1 1121 146 EFFICACY OF INTEGRATED YOGA AND AYURVEDA RASAYANA ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN ELDERLY WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT: NON-RANDOMIZED THREE-ARM CLINICAL TRIAL. BACKGROUND: YOGA AND AYURVEDA ARE ANCIENT SCIENCES WHICH EMPHASIZE ON THE CURE OF DISEASE AND THE PROPORTION OF HEALTH. BOTH SCIENCES ARE ALSO KNOWN TO REDUCE THE AGING PROCESS AND ARE HELPFUL IN AGING-RELATED DISORDERS. OBJECTIVE: THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES THE EFFECTS OF YOGA AND AYURVEDA RASAYANA COMBINED INTERVENTION ON COGNITION AMONG THE ELDERLY WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SEVENTY-TWO ELDERLY PERSONS (AVERAGE AGE 63.3 +/- 6.44 YEARS) RECEIVED AYURVEDA RASAYANA (AR) (N = 23) OR INTEGRATED YOGA (IY) (N = 25) OR COMBINED (IY PLUS AR) INTERVENTION (N = 24) FOR EIGHT WEEKS. AR TREATMENT CONSISTED OF BRAHMI GHRITA, AND IY CONSISTED OF ASANA, PRANAYAMA, MEDITATION, AND RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, VERBAL FLUENCY, ATTENTION, PROCESSING SPEED, SHORT-TERM AND WORKING MEMORY, AND LEARNING AND VERBAL MEMORY WERE ASSESSED AT THE BASELINE AND AFTER EIGHT WEEKS. RESULTS: WITHIN-GROUP ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT TIME MAIN EFFECT (P < 0.05) IN ALL COGNITIVE MEASURES IN THE THREE GROUPS (IY, AR, AND IY PLUS AR) EXCEPT DIGIT BACKWARD TEST. BONFERRONI POST HOC TEST SHOWS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN PRE TO POST IN ALL VARIABLES. IN THE BETWEEN-GROUP ANALYSIS, THERE WAS A SUBSTANTIAL GROUP DIFFERENCE FOR REY'S AUDITORY VERBAL LEARNING TEST- HITS, F (2,69) = 4.376 (P < 0.016), REY'S AUDITORY VERBAL LEARNING TEST-AVERAGE, F (2,69) = 4.727 (0.012), DIGIT BACKWARD TEST, F (2,69) = 5.766 (0.005) AFTER EIGHT WEEKS OF INTERVENTION. CONCLUSION: BOTH AYURVEDA RASAYANA AND INTEGRATED YOGA INTERVENTION WERE FOUND EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING COGNITIVE ABILITIES AMONG THE ELDERLY WITH MCI. COMBINED AYURVEDA RASAYANA AND YOGA INTERVENTION SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED LEARNING, ATTENTION, PROCESSING SPEED, AND WORKING MEMORY COMPARED TO INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE AMONG ELDERLY PERSONS WITH MCI. 2022 2 1559 30 LONG-TERM VIHANGAM YOGA MEDITATION AND SCORES ON TESTS OF ATTENTION. ALTHOUGH THE LITERATURE INDICATES THAT MEDITATION HAS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON SEVERAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN FUNCTIONING, FEW STUDIES HAVE SPECIFICALLY INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION ON VARIOUS DOMAINS OF ATTENTION. THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO EXAMINE THE DIFFERENCES IN VARIOUS DOMAINS OF ATTENTION BETWEEN LONG-TERM CONCENTRATIVE MEDITATORS VERSUS MATCHED CONTROLS. 15 PRACTITIONERS OF VIHANGAM YOGA (> 10 YR. EXPERIENCE) WERE ENROLLED IN THE STUDY. CONTROLS MATCHED ON AGE, SEX, AND YEARS OF EDUCATION WERE RECRUITED. BOTH GROUPS WERE ADMINISTERED THE STROOP, TRAIL-MAKING, AND DIGIT SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION TESTS AS WELL AS THE DIGIT FORWARD AND DIGIT BACKWARD TESTS. THE GROUP OF VIHANGAM YOGIS HAD SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER MEAN PERFORMANCE ON ALL TESTS OF ATTENTION. LONG-TERM VIHANGAM YOGA MEDITATION IMPROVES ATTENTION SPAN, PROCESSING SPEED, ATTENTION ALTERNATION ABILITY, AND PERFORMANCE IN INTERFERENCE TESTS. 2010 3 746 45 EFFECT OF SAHAJ YOGA ON NEURO-COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM MAJOR DEPRESSION. COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS ARE IMPAIRED IN MAJOR DEPRESSION. STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS HAVE SHOWN IMPROVEMENT IN MEMORY, VIGILANCE AND ANXIETY LEVELS. 30 PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM MAJOR DEPRESSION (AGE 18 TO 45 YEARS) WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: GROUP 1: (10 MALES AND 5 FEMALES) PATIENTS WHO PRACTISED SAHAJ YOGA MEDITATION AND ALSO RECEIVED CONVENTIONAL ANTI-DEPRESSANT MEDICATION. GROUP 2: (9 MALES AND 6 FEMALES) PATIENTS WHO ONLY RECEIVED CONVENTIONAL ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION. GROUP 1 PATIENTS WERE ADMINISTERED SAHAJ YOGA PRACTICE FOR 8 WEEKS. NEURO-COGNITIVE TEST BATTERY CONSISTING OF LETTER CANCELLATION TEST (LCT), TRAIL MAKING TEST 'A' (TTA), TRAIL MAKING TEST 'B' (TTB), RUFF FIGURAL FLUENCY TEST (RFFT), FORWARD DIGIT SPAN (FDS) & REVERSE DIGIT SPAN TEST (RDS) WAS USED TO ASSESS FOLLOWING COGNITIVE DOMAINS: ATTENTION SPAN, VISUO-MOTOR SPEED, SHORT-TERM MEMORY, WORKING MEMORY AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS. AFTER 8 WEEKS, BOTH GROUP 1 AND GROUP 2 SUBJECTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN LCT, TTA & TTB BUT IMPROVEMENT IN LCT WAS MORE MARKED IN GROUP 1 SUBJECTS. ALSO, THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN RDS SCORES IN ONLY GROUP 1 SUBJECTS (P < 0.05). THE RESULTS THEREBY, DEMONSTRATE THAT SAHAJ YOGA PRACTICE IN ADDITION TO THE IMPROVEMENT IN VARIOUS OTHER COGNITIVE DOMAINS SEEN WITH CONVENTIONAL ANTI-DEPRESSANTS, CAN LEAD TO ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENT IN EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS LIKE MANIPULATION OF INFORMATION IN THE VERBAL WORKING MEMORY AND ADDED IMPROVEMENT IN ATTENTION SPAN AND VISUO-MOTOR SPEED OF THE DEPRESSIVES. 2006 4 1356 45 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM RELAPSING REMITTING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (CI) IS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF RELAPSING REMITTING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (RRMS). YOGIC RELAXATION TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN FOUND USEFUL IN IMPROVING VARIOUS COGNITIVE DOMAINS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. EIGHTEEN SUBJECTS (13 FEMALES) IN THE AGE RANGE OF 51.5 +/- 12.72 YEARS WITH THE DIAGNOSIS OF RRMS BY A NEUROLOGIST (MCDONALD CRITERIA 2010) SINCE LAST 18.16 +/- 12.59 YEARS WERE RECRUITED INTO THE STUDY FROM A NEURO-REHABILITATION CENTRE IN GERMANY. ASSESSMENTS WERE DONE BEFORE AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER TWO RANDOMLY ALLOCATED 30-MIN SESSIONS OF YOGIC RELAXATION: CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) AND SR (SUPINE REST OR SHAVASANA). ASSESSMENTS WERE DONE FOR ATTENTION, PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE, INFORMATION PROCESSING SPEED, EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS, AND IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED RECALL USING STANDARD PSYCHOMETRIC TOOLS. RMANOVA WAS APPLIED TO ANALYSE THE DATA USING SPSS VERSION 10. BOTH CM AND SR SESSIONS IMPROVED SCORES ON DIGIT SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION TEST (DSST) (P < 0.01) AND AUDITORY VERBAL LEARNING TEST (AVLT) (P < 0.05). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER PERFORMANCE IN TRAIL MAKING TEST (TMT)-A AND FORWARD DIGIT SPAN (FDS) AFTER CM AS COMPARED TO SR (P < 0.01). YOGIC RELAXATION TECHNIQUES MAY HAVE AN IMMEDIATE ENHANCING EFFECT ON PROCESSING SPEED, PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE, AND RECALL OF RRMS PATIENTS. CM IS BETTER THAN SR IN IMPROVING PROCESSING SPEED, SHORT-TERM MEMORY, AND VERBAL WORKING MEMORY. 2016 5 277 31 ADDITIONAL PRACTICE OF YOGA BREATHING WITH INTERMITTENT BREATH HOLDING ENHANCES PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: THE PRACTICE OF YOGA IS ASSOCIATED WITH ENHANCED PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING. THE CURRENT STUDY ASSESSED THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE DURATION OF YOGA PRACTICE WITH STATE MINDFULNESS, MIND-WANDERING AND STATE ANXIETY. ALSO, WE EXAMINED IF AN ADDITIONAL 20 MIN OF YOGA BREATHING WITH INTERMITTENT BREATH HOLDING (EXPERIMENTAL GROUP) FOR 8 WEEKS WOULD AFFECT THESE PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES MORE THAN REGULAR YOGA PRACTICE (CONTROL GROUP) ALONE. METHODS: ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EXPERIMENTAL (N = 60) AND CONTROL (N = 56) GROUPS. STATE MINDFULNESS ATTENTION AWARENESS SCALE (SMAAS), MIND-WANDERING QUESTIONNAIRE (MWQ) AND STATE ANXIETY INVENTORY WERE ADMINISTERED AT BASELINE AND AT THE END OF 8 WEEKS. RESULTS: BASELINE ASSESSMENT REVEALED A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN DURATION OF YOGA PRACTICE WITH SMAAS SCORES AND NEGATIVE CORRELATION WITH MWQ AND STATE ANXIETY SCORES. AT THE END OF 8 WEEKS, BOTH GROUPS DEMONSTRATED ENHANCED PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS, BUT THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP RECEIVING ADDITIONAL YOGA BREATHING PERFORMED BETTER THAN THE GROUP PRACTICING YOGA ALONE. CONCLUSION: AN ADDITIONAL PRACTICE OF YOGA BREATHING WITH INTERMITTENT BREATH HOLDING WAS FOUND TO ENHANCE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS IN YOUNG ADULT YOGA PRACTITIONERS. 2018 6 53 44 A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA AND CLINICAL PILATES TRAINING ON WALKING, COGNITION, RESPIRATORY FUNCTIONS, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PERSONS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL STUDY. OBJECTIVE: THE PURPOSE WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA AND CLINICAL PILATES TRAINING ON WALKING, RESPIRATORY MUSCLE STRENGTH, COGNITION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE AND COMPARE THE EFFECTS OF TWO POPULAR EXERCISE METHODS IN PERSONS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (PWMS). METHODS: TWENTY-EIGHT PWMS (PILATES GROUP = 16, YOGA GROUP = 12) RECEIVED THE PROGRAM ONCE A WEEK FOR EIGHT WEEKS IN ADDITION TO HOME EXERCISES. AT BASELINE AND THE END OF THE TRAINING, PARTICIPANTS UNDERWENT ASSESSMENTS. THE OUTCOME MEASURES WERE WALKING SPEED, MOBILITY, BALANCE CONFIDENCE, RESPIRATORY MUSCLE STRENGTH, COGNITION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE. RESULTS: FOLLOWING THE PROGRAM, THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN MOBILITY (P = 0.482), PERCEIVED WALKING QUALITY (P = 0.325), RESPIRATORY MUSCLE STRENGTH (MAXIMUM INSPIRATORY PRESSURE: P = 0.263, MAXIMUM EXPIRATORY PRESSURE: P = 0.866), AND COGNITION (SYMBOL DIGIT MODALITIES TEST: P = 0.324, CALIFORNIA VERBAL LEARNING TEST-II: P = 0.514, BRIEF VISUOSPATIAL MEMORY TEST-REVISED: P = 0.279) BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS. IMPROVEMENTS WERE HIGHER IN BALANCE CONFIDENCE (P = 0.006), WALKING SPEED (P = 0.004), AND QUALITY OF LIFE (P = 0.019) IN THE CLINICAL PILATES GROUP COMPARED TO THE YOGA GROUP. CONCLUSION: THIS STUDY SHOWED POSITIVE EFFECTS IN WALKING AND RESPIRATORY ASPECTS IN PWMS WHO RECEIVED YOGA AND CLINICAL PILATES TRAINING. PILATES TRAINING WAS SUPERIOR IN IMPROVING WALKING SPEED, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND BALANCE CONFIDENCE COMPARED TO YOGA TRAINING. 2021 7 712 44 EFFECT OF INTEGRATED YOGA ON ANTI-PSYCHOTIC INDUCED SIDE EFFECTS AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA. BACKGROUND TWENTY ONE (12 FEMALES) SUBJECTS, DIAGNOSED WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA BY A PSYCHIATRIST USING ICD-10, IN THE AGES 52.87 + 9.5YEARS AND SUFFERING SINCE 24.0 +/- 3.05YEARS WERE RECRUITED INTO THE STUDY FROM A SCHIZOPHRENIA REHABILITATION CENTER IN BENGALURU. METHODS ALL SUBJECTS WERE TAKING ANTI-PSYCHOTIC MEDICATIONS AND WERE IN STABLE STATE FOR MORE THAN A MONTH. PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS WERE KEPT CONSTANT DURING THE STUDY PERIOD. ASSESSMENTS WERE DONE AT THREE POINTS OF TIME: (1) BASELINE, (2) AFTER ONE MONTH OF USUAL ROUTINE (PRE) AND (3) AFTER FIVE MONTHS OF VALIDATED INTEGRATED YOGA (IY) INTERVENTION (POST). VALIDATED 1H YOGA MODULE (CONSISTING OF ASANAS, PRANAYAMA, RELAXATION TECHNIQUES AND CHANTINGS) WAS PRACTICED FOR 5MONTHS, FIVE SESSIONS PER WEEK. ANTIPSYCHOTIC-INDUCED SIDE EFFECTS WERE ASSESSED USING SIMPSON ANGUS SCALE (SAS) AND UDVALG FOR KLINISKE UNDERSOGELSER (UKU) SIDE EFFECT RATING SCALE. COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS (USING TRAIL MAKING TEST A AND B), CLINICAL SYMPTOMS AND ANTHROPOMETRY WERE ASSESSED AS SECONDARY VARIABLES. COMPARISONS BETWEEN "PRE" AND "POST" DATA WAS DONE USING PAIRED SAMPLES T-TESTS AFTER SUBTRACTING BASELINE SCORES FROM THEM RESPECTIVELY. RESULTS AT THE END OF FIVE MONTHS, SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DRUG-INDUCED PARKINSONIAN SYMPTOMS (SAS SCORE; P=0.001) AND 38 ITEMS OF UKU SCALE WAS OBSERVED ALONG WITH SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN PROCESSING SPEED, EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS AND NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS. NO SIDE EFFECTS OF YOGA WERE REPORTED. CONCLUSIONS THE PRESENT STUDY PROVIDES PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE FOR USEFULNESS OF INTEGRATED YOGA INTERVENTION IN MANAGING ANTI-PSYCHOTIC-INDUCED SIDE EFFECTS. 2018 8 1857 48 RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTION IN RESIDENTS FROM ELDERLY HOMES: EFFECTS ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION. CONTEXT: ELDERLY HAVE INCREASED RISK FOR COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND DEMENTIA. YOGA THERAPY MAY BE HELPFUL IN ELDERLY TO IMPROVE COGNITIVE FUNCTION. AIMS: WE EXAMINED THE BENEFITS OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTION COMPARED WITH WAITLIST CONTROL GROUP ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN THE RESIDENTS OF ELDERLY HOMES. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: SINGLE BLIND CONTROLLED STUDY WITH BLOCK RANDOMIZATION OF ELDERLY HOMES. MATERIALS AND METHODS: STUDY SAMPLE INCLUDED YOGA GROUP (N=62) AND WAITLIST GROUP (N=58). A TOTAL OF 87 SUBJECTS (YOGA=44, WAITLIST=43) COMPLETED THE STUDY PERIOD OF 6 MONTHS. YOGA GROUP RECEIVED DAILY YOGA SESSIONS FOR 1 MONTH, WEEKLY UNTIL 3(RD) MONTH AND ENCOURAGED TO CONTINUE UNSUPERVISED UNTIL 6 MONTHS. THEY WERE ASSESSED ON REY'S AUDITORY VERBAL LEARNING TEST (RAVLT), REY'S COMPLEX FIGURE TEST (CFT), WECHSLER'S MEMORY SCALE (WMS)-DIGIT AND SPATIAL SPAN, CONTROLLED ORAL WORD ASSOCIATION (COWA) TEST, STROOP COLOR WORD INTERFERENCE TEST AND TRAIL MAKING TEST A AND B AT BASELINE AND AT THE END OF 6(TH) MONTH. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: PAIRED T-TEST AND ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE (ANCOVA) TO COMPARE THE DIFFERENCE IN NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TEST SCORES. RESULTS: YOGA GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED RECALL OF VERBAL (RAVLT) AND VISUAL MEMORY (CFT), ATTENTION AND WORKING MEMORY (WMS-SPATIAL SPAN), VERBAL FLUENCY (COWA), EXECUTIVE FUNCTION (STROOP INTERFERENCE) AND PROCESSING SPEED (TRAIL MAKING TEST-A) THAN WAITLIST GROUP AT THE END OF 6 MONTHS AFTER CORRECTING FOR CORRESPONDING BASELINE SCORE AND EDUCATION. CONCLUSION: YOGA BASED-INTERVENTION APPEARS BENEFICIAL TO IMPROVE SEVERAL DOMAINS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN ELDERLY LIVING IN RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES. STUDY FINDINGS NEED TO BE INTERPRETED AFTER CONSIDERING METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS LIKE LACK OF ACTIVE COMPARISON GROUP. 2013 9 251 38 A YOGA PROGRAM FOR COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT. BACKGROUND: RECENT STUDIES SUGGEST THAT YOGA PRACTICE MAY IMPROVE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING. ALTHOUGH PRELIMINARY DATA INDICATE THAT YOGA IMPROVES WORKING MEMORY (WM), HIGH-RESOLUTION INFORMATION ABOUT THE TYPE OF WM SUBCONSTRUCTS, NAMELY MAINTENANCE AND MANIPULATION, IS NOT AVAILABLE. FURTHERMORE, THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT AND IMPROVED MINDFULNESS AS A RESULT OF YOGA PRACTICE REQUIRES EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY IS TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF A BRIEF YOGA PROGRAM ON WM MAINTENANCE, WM MANIPULATION AND ATTENTIVE MINDFULNESS. METHODS: MEASURES OF WM (DIGIT SPAN FORWARD, BACKWARD, AND SEQUENCING, AND LETTER-NUMBER SEQUENCING) WERE ADMINISTERED PRIOR TO AND FOLLOWING 6 SESSIONS OF YOGA (N = 43). ADDITIONALLY, THE MINDFULNESS ATTENTION AWARENESS SCALE WAS ADMINISTERED TO EXAMINE THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON MINDFULNESS, AS WELL AS THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CHANGES IN WM AND MINDFULNESS. RESULTS: ANALYSES REVEALED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT FROM PRE- TO POST- TRAINING ASSESSMENT ON BOTH MAINTENANCE WM (DIGIT SPAN FORWARD) AND MANIPULATION WM (DIGIT SPAN BACKWARD AND LETTER-NUMBER SEQUENCING). NO CHANGE WAS FOUND ON DIGIT SPAN SEQUENCING. IMPROVEMENT WAS ALSO FOUND ON MINDFULNESS SCORES. HOWEVER, NO CORRELATION WAS OBSERVED BETWEEN MINDFULNESS AND WM MEASURES. CONCLUSIONS: A 6-SESSION YOGA PROGRAM WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVEMENT ON MANIPULATION AND MAINTENANCE WM MEASURES AS WELL AS ENHANCED MINDFULNESS SCORES. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND THE EXTENT OF YOGA-RELATED COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT AND MECHANISMS BY WHICH YOGA MAY ENHANCE COGNITION, IDEALLY BY UTILIZING RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL BATTERIES. 2017 10 2799 44 YOGA THERAPY FOR SOCIAL COGNITION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: AN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE-BASED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS AND COGNITIVE DEFICITS ARE DIFFICULT-TO-TREAT SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA. IN THIS SINGLE BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY, WE COMPARED CHANGE IN SOCIAL COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN PERSONS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA (PWS) (AS PER DSM-5), AFTER 6 WEEKS OF YOGA INTERVENTION WITH A WAITLIST CONTROL GROUP. WE ALSO EXAMINED CHANGES IN PUTATIVE MIRROR NEURON SYSTEM (MNS) ACTIVITY MEASURED BY TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION (TMS) IN A SUBSET OF SAMPLE (N = 30). 51 PWS STABILIZED ON ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDICATION FOR AT LEAST 6 WEEKS, WERE ASSIGNED TO ADD-ON YOGA THERAPY (YT) (N = 26) OR WAITLIST (WL) (N = 25). SUBJECTS IN THE YT GROUP RECEIVED ADD-ON YOGA THERAPY (20 SESSIONS IN 6 WEEKS). BOTH THE GROUPS CONTINUED THEIR STANDARD TREATMENT AND WERE ASSESSED AT BASELINE AND AFTER 6 WEEKS FOR SOCIAL COGNITION, CLINICAL SYMPTOMS AND SOCIAL DISABILITY. RM-ANOVA SHOWED SIGNIFICANT INTERACTION BETWEEN TIME AND GROUP FOR SOCIAL COGNITION COMPOSITE SCORE (SCCS) (F = 42.09 [1,44], P < 0.001); NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS (SANS) (F = 74.91 [1,45], P < 0.001); POSITIVE SYMPTOMS (SAPS) (F = 16.05 [1,45], P < 0.001) AND SOCIAL DISABILITY (GSDS) (F = 29.91 [1,46], P < 0.001). MNS ACTIVITY HAD INCREASED AFTER 6 WEEKS IN BOTH GROUPS BUT NOT OF STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. THIS STUDY DEMONSTRATES THAT 6 WEEKS OF ADD-ON YOGA THERAPY COULD IMPROVE SOCIAL COGNITION IN PWS COMPARED TO WAITLIST CONTROL SUBJECTS. HOWEVER, THE CHANGE IN SOCIAL COGNITION WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH A CHANGE IN THE PUTATIVE MNS-ACTIVITY. IT NECESSIATATES FURTHER STUDIES TO INVESTIGATE THE MECHANISTIC PROCESSES OF YOGA AND REPLICATE THESE OBSERVATIONS IN A LARGER SAMPLE. 2021 11 2653 50 YOGA IMPROVES OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE, DEPRESSION, AND DAILY ACTIVITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC PAIN IS A COMPLEX ACCUMULATION OF PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS, THUS INTERVENTIONS THAT ADDRESS PAIN AND PROMOTE OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE ARE NEEDED. A HOLISTIC INTERVENTION, WITH MIND AND BODY COMPONENTS, IS LIKELY NECESSARY TO BEST TREAT THE COMPLEXITIES OF CHRONIC PAIN. THUS, WE DEVELOPED AND TESTED A YOGA INTERVENTION FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN. OBJECTIVES: IN A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL (RCT), PARTICIPANTS WITH CHRONIC PAIN WERE RANDOMIZED TO A YOGA INTERVENTION OR USUAL CARE GROUP. BETWEEN AND WITHIN GROUP DIFFERENCES FOR PRE-AND POST-OUTCOME MEASURE SCORES WERE ASSESSED FOR: OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE, COMPLETION OF ACTIVITIES, AND DEPRESSION. METHODS: PILOT RCT WITH PARTICIPANT ALLOCATION TO 8 WEEKS OF YOGA OR USUAL CARE. BOTH GROUPS RECEIVED ONGOING MONTHLY SELF-MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMING. DATA WERE COLLECTED BEFORE AND AFTER THE 8-WEEK INTERVENTION. PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMIZED TO YOGA OR USUAL CARE AFTER BASELINE ASSESSMENTS. DEMOGRAPHICS WERE COLLECTED AND MEASURES INCLUDED: CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE (COPM) TO ASSESS OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE; THE 15-ITEM FRENCHAY ACTIVITIES INDEX (FAI)(ACTIVITIES); AND THE 9-ITEM PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE (PHQ-9) FOR DEPRESSION. INDEPENDENT T-TESTS WERE USED TO ASSESS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS. PAIRED T-TESTS WERE USED TO ASSESS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PRE- AND POST 8-WEEK INTERVENTION FOR BOTH THE YOGA AND THE USUAL CARE GROUPS. PERCENT CHANGE SCORES AND EFFECT SIZES WERE CALCULATED. RESULTS: 83 PEOPLE WERE RECRUITED FOR THE STUDY AND COMPLETED BASELINE ASSESSMENTS; 44 INDIVIDUALS WERE RANDOMIZED TO YOGA AND 39 TO THE CONTROL GROUP. THE AVERAGE AGE OF ALL PARTICIPANTS WAS 51.4+/-10.5 YEARS, 68% WERE FEMALE; AND 60% HAD AT LEAST SOME COLLEGE EDUCATION. THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN DEMOGRAPHICS OR OUTCOME MEASURES BETWEEN GROUPS AT BASELINE OR 8 WEEKS; HOWEVER, THE STUDY WAS NOT POWERED TO SEE SUCH DIFFERENCES. INDIVIDUALS RANDOMIZED TO THE CONTROL GROUP DID NOT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE IN ANY OUTCOME MEASURE OVER THE 8 WEEKS. THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN COPM PERFORMANCE AND COPM SATISFACTION SCORES FOR INDIVIDUALS RANDOMIZED TO THE YOGA GROUP; BOTH SCORES SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED. COPM PERFORMANCE IMPROVED BY 27% WITH A MODERATE TO LARGE EFFECT SIZE (3.66+/-1.85 VS 4.66+/-1.93, P < 0.001, D = 0.76). COPM SATISFACTION SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED BY 78% (2.14+/-2.31 VS. 3.80+/-2.50, P < 0.001) AND HAD A LARGE EFFECTS SIZE (D = 1.02). FAI SCORES IMPROVED, INDICATING INCREASED ACTIVITY OR ENGAGEMENT IN DAILY OCCUPATION DURING THE 8-WEEK INTERVENTION. SCORES INCREASED BY 5% (38.13+/-8.48 VS. 39.90+/-8.57, P = 0.024) WITH A SMALL EFFECT SIZE (D = 0.37). DEPRESSION SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED FROM 13.21+/-5.60 TO 11.41+/-5.82, P = 0.041, WITH A SMALL EFFECT SIZE. CONCLUSION: DATA FROM THIS PILOT RCT INDICATE YOGA MAY BE AN EFFECTIVE THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION WITH PEOPLE IN CHRONIC PAIN TO IMPROVE OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE, INCREASE ENGAGEMENT IN ACTIVITIES, AND DECREASE DEPRESSION. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PRACTITIONERS MAY CONSIDER ADDING YOGA AS A TREATMENT INTERVENTION TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE WITH PAIN. 2019 12 1442 31 INCREASED MENTAL WELL-BEING AND REDUCED STATE ANXIETY IN TEACHERS AFTER PARTICIPATION IN A RESIDENTIAL YOGA PROGRAM. BACKGROUND REDUCING STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE IMPROVES MENTAL HEALTH. TEACHING IS OF SOCIAL IMPORTANCE, BUT IT MAY RECEIVE INADEQUATE RECOGNITION AND REWARDS. THE PRESENT STUDY COMPARED MENTAL WELL-BEING AND STATE ANXIETY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS WHO PRACTICED 15 DAYS OF YOGA IN A RESIDENTIAL SETTING WITH THOSE WHO CONTINUED THEIR USUAL ROUTINE. MATERIAL AND METHODS WE ENROLLED 236 PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY. WE ASSIGNED 118 PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., AGE 41.5+/-6.0 YEARS, 74 FEMALES) TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP; THEY UNDERWENT 15 DAYS OF YOGA TRAINING FOR 6 HOURS/DAY) IN A RESIDENTIAL YOGA CENTER. THE NON-YOGA CONTROL GROUP (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., AGE 42.3+/-6.0 YEARS, 79 FEMALES) CONSISTED OF 118 TEACHERS WHO CONTINUED WITH THEIR NORMAL TEACHING ROUTINE. RESULTS AFTER 15 DAYS IN THE RESIDENTIAL YOGA PROGRAM, THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN OVERALL MENTAL WELL-BEING (P<.001) AND LOWER STATE ANXIETY (P<.01) (REPEATED-MEASURES ANOVA, FOLLOWED BY POST HOC MULTIPLE COMPARISON TESTS). AT BASELINE, THE NON-YOGA CONTROL GROUP HAD HIGHER LEVELS OF STATE ANXIETY, PRESUMABLY RELATED TO THEIR REMAINING IN THE WORKPLACE. CONCLUSIONS THE STUDY WAS A 15-DAY, COMPARATIVE, CONTROLLED TRIAL. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT AFTER 15 DAYS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE RESIDENTIAL YOGA PROGRAM, PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS INCREASED ALL ASPECTS OF MENTAL WELL-BEING AND HAD REDUCED STATE ANXIETY. 2018 13 2173 27 THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON DYSPNEA, SLEEP AND FATIGUE IN CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASES. PURPOSE: THIS STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT TO FIND OUT THE EFFECTS OF YOGA APPLIED TO CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASE PATIENTS ON DYSPNEA, SLEEP QUALITY AND FATIGUE. MATERIAL AND METHOD: THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED BETWEEN MAY AND AUGUST 2020 AS A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY. 'PERSONAL INFORMATION FORM', 'RESPIRATORY FUNCTIONS MONITORING FORM', 'COPD AND ASTHMA FATIGUE SCALE (CAFS), "ASTHMA AND COPD SLEEP IMPACT SCALE (CASIS)" AND MODIFIED MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL DYSPNEA SCALE (MMRC) WERE USED IN DATA COLLECTION. RESULTS: WHEN THE POST-TEST MEAN SCORES OF THE PATIENTS IN THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP WERE COMPARED, IT WAS FOUND THAT CAFS, CASIS AND MMRC MEAN SCORES OF THE PATIENTS IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP DECREASED POSITIVELY COMPARED TO THE PATIENTS IN THE CONTROL GROUP AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WAS FOUND TO BE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: YOGA HAS BEEN FOUND TO REDUCE THE SEVERITY OF DYSPNEA AND FATIGUE AND IMPROVE SLEEP QUALITY IN CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASES. 2021 14 1382 42 IMPACT OF PRAJNA YOGA ON COGNITION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH CONGENITAL AND ADVENTITIOUS VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. CONTEXT: NUMEROUS SCIENTIFIC STUDIES HAVE INVESTIGATED THE IMPACT OF YOGA ON COGNITION IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS. HOWEVER, FEWER STUDIES HAVE ASSESSED THE IMPACT OF YOGIC PRACTICES ON COGNITION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. DESPITE THEIR KEEN INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES AND ADVANCED LINGUISTIC SKILLS, TEENS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT OFTEN EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH COGNITIVE CONTROL AND BEHAVIORAL REGULATION. MEMORY PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN COGNITION. BESIDES STORING INFORMATION, MEMORY IS ALSO USED FOR RECALL, DEFINED AS THE RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION THE BRAIN HAS RECENTLY BEEN EXPOSED TO, AND RECOGNITION, DEFINED AS THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE OR RETRIEVE THE INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY ENCOUNTERED AND STORED IN THE BRAIN. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO OBSERVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAJNA YOGA ON ENHANCING THE COGNITION AND VERBAL MEMORY IN ADOLESCENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. DEGREE OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND AGE OF ONSET OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT WERE CONSIDERED WHILE ANALYZING THE STUDY DATA. DESIGN: AN OPEN-TRIAL, SINGLE ARM, PRE-POST STUDY DESIGN WAS ADOPTED. 273 ADOLESCENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT WERE ASSESSED ACROSS INDIA USING THE REY AUDITORY VERBAL LEARNING TEST (RAVLT), AT BASELINE (BEFORE THE INTERVENTION), IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INTERVENTION, AND AT 40 DAYS AFTER THE INTERVENTION. RAVLT MEASURES RECALL AND RECOGNITION THROUGH VERBAL MEMORY. INTERVENTION: PRAJNA YOGA (PY) OR THE ART OF LIVING INTUITION PROGRAM IS A UNIQUE INTERVENTION, BASED ON ANCIENT TECHNIQUES OF PRANAYAMA, SUPER BRAIN YOGA, AND MEDITATION, TAUGHT TO CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS BETWEEN THE AGES 5 AND 17. RESULTS: THE MEAN SCORES FOR RECOGNITION (P=0.011) AND IMMEDIATE RECALL (P=0.011) IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER PY FOR THE ENTIRE STUDY POPULATION, REGARDLESS OF THE DEGREE OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, GENDER AND AGE OF ONSET. A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN MEAN SCORES FOR DELAYED RECALL WAS SEEN AFTER 40 DAYS OF DAILY PRACTICE (P = 0.007). 2022 15 2871 39 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 16 2319 38 TREATING THE CLIMACTERIC SYMPTOMS IN INDIAN WOMEN WITH AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO YOGA THERAPY: A RANDOMIZED CONTROL STUDY. OBJECTIVE: TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE CLIMACTERIC SYMPTOMS, PERCEIVED STRESS, AND PERSONALITY IN PERIMENOPAUSAL WOMEN. DESIGN: ONE HUNDRED TWENTY PARTICIPANTS (AGES 40-55 Y) WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO STUDY ARMS, IE, YOGA AND CONTROL. THE YOGA GROUP PRACTICED AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO YOGA THERAPY COMPRISING SURYA NAMASKARA (SUN SALUTATION) WITH 12 POSTURES, PRANAYAMA (BREATHING PRACTICES), AND AVARTAN DHYAN (CYCLIC MEDITATION), WHEREAS THE CONTROL GROUP PRACTICED A SET OF SIMPLE PHYSICAL EXERCISES UNDER SUPERVISION OF TRAINED TEACHERS FOR 8 WEEKS (1 H DAILY, 5 DAYS PER WEEK). THE ASSESSMENTS WERE MADE BY GREENE CLIMACTERIC SCALE, PERCEIVED STRESS SCALE, AND EYSENCK'S PERSONALITY INVENTORY BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. RESULTS: OF THE THREE FACTORS OF THE GREENE CLIMACTERIC SCALE, THE MANN-WHITNEY TEST SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUPS (P < 0.05) IN THE VASOMOTOR SYMPTOMS, A MARGINALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE (P = 0.06) IN PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS BUT NOT IN THE SOMATIC COMPONENT. EFFECT SIZES WERE HIGHER IN THE YOGA GROUP FOR ALL FACTORS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER DEGREE OF DECREASE IN PERCEIVED STRESS SCALE SCORES (P < 0.001, INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T TEST) IN THE YOGA GROUP COMPARED WITH CONTROLS (BETWEEN-GROUP ANALYSIS) WITH A HIGHER EFFECT SIZE IN THE YOGA GROUP (1.10) THAN THE CONTROL (0.27). ON THE EYSENCK'S PERSONALITY INVENTORY, THE DECREASE IN NEUROTICISM WAS GREATER (P < 0.05) IN THE YOGA GROUP (EFFECT SIZE = 0.43) THAN THE CONTROL GROUP (EFFECT SIZE = 0.21) WITH NO CHANGE IN EXTROVERSION IN EITHER THE YOGA OR CONTROL GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: EIGHT WEEKS OF AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO YOGA THERAPY DECREASES CLIMACTERIC SYMPTOMS, PERCEIVED STRESS, AND NEUROTICISM IN PERIMENOPAUSAL WOMEN BETTER THAN PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 2008 17 1351 33 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF A YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE ON ATTENTION AND ANXIETY IN PRE-TEEN CHILDREN. PRE-TEEN CHILDREN FACE STRESSORS RELATED TO THEIR TRANSITION FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE, WITH A SIMULTANEOUS INCREASE IN ACADEMIC PRESSURE. THE PRESENT STUDY COMPARED THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF 18 MIN OF (I) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING WITH (II) YOGA-BASED BREATH AWARENESS AND (III) SITTING QUIETLY, ON (A) ATTENTION AND (B) ANXIETY, IN 61 PRE-TEEN CHILDREN (AGED BETWEEN 11 AND 12 YEARS; 25 GIRLS). ATTENTION WAS ASSESSED USING A SIX LETTER CANCELLATION TASK AND SPIELBERGER'S STATE TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY STAI-S WAS USED TO MEASURE ANXIETY BEFORE AND AFTER THE THREE PRACTICES, PRACTICED ON SEPARATE DAYS. REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, FOLLOWED BY BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST-HOC ANALYSES SHOWED AN INCREASE IN TOTAL ATTEMPTS AND NET SCORES AFTER HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (P < 0.05), WHILE WRONG ATTEMPTS INCREASED AFTER YOGA BASED BREATH AWARENESS (P < 0.05). ANXIETY DECREASED COMPARABLY AFTER ALL THREE INTERVENTIONS. THE 25 GIRLS IN THE GROUP HAD THE SAME TREND OF RESULTS AS THE WHOLE GROUP WITH RESPECT TO THE ATTENTION-BASED CANCELLATION TASK, WHILE BOYS SHOWED NO, HOW SINCE CHANGE. FOR BOTH GIRLS AND BOYS, ANXIETY DECREASED AFTER ALL THREE 18MIN INTERVENTIONS. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING COULD BE A SHORT, USEFUL SCHOOL BASED PRACTICE TO IMPROVE ATTENTION AND REDUCE ANXIETY. 2019 18 1301 35 HATHA YOGA ON BODY BALANCE. BACKGROUND: A GOOD BODY BALANCE REQUIRES A PROPER FUNCTION OF VESTIBULAR, VISUAL, AND SOMATOSENSORY SYSTEMS WHICH CAN BE REACH WITH EXERCISE PRACTICE AND/OR YOGA. AIM: TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF A 5-MONTH HATHA YOGA TRAINING PROGRAM ON BODY BALANCE IN YOUNG ADULTS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIS STUDY USED A CONTROLLED, NONRANDOMIZED DESIGN, WHERE THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP UNDERWENT A 5-MONTH TRAINING PROGRAM AND WERE THEN COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP THAT HAD A SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE. A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE OF 34 OUT OF 40 MEN AGED 25-55 YEARS OLD (34.0 +/- 0.9) WERE DEEMED ELIGIBLE FOR THIS STUDY. THEY WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS. SUBJECTS IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WERE ENGAGED IN 60 MIN SESSIONS OF HATHA YOGA THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR 5 MONTHS. WE EVALUATED POSTURAL CONTROL BY MEASURING THE LIMIT OF STABILITY AND VELOCITY OF OSCILLATION (VOS) IN THREE CONDITIONS OF THE BALANCE REHABILITATION UNIT (BRU) AND THROUGH FIELD PROCEDURES (FOUR POSITION, PLANE, FLAMINGO, HOPSCOTCH, AND DYNAMIC TEST). RESULTS: WE OBSERVED DIFFERENCES (P < 0.05) IN POSTINTERVENTION SCORES BETWEEN THE GROUPS REGARDLESS OF BRU PARAMETERS AND FIELD PROCEDURES (EXCEPT FOR FLAMINGO) EVEN AFTER ADJUSTING FOR PREINTERVENTION SCORES, SUGGESTING THAT THESE CHANGES WERE INDUCED BY HATHA YOGA TRAINING. THE PARTIAL ETA SQUARED ON BRU PARAMETERS RANGED FROM 0.78 (VOS1)-0.97 (COP2), AND FROM 0.00 (FLAMINGO)-0.94 (FOUR POSITION) FOR THE FIELD PROCEDURES. CONCLUSIONS: OUR RESULTS PROVIDE SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THAT POSTURAL CONTROL IN HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS CAN BE IMPROVED THROUGH PRACTICING HATHA YOGA. 2014 19 843 38 EFFECT OF YOGA ON PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING OF NURSING STUDENTS: A RANDOMIZED WAIT LIST CONTROL TRIAL. INTRODUCTION: NURSING STUDENTS EXPERIENCE CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF STRESS TO MEET THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEMANDS. YOGA IS AN EFFECTIVE PRACTICE TO REDUCE STRESS AND IMPROVE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL BEING. HOWEVER, IMPROVEMENT IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL BEING AIDS IN STRESS MANAGEMENT. AIM: TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EIGHT WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION ON PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING OF NURSING STUDENTS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIS WAS A RANDOMISED WAIT LIST CONTROL (WLC) TRIAL, WE RECRUITED TOTAL 100 STUDENTS FROM KEMPEGOWDA INSTITUTE OF NURSING, BENGALURU, KARNATAKA, INDIA AND RANDOMIZED THEM INTO TWO GROUPS (YOGA=50 AND WLC=50 STUDENTS). THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS WERE USED TO COLLECT THE DATA, FREIBURG MINDFULNESS INVENTORY (FMI), SELF-COMPASSION SCALE- SHORT FORM (SCS-SF), CONNOR-DAVIDSON RESILIENCE SCALE (CD-RISC), SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE (SWLS), JEFFERSON SCALE OF EMPATHY HPS-VERSION (JSE-HPS), AND PERCEIVED STRESS SCALE (PSS). DATA WAS ANALYSED USING REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (RM-ANOVA) FOLLOWED BY POST-HOC BONFERRONI CORRECTION FOR ALL PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES. RESULTS: THE RESULTS OF OUR STUDY REPORT THAT EIGHT WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING SELF COMPASSION AND MINDFULNESS AMONG NURSING STUDENTS IN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP THAN COMPARED TO WLC GROUP. EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE IMPROVEMENTS IN RESILIENCE, SATISFACTION IN LIFE AND PERCEIVED STRESS, RESULTS WERE NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. CONCLUSION: OVERALL, RESULTS OF THE PRESENT STUDY HAVE DEMONSTRATED IMPACT OF EIGHT WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING OF NURSING STUDENTS. YOGA INTERVENTION CAN BE INCULCATED IN THE NURSING EDUCATION TO MEET DEMANDS OF THE PROFESSION. 2017 20 769 45 EFFECT OF UNILATERAL LEFT NOSTRIL BREATHING (CHANDRA ANGA PRANAYAMA) ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN HEALTHY YOGA-NAIVE INDIVIDUALS: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED, PILOT STUDY. INTRODUCTION: BREATHING MODULATES CORTICAL NEURONAL ACTIVITY. VARIOUS BREATHING EXERCISES ARE PURPORTED TO HAVE SPECIFIC EFFECTS ON EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF UNILATERAL LEFT NOSTRIL BREATHING (ULNB) ON NONLATERALIZED, OVERALL COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS USING COMPUTERIZED PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS. METHODS: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED, PILOT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED AMONG 20 HEALTHY YOGA-NAIVE MEDICAL STUDENTS. ULNB WAS PERFORMED FOR 15 MIN BY THE TEST GROUP (N = 10) AND BREATH AWARENESS BY THE CONTROL GROUP (N = 10). ATTENTION AND PROCESSING SPEED, MEMORY, AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION WERE ASSESSED USING THE LETTER-DIGIT SUBSTITUTION TEST, STERNBERG MEMORY TASK, AND VICTORIA STROOP TEST, RESPECTIVELY. BASELINE, PRE- AND POSTINTERVENTION SCORES WERE RECORDED. RESULTS: THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GROUPS IN BASELINE SCORES. IN THE STERNBERG MEMORY TASK, A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN RESPONSE TIME WAS SEEN IN THE TEST (T(9) = 3.855, P = 0.004) AS WELL AS THE CONTROL GROUP (T(9) = 3.120, P = 0.012); THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GROUPS. NO SIGNIFICANT EFFECT OF UNLB WAS SEEN IN THE LETTER-DIGIT SUBSTITUTION TEST AND STROOP TEST. CONCLUSIONS: OUR STUDY SHOWED NO DIFFERENCE IN THE EFFECTS OF 15-MIN PRACTICE OF ULNB AND BREATH AWARENESS ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS; BOTH IMPROVED MEMORY BUT NOT ATTENTION OR EXECUTIVE FUNCTION. 2020