In the oddest discovery of the past few weeks, a new Tetris craving study has found that there may be a negative correlation between playing the classic video game and fighting addiction, as the concentration required for this task can actually block these cravings.
Shockingly enough, it appears that the Tetris cravings study has revealed that even playing this game for three minutes can ultimately decrease cravings for a number of activities, from sex and sleeping to even food - so, in fact, it appears like video games can actually help someone lose weight!
According to Yahoo! News, the Tetris cravings study found that just three minutes of playing this game reduces cravings by about 20 percent, and it even works for people who want to engage in self-damaging behavior such as smoking or consuming drugs.
For the Tetris cravings study, Tech Times reports that a team of psychology researchers from Australia's Queensland University of Technology and the Plymouth University studied at length what kind of effects the game had on everyday life, even beyond addiction and cravings, examining data from 31 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 27 after they were asked to play the puzzle game over the course of seven days.
To scientifically follow the process during the Tetris cravings study, researchers asked their subjects to text them reports of cravings they felt during the research, as well as prompting them to text even without researchers asking them to.
In all, students said they only craved for one thing or another about 30 percent of the time, with roughly two thirds of these cravings being for food and non-alcoholic drinks, 21 percent craved cigarettes, beer and the like and 16 percent were for other activities such as sleep, socializing or sex.
"Craving involves imagining the experience of consuming a particular substance or indulging in a particular activity," said lead researcher Jackie Andrade in a press statement. "This is the first demonstration that cognitive interference can be used outside the lab to reduce cravings for substances and activities other than eating."
The Tetris cravings study was published on the Addictive Behaviors journal under the title "Playing Tetris decreases drug and other cravings in real world settings," according to Science Daily.
