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Topics: Real Life
There have been plenty of studies into us video game fans over the years. We’re more likely to have superior decision-making skills, improved brain function, and generally be smarter than we would be if we didn’t play games. It turns out gaming can also improve our mental health. This latest study finds that video games can make us more likely to experience lucid dreams too, which is slightly weirder.
Link has some pretty lucid experiences in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Check out the game below.
Research carried out by Marc Sestir, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Central Arkansas, and Jennifer Peszka, an associate professor of psychology at Hendrix College discovered that there is a connection between people who play video games and those who experience lucid dreams. The study was published in the Dreaming journal.
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If you don’t know, lucid dreams are dreams where you’re aware that you’re dreaming. The study surveyed 297 participants and had some interesting findings. General gaming isn’t linked to lucid dreaming but those who used more physical systems like the Nintendo Wii or Microsoft’s Kinect were more likely to experience lucid dreams and have the ability to control dream frequency.
Speaking to PsyPost, Sestir and Peszka explained, “Lucid and control dreaming are very interesting states, but beyond academic curiosity they also may have some therapeutic effects for issues such as PTSD. If this is true, then finding ways to increase their frequency would be beneficial.” See, playing video games can actually be a very good thing.