The amount of sleep needed each night may depend less on fluffy pillows than a single genetic mutation, according to recently published research.
A team of scientists claim they have identified a gene that regulates the optimum amount of human sleep each individual needs, explaining why after six hours in the land of nod one person may awake reborn, while another is like the living dead.
The study, published in the journal Science, identified a mother and daughter pair who needed well below the eight-and-a-half hours a night that doctors say is a must for long-term well being.
Blood tests from the easily-rested pair showed a mutation in their DEC2 gene, which has previously been implicated in the control of circadian rhythms — the cycles that regulate the daily patterns of human behavior.
Lead scientist Fu Ying-hui, a professor of neurology at the University of California, said her team then tested their findings on genetically modified mice and fruit flies.
The animals were observed scampering around in the dark more and sleeping less.
Fu said the observations “could provide an explanation for why human subjects with the mutation are able to live unaffected by short amounts of sleep throughout their lives.”
But it is still unclear whether the mutation affects sleep quantity alone or also wakefulness.(AFP)
最近公佈的一項研究報告指出，影響人類每晚所需睡眠時間長短的關鍵，並非鬆軟的枕頭，而可能是單一基因突變。
一組科學家宣稱，他們已找出一種專門控制每個人所需最佳睡眠時間的基因，這可以解釋為什麼同樣睡了六小時，有些人醒來後生龍活虎，有些人卻像行屍走肉。
刊登在《科學》雜誌的這項研究，以一對每天睡眠需求遠少於八個半小時的母女為研究對象；八個半小時是醫生建議長期保持健康所需的每日睡眠時間。
這對容易入眠的母女血液檢驗顯示，她們的DEC2基因發生突變，先前曾有科學家認為這基因和控制晝夜節律有關；晝夜節律就是規範人類每日生活作息的循環。
加州大學神經病學教授，同時也是該研究主持人的傅嫈惠教授表示，她的研究團隊隨後將這項發現用來測試基因改造過的白老鼠和果蠅。
結果這些動物在黑暗中活蹦亂跳，睡眠時間也減少了。
傅教授表示，這些觀察結果「可以解釋為何該基因突變的人，終其一生都睡得比別人少，但生活卻不受影響的理由」。
研究團隊目前還不清楚該突變基因影響的只有睡眠需求，還是也會影響失眠。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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