1 33 112 A 10-WEEK YOGA PRACTICE HAS NO EFFECT ON COGNITION, BUT IMPROVES BALANCE AND MOTOR LEARNING BY ATTENUATING BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR LEVELS IN OLDER ADULTS. DESPITE STUDIES INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON COGNITIVE AND MOTOR FUNCTIONING IN OLDER ADULTS, THE EFFECT ON DUAL-TASK PERFORMANCE AND MOTOR LEARNING AND THE SPECIFIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE POSITIVE EFFECT OF YOGA REMAIN UNCLEAR. THUS, THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON COGNITION, BALANCE UNDER SINGLE- AND DUAL-TASK CONDITIONS, AND MOTOR LEARNING. THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR (BDNF) IN INDUCED IMPROVEMENT WAS ALSO EXPLORED. PARTICIPANTS AGED 60-79YEARS WERE RANDOMIZED TO EITHER A CONTROL GROUP (N=15) OR A YOGA GROUP (N=18) FOR A 10-WEEK PERIOD. THE YOGA GROUP RECEIVED 90-MIN DURATION YOGA CLASSES TWO TIMES PER WEEK. CHANGES IN COGNITION, BALANCE UNDER SINGLE- AND DUAL-TASK CONDITIONS, AND LEARNING FAST AND ACCURATE REACHING MOVEMENTS WERE ASSESSED. YOGA PRACTICE DECREASED (P<0.05) THE VELOCITY VECTOR OF THE CENTER OF PRESSURE UNDER SINGLE- AND DUAL-TASK CONDITIONS, WHEREAS NO CHANGES IN COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE WERE OBSERVED. ALTHOUGH REACTION AND MOVEMENT TIMES DURING LEARNING WERE DECREASED IN BOTH GROUPS (P<0.05), A FASTER REACTION TIME (P<0.05) AND SHORTER MOVEMENT TIME (P<0.05) WERE OBSERVED IN THE YOGA GROUP THAN IN THE CONTROL GROUP. SIGNIFICANT MODERATE RELATIONSHIPS (P<0.05) BETWEEN CHANGES IN BDNF LEVELS AND FUNCTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS WERE OBSERVED. THUS, 10WEEKS OF YOGA PRACTICE RESULTED IN IMPROVED BALANCE AND LEARNING IN THE SPEED-ACCURACY MOTOR TASK THAT WERE MEDIATED BY INCREASED BDNF LEVELS, BUT HAD NO IMPACT ON COGNITION IN OLDER ADULTS. 2020 2 2871 31 YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUE FACILITATES SUSTAINED ATTENTION IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN: A PILOT STUDY. CONTEXT: THE EXPERIENCE OF PAIN STRONGLY INFLUENCES SUSTAINED ATTENTION, WHICH IS IMPORTANT FOR NEUROCOGNITIVE PERFORMANCE. YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING SUSTAINED ATTENTION BY ATTENUATING PAIN IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN. HENCE, WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF A YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUE ON SUSTAINED ATTENTION AND SELF-REPORTED PAIN DISABILITY IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN. METHODS: A TOTAL OF 22 MEN AGED 30 TO 50 YEARS WITH LOW BACK PAIN WERE RECRUITED FOR THE STUDY. THEY WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER THE YOGA (N = 11) OR CONTROL (N = 11) GROUPS. THE YOGA GROUP PRACTICED A YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUE (YBRT) 1 HOUR A DAY FOR 4 WEEKS AND THE CONTROL GROUP MAINTAINED THEIR USUAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY REGIMEN. ASSESSMENTS INCLUDED THE SUSTAINED ATTENTION TO RESPONSE TASK (SART) AND THE OSWESTRY LOW BACK PAIN DISABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE (OLBPDQ) MEASURED BEFORE AND AFTER THE 4-WEEK INTERVENTION. RESULTS: THE STUDY SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN ALL SELF-REPORTED OLBPDQ DOMAINS AND IMPROVEMENT IN SUSTAINED ATTENTION IN A BEFORE AND AFTER COMPARISON 4 WEEKS FOLLOWING THE YOGA INTERVENTION. PEARSON'S CORRELATION ALSO SHOWED A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN SUSTAINED ATTENTION AND PAIN REDUCTION FOLLOWING THE YOGA INTERVENTION. CONCLUSION: THE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT YOGA PRACTICE REDUCES PAIN AND SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPROVES INFORMATION PROCESSING SPEED WITH IMPULSE CONTROL DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF A SUSTAINED ATTENTION TASK. 2020 3 1304 39 HATHA YOGA PRACTICE IMPROVES ATTENTION AND PROCESSING SPEED IN OLDER ADULTS: RESULTS FROM AN 8-WEEK RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL. BACKGROUND: AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE DECLINE IS WELL DOCUMENTED ACROSS VARIOUS ASPECTS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION, INCLUDING ATTENTION AND PROCESSING SPEED, AND LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORS SUCH AS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PREVENTING COGNITIVE DECLINE AND MAINTAINING OR EVEN IMPROVING COGNITIVE FUNCTION. PURPOSE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF AN 8-WEEK HATHA YOGA INTERVENTION ON ATTENTION AND PROCESSING SPEED AMONG OLDER ADULTS. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS (N = 118; MEAN AGE, 62 +/- 5.59) WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO AN 8-WEEK HATHA YOGA GROUP OR A STRETCHING CONTROL GROUP AND COMPLETED COGNITIVE ASSESSMENTS-ATTENTION NETWORK TASK, TRAIL MAKING TEST PARTS A AND B, AND PATTERN COMPARISON TEST-AT BASELINE AND AFTER THE 8-WEEK INTERVENTION. RESULTS: ANALYSES OF COVARIANCE REVEALED SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER REACTION TIMES FOR THE YOGA GROUP ON THE ATTENTION NETWORK TASK'S NEUTRAL, CONGRUENT, AND INCONGRUENT CONDITIONS (P