A study by Dartmouth social neuroscientist Kristina Caudle on "World of Warcraft" players showed that "areas of the brain involved in self-reflection and judgement seem to behave similarly when someone is thinking about their virtual self as when they think about their real one," i.e. players believed that they had the same characteristics as their avatars. "It's hard to imagine from an outsider's perspective what might drive someone to spend 30 hours a week immersed in a completely imaginary world," says Caudle, who could probably figure it out just by looking pretty closely at the people who play "World of Warcraft."