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Late Night Gaming Tweaks The Brain
An anonymous reader writes "Science Blog reports that new research suggests late-night PC gaming tweaks your body's biological clock and melatonin levels, potentially leading to a class of terminally tired techies." According to the survey from the Akita University School Of Medicine in Japan, "performing an exciting video display terminal task fitted with a bright display suppresses the nocturnal changes in melatonin concentration and other elements of our biological clocks. In other words.. [it] might just be the physiological cause of a poor night's sleep."
...that's exactly how I spent my last year of college (late night gaming & snoozing during classes).
Keeping
When I was addicted to starcraft, I'd play till 4 in the morning, then toss and turn in bed till dawn. Perhaps screen brightness contributed. The excitement also hurt -- I was thinking about the game even when I was lying down. I think muscle tenseness, especially on my off-mouse shoulder, was the main culprit.
So sitting in front of my monitor until 10pm is like going to bed at 2am. Now when my employer makes me work late and I'm more tired than I should be the next day, I can blame it on them. :)
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No arguments here. I play games late at night atleast a couple times a week and definetely have trouble sleeping on normal hours.
I'm not sure that my sleeping schedule is set by the games I play. It could very well be that I just game late at night because I don't feel like sleeping.
I could have told you this for free. It's nice to see they're spending their grant money on this....
Those who can, do. Those who can't, simulate.
I wonder if looking at porn would have the same effect as playing a computer game. They're both excitatory activities on a bright computer monitor. Mods: don't mod me down, I'm being serious, not funny.
And here I thought it was the staying up until 2 am that made me tired.
Seriously though, I just finished playing natural selection and I know that it has me all hopped up. I've read that to get better sleep one should do something relaxing before going to sleep. Sort of getting in the mood I guess.
if i learn nothing else from a report that only had 7 test subjects (and quite frankly you cant, except maybe about their particular cases), i now know that doing 'exciting tasks' on the computer late at night raises my 'rectal temperature' ... now i have a great excuse as to why i dont wear pants when i game late at night
"this game of ET in the balance and my ass got warm, so i had to take my pants off, mum. no, i dont how that bunch of sticky tissues got on the floor there either"
Someone needs to invent two over the counter drugs to counter these effects.
1) A morning beverage with a central nervous system stimulant. Preferably served hot for those in cold climates.
2) A mellow tasty central nervous system depressant that goes well with pizza and will help you get a good nights sleep.
Wait a minute...
According to the article, the participants had their rectal temperature taken every two minutes between 2300 and 0200. I'd suggest reevaluating the test subjects if they DIDN'T sleep well.
If I were trolling, I would have posted anonymously. I'm being serious. Would a late night porn session have the same inhibitory effects on your biochemistry as a late night gaming session would?
These guys are just jealous because they got wooped at UT2k3 last week and they need to use their unrighteous dominion to put down the gamers that did it to them.
I have this happen to me a lot. Last night for example, I played a couple of hours of GTA:VC and decided to go the bed at a 11:45 (an early night for me). Well of course, I was restless and couldn't get to sleep till about 2am. The worst part about this is that I start work late the next morning, finish work later, then go to my second (part-time) job later. What happens then? Well, a guys gotta unwind, so I play some GTA for a few hours late at night... etc etc and the cycle continues.
im thinking no. why? because its totally different, brain wise. games require you to concentrate, be aware of your surroundings, and to track enemy movements... remeber that scientists are usign gaming to help treat ADHD/ADD. Gaming requires a really active brain, whether you notice or not.... ie; in counter-strike, what are you tracking with your brain? -where you are -where the last enemy you saw is -nearby chokehold/stronghold points -nearby allies -the bomb sites (or similar) -number of players left (roughly) on each side. -what weapon you are using, and how much ammo (roughly) you have left. etc... trust me; its almost a buzz when i play CS at 4 in the morning; so tired, but the game forces you to be awake... its strange. porn, on the other hand, requires none of that deep thought... i mean... obviously.... :P
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That should get rid of the Gaming hangover, and replace it will a hangover better suited to claiming sick days.
Cheers.
we do not have flying cars!!!
pretzel_logic
Researchers have determined that everything that goes on inside the brain, including interaction with other things, causes changes which are electrical, chemical, or both.
Sometimes, these changes can make you feel tired. Sometimes, they can make you feel more awake. Sometimes both, concurrently, along with any of the thousands of other things the mind can experience.
News at 11. Wake me up when they get to the commercials. Boring recaps of old proofs makes me sleepy.
*yawn*
i can fully agree with this guys conclusions.
I've felt like shit since ET was released.
-malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
Before I left for work I played at least 10 mins of a FPS. The place I worked at had a games room for the staff so during the breaks that's where I was.
Besides, I've done QA and tech support. Out of the two I prefer tech support. True, you have to deal with the 'most difficult' people but at least you can stay awake. The QA job was for Electronic Arts and even though it sounds good, playing the same game over and over and over and over can put your lights out faster than d/l a big pic on a 300 baud!
The GEEK shall inherit the earth...
People frequently find that after having sex they feel sleepy. Looking at porn should work the same way providing you bring yourself to physical release. At least it's been my experience that it works that way.
Sigh. And I started browsing only 'cause I couldn't fall asleep in the first place.
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Surprisingly I have not had any of these problems. When I was addicted to Cataclysm I used to sit up till 2 to 3AM every night. It didn't cause me loss of any sleep albeit I slept less than normal.
Woah, this has just shattered my whole way of life...
:)
Normal people get up for a midnight snack, I get up for a midnight dose of Counter-Strike and/or WolfET...
At least I'm not gonna get any fatter than I already am.
The researchers obviously didn't play MOO3.
That'll send you to sleep no worriezzzzzzzzzz
erroneous: look me up in a dictionary
Well, this definetly explains why I no longe have sleep cycles. But seriously, I have noticed that it's much easier not to sleep if I'm gaming as opposed to doing work. I'll actually take quick game breaks if I'm pulling an all nighter to stop myself from falling asleep.
"Rectal temperature was recorded at two-minute intervals during each task. "
No wonder their bodies didn't produce as much melatonin. They were probably in Fight or Flight mode!
Chika Chik-ah... do-e ow ow.
Jeez, man, then pick up the pieces of what is left of your life and try to unplug yourself from videogames.
Late night bashing on enemy pixels is great stress relief. I'll take screwed up melatonin levels anyday over tossing and turning all night from pent-up anxiety.
...playing games at night is the same as drinking a pot of coffee before bedtime.
Man, I could have produced results like this for a dollar. Five dollars if the Rectal monitoring is needed.
Dolemite
_____________________
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I have this problem, but not just because of gaming. Doing anything on a computer into late hours can give me sleeping problems. If I'm coding then I'll go to bed thinking about the functions that I wrote that evening and how to tweak them the next day... and so forth. :)
I've found that the easiest way for me to relax is to read a book. Even if it's a book on coding, reading puts me to sleep quick. So, I don't know if it'll work for anyone else, but I would encourage that you give reading a try before you go to bed. Trying to get to bed a little earlier than usual wouldn't hurt either.
I usually play games with old college friends until about 11pm most nights. I have a 20" CRT. I've heard in several other articles that LCDs are a lot easier on the user since they're not firing the pixel gun constantly at your head :) Anybody with experience on both types of monitors?
Ok I bet this little experiment they took was with the average joe. I mean if they took a guy who LANs frequently I bet he would only need like a good 4 hours of sleep for a whole day. You see it's all condtioning, I can last two days on 2 hours of sleep. All you need to do is train yourself to gain the most efficent sleep possible or try what Kramer did on Seinfeld and sleep 20 minutes every hour.