Adventures in Dreamland

There's a story making the rounds based on an an abstract presented at the Science of Consciousness Conference which is an extension of previously published work that claims that video game players more frequently experience control over their dreams. From the Livescience description of the work:

"If you're spending hours a day in a virtual reality, if nothing else it's practice," said Jayne Gackenbach, a psychologist at Grant MacEwan University in Canada. "Gamers are used to controlling their game environments, so that can translate into dreams."

They also suggest that because of the aptitude for lucid dreaming, gamers may experience fewer nightmares

[G]amers experienced less or even reversed threat simulation (in which the dreamer became the threatening presence), with fewer aggression dreams overall. [...] "What happens with gamers is that something inexplicable happens," Gackenbach explained. "They don't run away, they turn and fight back. They're more aggressive than the norms."

So if you're suffering from bad dreams, it might be worth trying some video games before bed. Maybe you'll turn those horrifying nightmares into a nice, relaxing game of Doom.