Video games are good for a lot of things – they increase your reflex speed, increase the brain’s grey matter and even help us to multi-task. But are the benefits restricted to daylight hours? According to a recent study, games might be helping us avoid nightmares.
The study focused on military men and women, with 64 identifying as ‘hardcore’ gamers and 22 who played games less frequently. The study found that the participants who gamed less frequently suffered from more threatening nightmares than their hardcore counterparts.
Interestingly enough, those who played less games found they were passive victims of their dreams, while the hardcore gamers said they were active participants. If games do numb us to violence, this could be extremely beneficial for those in the military.
The study by Jayne Gackenbach, Evelyn Ellerman and Christie Hall is available for your perusal here.
My mother used to claim playing games before bed would cause nightmares. Take that, mother.
[APA via Wall Street Journal]