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Life

Hijack your own dreams to improve your skills

By Jessica Hamzelou

20 December 2011

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Rehearsing waking life

(Image: Garo/Phanie/Rex Features)

THE ungovernable world of dreams can be a thrilling or scary place to spend the night. Add an element of control, though, and the dream world turns into something else: an environment so realistic that it can be used as a training ground to hone the cognitive skills we rely on when we wake up.

A slew of recent studies have shown that people can use dreams to improve decision-making and physical skills. They could even help people regain mobility following a stroke.

Lucid dreaming is an unusual phenomenon in which some people…

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