極度疲憊時的“微睡眠”

加了一夜的班，終于拖著疲憊的身軀開車走在回家的路上。突然一陣睡意襲來，你勉強睜著眼睛想要保持清醒。可是下一秒你突然發現自己的車正向一根電線桿靠攏，你趕緊剎車。你以為自己一直是醒著的，其實就在你把車開向電線桿的時候，你的大腦已經睡了幾秒鐘了，這就是我們所說的“微睡眠”。

A microsleep is an episode of sleep which may last for a fraction of a second or up to thirty seconds. Often, it is the result of sleep deprivation, mental fatigue, depression, or hypersomnia. For the sleep-deprived, microsleeping can occur at any time, typically without substantial warning.

微睡眠（microsleep）指持續時間不超過30秒的短暫睡眠狀態，多由睡眠不足、精神疲乏、抑郁、或嗜睡癥引起。對那些睡眠不足的人來說，隨時都可能進入微睡眠狀態，而且沒有任何征兆。

Microsleeps become extremely dangerous when they occur in situations which demand constant alertness, such as driving a motor vehicle or working with heavy machinery. People who experience microsleeps usually remain unaware of them, instead believing themselves to have been awake the whole time, or to have temporarily lost focus.

在駕車或重型機械作業等需要高度警醒的工作中出現微睡眠狀況是極度危險的。經歷過微睡眠狀況的人通常都對此毫不察覺，他們以為自己一直處于清醒狀態，或者認為自己只是偶爾走神了。

When experiencing microsleeps while driving an automobile, from the perspective of the driver, he or she drives a car, and then suddenly realizes that several seconds have passed by unnoticed. It is not obvious to the driver that he or she was asleep during those missing seconds, although this is in fact what happened. The sleeping driver is at very high risk for having an accident during a microsleep.

開車時出現微睡眠狀況，從司機的角度來看，他/她正開著車，好像突然有那么幾秒鐘一下子跳過去了。司機本人可能沒有意識到在這幾秒鐘里他是出于睡眠狀態的，但他的確是睡著了。開車時出現微睡眠狀況很可能會導致意外事故的發生。

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（中國日報網英語點擊 Helen）

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