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 fears; by the late 1970s, neurologists had switched to thinking of themas 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 Roslind Cartwight, 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 or depressed, and those feelings can stay with us all day”, says Stanford sleep researcher Dr. William Dement.

The link between dreams and emotions shows 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 begin 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 it 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 or “we wake up 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.

译文

在一夜好觉的所有组成因素中，梦似乎是最无法控制的一个。在梦中，我们打开窗户看见的世界里，逻辑被中止，死人开口说话。一个世纪前，弗洛伊德阐述了他的革命性理论，即梦是人们无意识的欲望和恐惧经伪装后的影子；到20世纪70年代末期，神经病学家们转而认为梦是“精神噪音”，即睡眠时神经修复活动的一种胡乱的副产品。如今，研究人员猜测梦是大脑情感自动调节系统的一部分，当大脑处于“离线”状态时对情绪进行规整。一名主要的权威人士说，梦这种异常强烈的精神活动不仅能被驾驭，事实上还可以被加以有意识的控制，以帮助我们更好地睡眠和感觉。芝加哥医疗中心心理学系主任罗萨兰德·卡特怀特说“梦是你自己的，如果你不喜欢，就改变它。”

大脑成像的证据支持了这个观点。匹兹堡大学的埃里克博士说，在梦境很形象的快速动眼睡眠中，大脑和完全清醒时一样活跃。但不是大脑的所有部分都在活动，脑边缘系统(“情绪大脑”)异常活跃，而前额皮层(思维和推理的中心地带)则相对安静。斯坦福睡眠研究员威廉姆·迪曼特博士说：“我们从梦中醒来，要么高兴要么沮丧，这些情绪会伴随我们一整天。”

在卡特怀特的诊所的病人可以看出梦和情绪之间的联系。多数人似乎在前半夜做更多不好的梦，而在快睡醒前发展成为开心一些的梦，这说明人们在梦里逐渐克服了白天产生的负面情绪。因为清醒时我们的头脑被日常琐事占据着，所以并不总去想白天发生的事情对我们情绪的影响，直到我们开始做梦，这种影响看来才会出现。

这一过程不一定是无意识的。卡特怀特相信人们可以练习有意识地控制噩梦的重复发生。当你一醒过来，立刻确定梦中有什么在困扰你，设想一下你希望这个梦怎么结束，下次再做同样的梦时，试着醒过来以控制它的进程。通过多次练习，人们完全可以学会在梦中这样做。

卡特怀特说，说到底，如果梦没有使我们无法入睡或“从梦中惊醒”，就没有理由太在意它。恐怖主义、经济不稳定及通常的不安全感都增加了人们的忧虑。那些长期受到噩梦困扰的人应该接受专家帮助，而对其他人来说，大脑有自动消除不良情绪的方法。睡一觉甚至做个梦，早上醒来时你会感觉好多了。

词汇

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anxiety [AN5zaiEti] n. 忧虑, 担心, 挂念, 忧虑的事

派生：anxiety-ridden a. 忧心忡忡的

例句：Daddy was trembling with anxiety as to how the talks would go. 爸爸为那些商谈的进展而焦虑不安。

词组：be all anxiety 担忧feel no anxiety about 对……不愁, 不着急give anxiety to 使……担心

反义词：ease; easiness

byproduct n. 副产品

例句：Silver is often obtained as a byproduct during the separation of lead from rock.。从矿石中提取铅时，常可获得银这种副产品。

cortex [5kR:teks] n. 皮层

例句：Within the epidermis develops a ring of parenchyma cells, the cortex. 在表皮细胞内有一个质壁细胞环，即皮层。

clinic [5klinik] n. 诊所, 临床教学

派生：clinical a. 门诊部的；临床的

例句：The children's clinic was open during school hours. 学校诊疗所在学校上课的时间是开诊的。

harness [5hB:nis] n. 马具, 挽具状带子, 甲胄vt. 给……上挽具, 驾驭, 披上甲胄, 利用……以产生动力

例句：Some scientists are working hard at how tide can be harnessed to produce electricity. 有些科学家正在努力研究怎样利用潮汐发电。

词组：die in harness (die with harness on one's back) 殉职in harness with 同……合作

同义词：control hook up saddle use yoke

identify [ai5dentifai] vt. 识别, 认为……等同于, 确定, 使参与vi. 一致, 认同

例句：He is the character with whom the reader can most easily identify. 他是最容易引起读者共鸣的人物。

词组：identify oneself with 支持; 参与; 与…….密切结合; 和…….打成一片

同义词：designate distinguish know label make out nail name place recognize spot tag tell

insecurity [7insi5kjuEriti] n. 不安全, 不安全感

例句：His repeated references to his dangerous hobbies were only a disguise to cover up his insecurity. 他不时地提起他危险的嗜好只是掩饰他的不安全感的托词。

词组：a feeling of insecurity不安全感

反义词：security

limbic [5lImbIk] adj. 边的, 缘的

例句：The signals from these nerves travel directly to the limbic system in the brain. 来自这些神经的信号直接传播到大脑中的边缘系统。

literally [5litErEli] ad. 逐字地, 按照字面上地, 不夸张地

例句：This is forever very literally a miracle; a thing to strike us dumb. 这确确实实地永远是一个奇迹，是一种使我们哑口无言的事物。

同义词：actually exactly really word-for-word

反义词：figuratively

panic [5pAnik] n. 恐慌, 惊慌a. 惊慌的, 没有理由的, 恐慌的vt. 使惊慌, 使狂热vi. 惊慌

例句：It was panic stations when the police arrived to search the building. 警方来搜查大楼时, 大家都很惊慌。

词组：be in a panic在惊慌中be seized with a panic惊慌失措

同义词：alarm awe dread fear fright phobia scare terror

persistent [pE5sistEnt] a. 固执的, 坚持的, 持续的, 作用持久的adj. 接连不断的

例句：Circadian rhythms show persistent, stable periodicities of about 24 hours. 昼夜节律表现出大约24小时的连续而稳定的周期性。

random [5rAndEm]n. 随意, 随机a. 任意的, 随便的, 胡乱的, 随机的ad. 胡乱地

例子：The librarian took a book at random from the shelf. 图书管理员从书架上随便拿了一本书。

词组：go on the random嘻闹; 狂饮, 纵酒取乐

同义词：aimless haphazard irregular unorganized

反义词：deliberate

reasoning [5ri:zEniN] n. 推论, 推理, 论证

例句：That is the only weak link in his reasoning. 那是他推理中唯一的薄弱环节。

词组：sound reasoning正确的推论

thermostat [5WE:mEstAt]n. 自动调温器, 温度自动启闭装置

例句：The sensing element necessary for controlling room temperature is called a thermostat. 控制室温所需要的那种传感元件称为恒温器。

词组：a thermostat blade温变断流器

therapist [5WerEpIst]n. 治疗学家

例句：Until recently, Krickitt worked as a cardio pulmonary therapist at a local medical center. 直到前不久，克瑞基特一直在当地的一家医疗中心做心肺疗养师。

vivid [5vivid] a. 生动的, 鲜明的, 鲜艳的, 活泼的, 逼真的, 清晰的

例句：It is still vivid in my memory. 这事我还记得很清楚。

词组：vivid description生动的描述

同义词：bright brilliant clear colorful dazzling distinct flamboyant glaring rich splendid strong

反义词：dull

visualize [5vIzjJElaIz, 5vIV-]vt. 使看得见, 使具体化, 想象, 设想vi.     想象, 显形

例句：He described the place and I tried to visualize it. 他把那个地方描绘了一遍，我尝试在心中想象那幅图景。