Alt, Gamers more likely to experience sweet, lucid dreams
By Laura June 
posted May 28th 2010 4:04PM
posted May 28th 2010 4:04PM
New research coming out of Grant MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada has left us feeling a little... creepy. It turns out that gamers and those who have lucid dreams -- in which the person is aware of the fact that they're dreaming and can sometimes control the dreams -- have a few things in common. Namely, both are usually less prone to motion sickness and possess better spatial skills, as well as demonstrating higher levels of concentration. This led Jayne Gackenbach -- whose previous work had been in the field of lucid dreaming -- to surmise that incessant gamers might just be more likely to also be lucid dreamers. And guess what? Her research corroborated that -- and a second study revealed even more interesting tidbits -- such as the fact that gamers are also more likely to switch from first person to third person "out of body" views in dreams, as well. So, where does all of this lead us? Gackenbach sees the data and findings as applicable in the treatment of persistent nightmares, which can often be "ended" if the dreamer is able to take control of the situation, and ultimately could help treat certain stress-related disorders like PTSD. We'll have to see what the future holds, but we certainly aren't surprised to hear that heavy gamers can be cool even as they sleep.
Lucid dreams, the ultimate sandbox (suck on that, GTA).
I love lucid dreams. It's fun to take control and be able to do what ever the hell you want. The only problem is I have trouble actually keeping the dream going because I always wake myself up. Such a pitty it would be nice to live in my own world for 8 hours everynight and then everyone elses for the rest.
And I just thought it was because I took too much acid while playing!
Another reason why playing games is good for you!
I have had a few lucid dreams, and have felt myself fall asleep many times, once about 10 times in a row (call it practice, if you will). And I can also see the implications for programming (which I also do): just the other day I spent nearly 10 hours straight programming before calling it quits for bed, at which point I was too tired to lucid dream...
But sadly, lucid dreams aren't quite the "sandbox" that some imagine them to be: only parts can be manipulated, and there is a very stringent "draw-distance setting." It's like being stuck looking down at the ground all the time, and trying to look up causes a loss of stability in the lucid dream. The mind isn't infinitely powerful, after all.
I only know in my case, I definitely can control my own dreams if my dream starts turning sour. I just change events, introduce new mechanics or reload the dream altogether.
I also can re-start a dream during another sleep session if I want to; which I've done a number of times, provided it's memorable enough. And the first and third person view is definitely something that I do on a regular basis.
I honestly don't know if this "ability" is actually useful for anything, but I do know that nightmares have dissappeared totally or if they do come, I'll just "switch channels" and it's all good again. Probably the only real benefit of it.
I'm not sure if I developed this after or before I started into heavy gaming. I do know that D&D helped me quite a bit with being able to control my dreams.
Lucid dream is cool, I often doing T pose and hover and start moving forward with legs in samadi pose.
I have those dreams where I go from 1st person to 3rd person.
Sometimes my dreams even have fancy transition and 'camera' movements just like in blockbuster movies.
Hahah this is awesome I did this study my my Psychology class and filled it up with crap to get 2 credits.
I don't know about gamers being less prone to motion sickness. I've been a gamer all my life, and I enjoy all types of games, but I do suffer from motion sickness. Put me in front of a 3DTV playing the next generation of F-Zero and I'll probably be fine. Put me on a cruise to Mexico or a plane ride to Italy and I'll be throwing up unless I have some motion sickness medicine.
Back to the actual topic at hand... I rarely have lucid dreams. Heck, I rarely remember my dreams at all.
yay macewan!
and they said being a couch potato is bad.
The best part is when you realize you are in control and just go for a super-man fly. Think about it.
+1 for Alan Wake screen shot
@abedinthehouse
I thought he was still typing!
Damn, writer taking forever to type one page.
It wasn't a lake it was an ocean, yeah ok!
The past couple months I've noticed I start dreaming the second I start to fall asleep. Typically the dream wakes me back up a minute later. It feels like I'm between day dreaming and sleep dreaming and it gives a really unique feeling. I feel like I have the ability to control my dreams because I'm half awake, but haven't yet been able to do it. It typically happens once or twice till i am fully asleep.
I can always take control of my dreams when "I" feel bad or unsafe. I can't switch to 3rd person view though(guess bc I play FPS too much). the best part is, I know "I" am in dreams, so I can always do some superhero things, really cool.
I, being a gamer, can attest that this is true for me at least. I have had lucid dreams before...didn't know there was an actual name for them till now, but I have had them. As well as switching between 3rd and 1st person...even a kind of "spectator" view ala L4D, L4D2.
This is because, after 15 hours straight gaming you kinda just crash on your bed and pass out from exhaustion.
I'm a gamer and I can't concentrate worth shit...
I always procrastinate and my mind wanders off in the middle of conversations.
Except for those who have played excessive amounts of Manhunt, Resident Evil and FEAR...
I sometime realize that I'm dreaming and then start to control the dream in the way I want. It's lots of fun and I wish I could do it more often =)
My guess that figureing out that you're dreaming while dreaming is a sign of intelligence =)
i usually have some strange and recurrent dreams about some small and grey creatures. My dreams start with a men in black that bring me out of my room, and there are some lights then those small grey creatures that start playing with a long tube... then i don't remember the rest.
A similar study shows that Nexus One owners are more likely to dream of electric sheep.
dead space gave all the world nightmares