Hand Gestures: They Say A Lot

Many people do not know that around half of human communication is done non-verbally. Body-language and gesturing have a substantial impact on the way information is communicated and perceived, whether intentional or not. Hand gestures are commonly used within conversation to better articulate what is being said and can even represent how the person is feeling. In sports, hand gestures can be seen in celebratory fist pumps or even self-deprecating slaps on the forehead. Either way, the audience is able to understand how the athlete is feeling without any word being spoken. 

Dr. Neumann, an author of the article "Neuropsychological functions of nonverbal hand movements and gestures during sports," studied the nonverbal hand movements of 15 right-handed elite male tennis players while competing in matches. This study examined whether or not these movements served different neurological functions associated with winning and losing. Through videotaping these athletes and performing extensive analysis on the film, it was found that right-handed tennis players make right-handed gestures significantly more frequently than left-handed gestures. "Rise" gestures, like fist pumps, were lateralized to the right hand in winning athletes while "on body" gestures, like slaps to the forehead, were lateralized to the left hand in losing athletes. This study also provided results that contradict the belief of winning athletes being more expressive in nonverbal behavior. It showed that, when analyzing all hand movements after both winning and losing points, hand gestures had virtually the same frequency. For further studies, it would be interesting to see if these results align with that of left-handed tennis players. What if they analyzed athletes of a different sport? Would hand gestures change in sports that do not involve holding a racket or something similar? 

This article and the neurophysiological topic of hand gestures relates to what Dr. Sarah Delmar presented to the Neuroscience Seminar class in late October. Dr. Delmar spoke to the class about how hand gestures promote learning in children, which struck the interest of many students. She explained that not only do hand gestures succeed in filling in "gaps" within communication, but promote a better understanding of what is being discussed for both the speaker and listener. Between Dr. Delmar's presentation and Dr. Neumann's article, it is clear that the communication found within body language, especially that of hand gestures, is invaluable to proficient communication. More people should implement hand gestures in conversation as it provides a more well-rounded understanding for everyone involved.

Work Cited

Neumann, N., Drewes, V., Konstantinidis, I., Reinecke, K. H. C., Lausberg, H., & Helmich, I. (2022). Neuropsychological functions of nonverbal hand movements and gestures during sports. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 34(3), 362–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/20445911.2021.1998075

Life-long Exercise: Nature's Free Medicine - The Effect of Exercise on Parkinson's Disease

Many of us have been told how important regular exercise is for our physical and mental health. What many people do not know is how impactful regular, life-long exercise is on our neurological health as well. One neurological disease that exercise has a tremendous impact on is Parkinson's Disease (PD). PD is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that directly impacts motor control. Many people may associate the PD with constant tremors and a shuffling gait, two of many distinct symptoms of the disease. These symptoms, however, are caused by a buildup of protein deposits in the brain called Lewy bodies. These deposits slowly destroy neurons within the central nervous system (CNS), specifically dopaminergic neurons. These neurons play a role in motor control, which is why people with PD experience the previously stated symptoms. There are many environmental factors that could contribute to someone developing PD, but research within the past couple of decades finds there are cases of genetic causation as well. 

Regardless of the reasons someone developed PD, all cases are treated similarly across the board. Although there are pharmaceutical drugs that aid the symptoms of the disease, the side effects are undesirable to say the least. However, exercise is proven to do wonders in preventing development of the disease. Studies show that in patients that perform regular, life-long exercise exhibit signs and are diagnosed with PD years after patients who do not regularly exercise. Patients who have regularly exercised retain a much greater amount of dopaminergic neurons compared to patients who do not exercise, as well as experience much less motor and non-motor symptoms. It is shown that the quality of life of patients with PD who exercise is much greater than those who do not, and that even stands true for people who do not have PD. Exercise, overall, is really nothing but beneficial for us. Whether sick or healthy, regular, life-long exercise is our free medicine and should not be underestimated in any treatment plans.

Dr. Mary Makarious, a Loyola Chicago graduate, spoke to the NEUR 300 class at the end of September about the continued research that is taking place for PD. A lot of the research she works with is in regard to its role in genetics. She spoke a lot about the Global Parkinson's Genetics Program, also known as GP2. Through the majority of its funding coming through the Michael J. Fox Foundation, they have been able to make tremendous strides in PD research just within the past few years. The work of these scientists gives the world a better understanding of how PD works and manifests in the body. More and more genes correlating to PD are being found that can hopefully give rise to genetic treatments for PD in the years to come. Although it is still an incurable disease, better treatment plans are coming. The best thing we can do to prevent PD now is getting outside to exercise.

References:

Blauwendraat et al., Tackling a disease on a global scale, the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program, GP2: A new generation of opportunities, The American Journal of Human Genetics (2025), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2025.07.014

Langeskov-Christensen, Martin, et al. "Exercise as Medicine in Parkinson's Disease." Journal of Neurology, Neuroanatomy & Psychiatry, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 1 Nov. 2024, doi.org/10.1136/jnp-2023-332974

Meditation, Stress, and the Neuroscience

No matter who, what, when, and where you are, you will experience diverse types of stress. These stressors can range from simply having to fold your laundry to making a huge financial that might affect your future. Knowing how to regulate this stress is an extremely important consideration. Stress can affect various aspects of yourself which include headaches, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, feelings of sadness or depression, and even chest pains (Mayo Clinic). However, stress can be regulated in many ways. Today we will focus on the way meditation works in the nervous system to lower stress levels.  

To begin, we must first understand how stress occurs and the way it functions in the brain. When a stressful situation occurs, the amygdala sends a signal to the hypothalamus which activates either the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system, or in simpler terms, the fight or flight, or rest and digest response respectively (Harvard Health). When a person begins to feel stressed, they may simply act rather than think, as most people could relate. The sympathetic nervous system raises the levels of adrenaline in the body which prepares the person for action/reaction, this can be especially useful, but could not be so useful when they must be calm. Therefore, invoking one's parasympathetic nervous system can be useful to remain calm and collected.  

When activated, the parasympathetic nervous system works to lower the heart and breathing rate by stimulating the vagus nerve, by dilating the blood vessels that create a sensation of relaxation (Hurley). One way of doing this is through meditation. Meditation is a practice with various forms but it all boils down to focusing on one's breath and being mindful of their surroundings and how they feel in the space that they are in (Keltner, et all.) Using these techniques, studies have shown stress can be reduced, such as the randomized controlled trail from the University of Pittsburg. 

 How exactly does meditation work in the nervous system? In a 2015 neurological study coming from the University of Pittsburg under the supervision of Adrienne A. Taren, aimed to discover the effects that stress had on the brain, saw significant results. To begin, 130 healthy adults were tested using resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) and determined their perceived level of stress. This experiment built upon a previous study that stated that higher levels of “stress [were] associated with greater amygdala-sgACC rsFC” (Taren, et al.). The study showed that those that participated in an intensive 3-day mindfulness meditation program had lower levels of connectivity compared to those that did not participate. This means that the 3-day mindfulness mediation program was successful in reducing participant's stress.  

These findings are crucial in developing and implementing systems that can help one control their stress in the future. It's especially important that meditation is tested since it can be accessed by anyone no matter the constraints that they are under. Meditation can help many, and all people need to do is sit in silence and focus on their breath (Keltner).  

Refrences 

Harvard Health. “Understanding the Stress Response.” Harvard Health, 6 July 2020, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress response.  

Hurley, Terry. “Activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System to Decrease Stress and nxiety.” Canyon Vista Recovery Center, 26 Oct. 2023, canyonvista.com/activating-parasympathetic-nervous-system/#:~:text=The%20SNS%20is%20responsible%20for, slowing%20down%20the%20heart%20rate.  

Keltner, Dacher, et al. “Getting Started with Mindfulness.” Mindful, 22 Jan. 2024, ww.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/.  

Mayo Clinic. “How Stress Affects Your Body and Behavior.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 10 Aug. 2023, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy- ifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987.  

Taren, Adrienne A, et al. “Mindfulness Meditation Training Alters Stress-Related Amygdala Resting State Functional Connectivity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666115/.  

Katie Jabaay's Post: The Power of Scent

Katie Jabaay's Post

 Power of Scent

    Scent is a powerful tool to creatures on this Earth. Odors alert organisms to threats, food, mates, and other important aspects to life while also being retained and influential to the storage of memories. Scent in humans has all of those traits and more, as we can explicitly  label scents and have deep associations with both good and bad memories, especially in those with mental illnesses. Two articles touch on olfaction’s effect on humans are “What the nose knows” and “Something doesn’t smell right” respectively written by Colleen Walsh and Peter Reuele of Harvard University. 

    The article “What the nose knows” gives the succinct explanation of the connection between scent and emotion. Taking the more literary route, the article describes the initiation of a memory via a specific smell as a Proustian moment. The article goes on to explain that the connection between the olfactory bulb, the amygdala and the hippocampus heavily contribute to the connection smell has to one’s emotion and memory. Smell is so immersive and crucial to one’s experience that it forms one's sense of taste, creates a signature brand for companies, becomes associated with colors, and creates a foundation of childhood memories that will create likes and dislikes for ages. The monopolization of scent was a focal point of the article, as it is a relatively new phenomenon to use scents on normally non-scented products in order to appeal to a specific audience or outcompete others. Creating scented products for a clothing line, making film that pairs with scented air, and fragrant hotels are new markets that are on the rise and being researched and pushed by scientists such as Dawn Goldworm, Venkatesh Murthy, and David Edwards. 

    While the previous article focuses on the positive sides of smell, the second article, “Something doesn’t smell right,” explains the recent finding of a specific olfactory sensor that is specific for rancid odors. Trace amine-associated receptors, or TAARs, are specific receptors in the olfactory bulb that are entirely distinct from the average, and more populous, odorant receptors. TAARs are specifically activated during the sensation of cadaverine and putrescine scents, meaning they are specifically geared towards smells of rotting and death. These receptors, for most animals, send the message that something is wrong, making those smells bad. The fact that creatures are born with these receptors provides evidence for the idea that animals, and even humans, have scents that are innately labeled as bad; this means that smell preferences are in fact partially influenced by genetics rather than only socialization and associations. 

     Connecting to these ideals is the article "Odor modulates the temporal dynamics of fear memory consolidation" by Grella et al., where the effects of odor on the encoding and storage of memory is explored. The study focused on three theories, being the systems consolidation, competitive trace and multiple trace theory. Systems consolidation theory states that with time memories become less detailed with time and consequently change from being stored in the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex. Multiple trace theory states that the episodic and semantic memories, as in memories with high levels of detail, are stored in the hippocampus, whereas less detailed memories are stored in the prefrontal cortex. Competitive trace elaborates these ideas and states that though memories become more remote with time, they can also be re-contextualized. Mice with PTSD had problems with the fear conditioned memories since they were stored in the hippocampus and were readily available instead of being stored remotely in the prefrontal cortex. The connection to the previous articles lies in the fact that the genetically modified mice were fear conditioned, pairing specific scents and electric shocks. The mice learned to associate the scents with the shock, causing a fear response from the mere odor, and the fear-memory was readily available in the hippocampus. 

    The reason that the “What the nose knows” and “Something doesn’t smell right” connect to the paper by Grella et al. is that there are many possible implications of the work. If Walsh’s predictions are true and scent can really be utilized for intentional and successful marketing, then this can be taken to the extreme with the knowledge that some scents are innately good or bad. Finding a receptor for an inherently good scent could maximize the marketing of anything from clothing to vacations, and perhaps a more likely first step could be using it in pet treats or toys since it can be easier to determine animals’ innately good or bad receptors. In a similar fashion, there could be the possibility for those with PTSD and other mental illnesses with symptoms triggered by scents be trained with new, innately pleasant scents during therapy. Since there is the possibility for naturally pleasant and enticing odors and there’s the knowledge that PTSD memories are held as new and adaptable in the brain, associating a new and pleasant emotion with a traumatic memory could potentially ease the negative response with the natural positive one. However, steps would need to be taken to regulate the amount of positive odors that are used in order to not associate more scents with a traumatic memory or response. More broadly, positive scents could be used during therapy to facilitate the eliciting positive emotions and negating the negative ones during emotionally taxing conversations. Overall, odors are an overlooked aspect to daily life, marketing, research, and therapeutic treatments for how influential it is to human and animal neurology. More research into this topic could yield a flourishing new market and possible improvement for the treatment of those with mental illnesses. 

Bibliography

Grella, Stephanie L., et al. “Odor Modulates the Temporal Dynamics of Fear Memory Consolidation.” Learning and Memory, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.19.881615.

Reuell, Peter. “Something Doesn't Smell Right.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 15 Jan. 2014, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/01/something-doesnt-smell-right/.

Walsh, Colleen. “How Scent, Emotion, and Memory Are Intertwined - and Exploited.” Harvard Gazette,  Harvard Gazette, 27 Feb. 2020, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-                           scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/. 

The Connection Between Dreaming and Wellness

 The Connection Between Dreaming and Wellness

Katie Jabaay

Dreaming is a truly elusive phenomenon. The reason why humans dream, how dreaming occurs, how humans can control dreams, and dreams’ connection to health are all being currently researched because the answers to these questions are unclear. Two articles, “People with migraines get less REM sleep, study finds” and “Antidepressant side effects: can antidepressants cause vivid, unusual dreams?” discuss the connections of REM sleep and the physical and mental sides of one’s wellness. These reviews are comparable to the research done by Kokony et. al, which discusses the beginnings of communication in dreams through the research paper “Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep.”

Rogers’ article, “People with migraines get less REM sleep, study finds,” discusses a metaanalysis by Emily Charlotte Stanyer. The paper, “Subjective Sleep Quality and Sleep Architecture in Patients With Migraine,” studies sleep and migraines, and the article provides insight to the research’s takeaways and meaning for people who suffer from migraines. The study found that migraine sufferers have lower quality of sleep according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and polysomnography found that they had a higher amount of waking time during the night as well as less REM sleep per night. Children who had migraines had the unique trait that they fell asleep faster than average children, however, it is speculated that they are falling asleep faster due to chronic sleep deprivation. The most profound connections of migraines and REM sleep are that less REM sleep predicts a rise in migraines and migraine symptoms the following day. The causal relationship is not known, meaning that research is unclear if the lack of REM contributes to migraines or if the opposite is true, but this is still a meaningful connection for further treatment and exploration. 

The other aspect of wellness, mental health, can also be tied to REM sleep. In Geall’s article, “Antidepressant side effects: can antidepressants cause vivid, unusual dreams?” she discusses a seemingly neglected side effect of antidepressants: vivid dreams. The article focuses mainly on women’s experiences with this side effect and the effect it can have on one’s emotional health. The vivid dreams can range from enjoyable, to confusing, to anxiety-inducing, or to terrifying. A theory for these dreams is the combination of the effects of mental illness combined with the drugs’ effect on the REM cycle. Mental illnesses have symptoms of disrupted sleep and heightened nightmares, while antidepressants decrease the time spent in REM and increase neurotransmitters, potentially creating less dreaming time for a more active brain. Overall, these realistic dreams can confuse individuals, make them feel out of touch with reality, and heighten day-to-day anxiety in the mentally ill patients taking these medications, potentially worsening their mental state. 

Both of these articles lend to the fact that sleep, and dreaming sleep in particular, relate to one’s overall wellness. Lack of REM sleep can contribute to one’s migraines, whereas those on antidepressants have more vivid dreams during a shortened REM period. Both of these illnesses can be tied to REM, being the period that most dreaming happens in, in rather similar ways, as abnormal and shortened REM sleep can worsen the quality of one's life. Perhaps a solution to these illnesses is using a person’s lucid dreams. The article “Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep,” written by Konkoly, Chabani, Dresler, Appel, Oudiette, and Paller, discusses a breakthrough in sleep-research where there was two-way communication between sleeping participants and researchers. The experimenters asked the lucid dreaming participants simple questions by saying them out loud, flashing green lights in morse code, or finger tapping, and tracked the participants via polysomnographic methods. All methods of asking questions produced examples of positive results since the participants were able to answer correctly a high percentage of time through either coordinated eye movements or facial twitching. 

One of the many implications of this research is that communication during dreaming could produce “novel approaches to promote health and well-being could be explored…  perhaps opening up new ways to address fundamental questions about consciousness” (Konkoly). If the practice develops past asking yes or no and numerical questions towards complex conversations, the possibilities for treatments of migraines and depression could expand tenfold. The patients would have to be naturally inclined to lucid dreaming and/or trained to do so, but therapy sessions and interviews on pain level and dream content could provide vital information to both ailments. Therapy sessions during REM sleep could teach patients with mental illnesses coping mechanisms to use during nightmares and confusing dreams rather than after. Interviews can be used for migraine patients in order to assess pain levels during sleep, the content, and perceived duration of dreams. This data is currently difficult or even impossible to access, so the idea of in-dream communication is extremely meaningful.

                                                   Bibliography

Geall, Lauren. “What's with All the Wild Dreams on Antidepressants?” Stylist, The Stylist Group, 3 May 2021, https://www.stylist.co.uk/health/mental-health/antidepressants-side-effects-dreams/514151.

 

Konkoly, Karen R., et al. “Real-Time Dialogue between Experimenters and Dreamers during Rem Sleep.” Current Biology, vol. 31, no. 7, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026. 

Rogers, Kristen. “People with Migraines Get Less REM Sleep, Study Finds.” CNN, Cable News Network, 23 Sept. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/22/health/migraine-headache-effects-sleep-study-wellness/index.html. 

Stanyer, Emily Charlotte, et al. “Subjective Sleep Quality and Sleep Architecture in Patients with Migraine: A Meta-Analysis.” Neurology, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000012701. 

Orbitofrontal cortex use in inference based decision making and object reversal learning

     The Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) has been known to control impulsive behaviors as well as adjusting behaviors to have socially desirable responses. There is rapid study being done on the OFC to this date and many papers have been written to show the impact that it has with the decision making as well as learning. Research has also been showing how these 2 factors are directly impacted when their is damage done to the OFC. Thorsten Kahnt et. al studied how much the OFC, hippocampus (HC), and the Amygdala are being used in inference based decision making as well as association decision making. Rudebeck et. al studied how OFC lesions and Amygdala lesions impact object reversal learning in monkeys. 

    Kahnt et. al focused on association based decision making in humans and rats in this study. First, Kahnt conducted a study on humans and how they learn associations between different visual cues (Cue A -> Cue B, Cue C -> Cue D) then learned that one cue (Cue B) led to a reward and another cue (Cue D) did not lead to reward. After these 2 conditioning phases, they were asked in a probe test whether cue A or cue C would lead to a reward. These tasks where done under an fMRI to find where in the brain the most activity is occurring during these tasks. The data concluded that the OFC and HC were used the most together when both the conditioning tasks were being done and shown that these 2 regions of the brain are important to decision making in a human brain. The study then shifted to non-human primate subjects (rats) where a very similar study was done. These rodents and non-human primate subject learned that 2 objects led to 2 different rewards. The rewards consisted of 2 different foods, peanuts and M&Ms. The study showed that they were more likely to not choose the same object twice due to them learning that both objects led to two different rewards. They also found that OFC and the Amygdala were both used together to help learn what rewards came out of the objects. 

    Rudebeck et. al focused on how OFC lesions and Amygdala lesions effected object reversal learning in monkeys. In each trial, 2 objects where over food wells and the monkeys then had to displace one object and depending on the object that was displaced, a reward would be awarded. The reward object would not be changed in all of the trials and this led on for 30 trials. The study found that the monkeys who had OFC lesions where seen to have worse results than monkeys with Amygdala lesions or no lesions at all. The monkeys with Amygdala lesions were seen to have no impact compared to the no lesions group of monkeys. This shows that the OFC is crucial in learning tasks as well as association learning tasks and damage to the OFC can hinder learning. 

    These two research studies have shown that the Orbitofrontal cortex is important to both learning tasks as well as association tasks which include decision making and object reversal learning. Both of these studies have shown how much more the orbitofrontal cortex can truly do besides just impulsive behaviors and inducing socially desirable behaviors. 

References:

Rudebeck PH, Murray EA. Amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex lesions differentially influence choices during object reversal learning. J Neurosci. 2008;28(33):8338-8343. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2272-08.2008

Fang Wang, Thorsten Kahnt, Neural circuits for inference-based decision-making, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Volume 41,2021, Pages 10-14, ISSN 2352-1546, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.02.004.

Therapeutic Implications Regarding Lucid Dream Research

Within the realm of sleep and dream studies, the scientific community has noted the apparent discrepancies that become evident regarding dream reports in that when individuals awake from their dreams, they have the general tendency to misinterpret and/ or forget the events they just experienced while asleep. In the article, Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreams during REM sleep, Konkoly, and colleagues attempt to bridge this gap by focusing on the potential of dreaming individuals logically perceiving and responding to questions while simultaneously asleep in a laboratory setting. They created a two-way communication study utilizing polysomnography technology in an attempt to bring forward real-time lucid dream communication through means of distorted reality trials throughout the duration of REM sleep. Konkoly et. al were able to come to the conclusion that cognitive characteristics of lucid dreaming are in fact able to be manipulated and cross-examined instantaneously while an individual is still experiencing the dream at hand. 

With this field of research gaining recent attention due to the ramifications of extra free time during the lockdown and people having more time to dream, scientists have posed the question: could the manipulation of lucid dreaming potentially give rise to restorative treatment regarding an individual’s mental health? Or, on the other hand, would tackling the psyche be too risky and unintentionally harm one’s internal mindset and wellbeing? In the article, Does Lucid Dreaming Help Your Mental Health or Harm It? Experts Weigh In, Karen Sosnoski expanded on the under-researched emotional ramifications behind lucid dreaming. She notes how researchers commonly utilize electroencephalograms in order to track signals prompted throughout the duration of lucid dreaming within the prefrontal cortex, given that it is predominately connotated with the progression of personality traits. A 2018 study came to the conclusion that lucid dreamers have the tendency to display elevated levels of resting-state communication- specifically between the frontopolar cortex and the temporoparietal junction. These heightened connections enable the individual to more efficiently incorporate elements of their waking life into their dreams and sometimes even gain control of their actions within this alternate reality. An International Dream Research Survey analyzed the responses brought forward from a group of 528 lucid dreamers. These individuals reported utilizing the practice of lucid dreaming for spiritual growth, solving problems, and emotional healing. Additionally, in the article, What are lucid dreams, and are they clinically significant?, Naveed Saleh reflects on the potential medical implications behind active dreaming. Researchers at the Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research conducted a separate study in which they explore the potential for lucid dreaming to serve as a treatment for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. As established by the patient’s self-assessments, lucid dream therapy resulted in an overall decrease in anxiety and depression over the course of the trials. 

In line with COVID-19, lucid dream researcher Daniel Love states that the pandemic has encouraged “a new influx of dream explorers.” Taking into consideration that individuals around the world faced a prolonged duration of time spent within their homes, it unintentionally fostered an introspective environment where people were left alone with their thoughts. Mankind throughout the dawn of time has been subjected to the phenomena of dreaming and the thematic representations and imagery conjured by our thoughts yield great levels of curiosity. Scientists have recently begun to further explore the various techniques by which an individual’s dream activity can be properly analyzed and manipulated. As noted by Konkoly et. al, communication within a state of sleep is entirely feasible and its potential is rapidly on the rise. This field of research could broaden the scientific communities’ awareness in regard to the personal human condition and the significance of one’s mental and emotional health as displayed by manifestations while dreaming. This practice holds a vast realm of potential regarding interactive dreaming having therapeutic implications. 

References: 

Konkoly, K. R., Appel, K., Chabani, E., Mangiaruga, A., Gott, J., Mallett, R., Caughran, B.,Witkowski, S., Whitmore, N. W., Mazurek, C. Y., Berent, J. B., Weber, F. D., Türker, B., Leu-Semenescu, S., Maranci, J. B., Pipa, G., Arnulf, I., Oudiette, D., Dresler, M., & Paller, K. A. (2021). Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Current Biology, 31(7), 1417–1427.e6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026

Naveed, Saleh. “What Are Lucid Dreams, and Are They Clinically Significant?” MDLinx, 14 Jan. 2019, https://www.mdlinx.com/article/what-are-lucid-dreams-and-are-they-clinically-significant

Sosnoski, Karen. “This Is How Lucid Dreaming Affects Your Mental Health.” Healthline, Healthline Media,19 Aug. 2021, https://www.healthline.com/health/lucid-dreaming-the-latest-on-its-mental-health-benefits-and-risks.