Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: GABRIEL AUGUSTO BAPTISTA CUNHA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : GABRIEL AUGUSTO BAPTISTA CUNHA
DATE: 08/12/2025
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: INSTITUTO DO CEREBRO - SALA DE REUNIÕES
TITLE:

Investigation of the influence of subjective experience with video games on subsequent sleep, dreams, nightmares, and dream incubation

KEY WORDS:

dream incubation; sleep; nightmare; video games; Threat Simulation Theory;

PAGES: 61
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Fisiologia
SUMMARY:

This study investigates how aspects of subjective experience with video games—immersion, emotional mobilization (threat and reward), and novelty—influence dream activity (dream incubation, dream recall, and nightmares) and sleep quality on the subsequent night. Threat Simulation Theory (TST) proposes that dreaming functions as an adaptive mechanism where threatening events are simulated during sleep, contributing to the optimization of waking behavior. Video games emerge as interesting tools for studying TST in humans as they simulate threatening situations without real-world risk, and are frequently recognized in the literature for their potential to promote associated dreams. An online experiment (N=158) was conducted in four stages. Participants filled out questionnaires before playing a video game of their choice, then played a title for the first time and reported on their experiences through the First Game Session Assessment questionnaire and a Post-Sleep questionnaire after the subsequent sleep period. Dream recall was observed to be positively predicted by feelings of relief and disorientation (feeling lost/confused), but negatively predicted by joy experienced during the game. Dream incubation (dreaming about the game) correlated strongly with immersion, difficulty, and clusters related to the "virtual landscape of fear" (sensation of being prey, suspense, fear, sadness, jump scares, and perceiving the game as scary) and "ecological incubation" (threat/aggressiveness), but did not correlate with novelty or reward. Nightmare occurrence and sleep quality did not correlate with game-related variables. Our findings indicate that the video game experience significantly affects dream content and recall, but not perceived sleep quality or nightmare occurrence.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Interno - 3086031 - DANIEL YASUMASA TAKAHASHI
Interna - 6346130 - MARIA BERNARDETE CORDEIRO DE SOUSA
Presidente - 1660044 - SIDARTA TOLLENDAL GOMES RIBEIRO