度约两到三分钟。”

研究发现狗狗做梦的多少和长短取决于狗狗的体型。 “研究证实，小型狗狗做梦更频繁，但梦的长度较短，而大型狗狗做梦次数较少，但梦的长度较长”，科伦说。

狗狗的年龄决定狗狗在快速眼部运动上所用时间的多少。“小狗比成年狗花更多睡眠时间在快速眼部运动上，大量新获得的数据都可以揭示这一点，”多德曼说。

典型的中等体型的狗狗睡觉时，它们的呼吸相当有规律，睡眠周期过了约20分钟，就可以观察到狗狗的眼球在合上的眼皮底下转动，而它们的呼吸也变得不规律起来。有时可以看到狗狗抽搐，它像要做什么，那意味着狗狗正在做梦。“成年狗狗10%到12%的睡眠时间都用于快速眼部运动。”

在人类睡觉时，大脑中存在一种可以阻止肌肉运动的生物机能。尽管如此，当该生物机能的开关变弱的时候，快速眼部运动睡眠行为就会出现紊乱，即使人们仍在睡眠中，他们也会在梦中行动起来。

“狗狗中也发生这样的事，如果它们的开关失效了，你就会看到狗狗在梦中撞东西或咬东西，”科伦说。

科伦认为，在实验室中控制这些生物机能的开关是有可能的，因为研究人员已经在大脑古老的部分——延髓中准确找到了开关的位置。

在实验室中，通过激活这些开关，科学家就能够观察到犬类在梦中的行动，并破解狗狗所的内容，他解释道。”对人类来说，他们的梦境总和日常生活相关，与当天发生的事情相关，”科伦说。 “看起来，狗狗基本上和人类一样，狗狗所梦的无非是些狗事。”

“德国短毛犬（Pointer）会扑梦中的鸟儿，而宾利猎犬（Doberman Pinscher）则追逐梦中的强盗。”

人们经常想知道，那些在梦中跑动的狗狗是否正做梦捉兔子之类的。尽管没有人真正懂得梦境的真实功能，但看起来，梦境是正常的数据处理和记忆存储所必不可少的。

人们经常在想，那些貌似正在梦中跑动的狗狗是否正在做梦捉兔子之类的，”多德曼说道。 “我想从以上的讨论，可以肯定地说，虽然做梦的真正功能，尚无人知晓，但看起来，做梦是正常的数据处理和记忆存储所必需的。” “这有利于证实，参与记忆的相同大脑结构也密切地参与到做梦活动中。”

还有些已在其他哺乳动物身上进行的做梦研究，旨在弄清楚是否所有的哺乳动物都做梦，还是只有狗狗做梦。

“我们有理由怀疑大部分哺乳动物做梦能否成立，”科伦说。“猫咪做梦，马儿做梦，但做梦的性质和周期取决于动物类别。”

尽管狗狗做梦的方式和人类相似，但人和狗的睡眠量是相差很多的。普通人每天要睡眠七到八小时，而任何地方的狗狗每天都要睡眠十二到十四小时，狗狗每天约有一半的时间是用来睡觉的。

“狗狗会做梦所蕴涵的最重要信息在于，这一事实表明不仅狗狗的大脑某种程度上与人类的相似，很可能它们的功能也是相同的——狗脑只比人脑原始点，“科伦说道。

英文原文：

What do dogs dream of?

What do dogs dream of? Researchers say canines have similar sleep patterns to their owners - and it's easy to spot as they twitch, run and whimper.

Most dog owners have noticed their furry friend whimper, twitch or wag its tail while sleeping.

Researchers have previously confirmed that canines do in fact dream. Now, they say that in fact, they dream in a similar way to humans - and may even dream about their day as we do. Researchers explain that since dogs do dream like humans, their brains are also structurally similar and functions in some of the ways.

'Why should we not have a great deal in common? After all we're 95percent identical genetically and physically,' Dr. Nicholas Dodman, professor of behavioral pharmacology . 'Our brains are similar, our neurochemistry the same, and our reflexes and memory are 'wired' in like manner.'

Experts say the 'basic maker that indicates dreaming' in humans is the motion of rapid eye movement (REM), which is when an individual's eyes begin moving around inside their closed eye lids. And researchers confirm that dogs experience the same thing.

'In dogs, you can monitor when they're having a dream quite easily,' Dr. Stanley Coren, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia and the author of 'Do Dogs Dream? Nearly Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know', told DailyMail.com.

'For a typical medium sized dog, their breathing is fairly regular and somewhere around 20 minutes into the sleep cycle, you can see the eyes moving around the closed lids and their breathing will become irregular.' And sometimes you see twitching, like the dog is trying to do something, which indicates the dog is in the dream state and it will dream for about two to three minutes.'

Studies have shown that how much and how long a dog dreams depends on its size. 'It turns out that small dogs dream more frequently and have shorter dreams and larger dogs dream less but have longer dreams', said Coren.

Also, the age of a dog determines on how much time they spend in REM. 'Puppies spend a much greater proportion of their sleep time than adult dogs in REM sleep, no doubt condensing huge quantities of newly acquired data,' says Dodman.

For a typical medium sized dog, their breathing is fairly regular and somewhere around 20 minsinto the sleep cycle, you can see the eyes moving around the closed lids and their breathing will become irregular. And sometimes you see twitching, like the dog is trying to do something, which means dog is in the dream state.'Adult dogs spend about 10 to 12 percent of their sleeping time in REM sleep.'

In human brains, there is a mechanism that keeps our muscles from moving while we sleep. However, when the switch is weak REM sleep behavior disorder can develop and individuals will act out their dreams while they are still asleep.

'The same thing goes with dogs, if their switch doesn't work that well you will see the dog running or snapping at something,' says Coren.

Coren explains it is possible to control these off switches in a lab because researchers have pinpointed it in the old part of the brain -- the medulla oblongata.

By inactivating these switches in the lab, scientists have been able to observe canines act out their dreams and decipher what they believe the dogs are dreaming of, he explains.'For human beings their dreams have to do with very common activities, things that happened during the day,' says Coren. 'And it seems that for dogs basically the same thing. Dogs dream about doing doggie things.'

'A Pointer will point at a dream bird and a Doberman Pinscher will chase a dream robber.'

People often wonder whether dogs that seem to be running during sleep are dreaming of catching rabbits or suchlike. Although no one really knows the true function of dreaming it does seem to be necessary for normal data processing and memory storage.

'People often wonder whether dogs that seem to be running during sleep are dreaming of catching rabbits or suchlike,' says Dodman. 'I think, from the above discussion that one can safely say they are. Although no one really knows the true function of dreaming it does seem to be necessary for normal data processing and memory storage.''In support of this is the fact that the same brain structures involved in memory are intimately involved in dreaming.'

There have been other dream studies performed on other mammals to understand if it is all mammals or just dogs that dream.

'We have reason to suspect that most mammals dream,' says Coren. 'Cats dream, horses dream, but the nature of their dreams and cycles depend on the species.'

Although dogs may dream similar to humans, the amount of sleep is very different. The average human sleeps about seven to eight hours per day, where an adult dog sleeps anywhere from 12 to 14 hours per day – about 50 percent of a dog's day is sleep.

'The most important thing about the fact dogs dream is that it demonstrates that not only is the dog's brains somewhat structurally similar to the way a human brain works, it probably functions the same way —just a primitive human brain,' says Coren.Â.

译者：一米阳光

2016.2.25

一校：符符

2016.2.26

原文链接：

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3451976/What-dogs-dream-Researchers-say-canines-similar-sleep-patterns-owners-s-easy-spot-twitch-run-whimper.html

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