1 1261 112 FINGER DEXTERITY AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION FOLLOWING TWO YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. BACKGROUND: PRACTICING YOGA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE MOTOR FUNCTIONS AND ATTENTION. THOUGH ATTENTION IS REQUIRED FOR FINE MOTOR AND DISCRIMINATION TASKS, THE EFFECT OF YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION HAS NOT BEEN ASSESSED. AIM: TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON FINGER DEXTERITY AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE PRESENT STUDY CONSISTED OF ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SUBJECTS WHO HAD ENROLLED FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT. THEY WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS, ONE GROUP PRACTICED HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING WHILE THE OTHER GROUP PRACTICED BREATH AWARENESS. HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (KAPALABHATI, BREATH RATE 1.0 HZ) AND BREATH AWARENESS ARE TWO YOGA PRACTICES WHICH IMPROVE ATTENTION. THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS (I) WERE ASSESSED ON THE PERFORMANCE ON THE O'CONNOR FINGER DEXTERITY TASK AND (II) (IN) A SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK. RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE FINGER DEXTERITY TASK BY 19% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 9% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P<0.001 IN BOTH CASES, REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA AND POST-HOC ANALYSES). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION (P<0.001) IN ERROR (41% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 21% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS) AS WELL AS TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TEST (15% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 15% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS; P<0.001) WAS ALSO OBSERVED. CONCLUSION: BOTH KAPALABAHATI AND BREATH AWARENESS CAN IMPROVE FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION, WITH A GREATER MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE AFTER KAPALABHATI. 2012 2 463 54 CHANGES IN SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY AFTER ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS IN ONE SESSION EACH. BACKGROUND YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES LIKE HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK. A PUBMED SEARCH OF THE LITERATURE REVEALED THAT ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL BREATHING HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTION TASKS, BUT THE EFFECT ON TACTILE PERCEPTION HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED. HENCE, THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS ON SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY. MATERIAL AND METHODS FIFTY HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS AGES 20-50 YEARS (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 28.4+/-8.2 YEARS) WERE RECRUITED. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN 3 SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY. THE 3 SESSIONS WERE (I) ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB), (II) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS), AND THE SEQUENCE OF THE SESSIONS WAS RANDOMLY ALLOCATED. THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK AND STATE ANXIETY WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS. REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (RM-ANOVA) FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS FOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS, WHICH WERE BONFERRONI-ADJUSTED, WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS USING SPSS VERSION 18.0. RESULTS THE ERRORS SCORES IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION AFTER THE ANYB SESSION (P<0.001). A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION WAS FOUND IN THE LEVEL OF STATE ANXIETY AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P<0.05) AND QUIET SITTING SESSIONS (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS THE PRESENT RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ANYB: (I) IMPROVES PERFORMANCE IN A TASK WHICH REQUIRES PERCEPTUAL SENSITIVITY AND FOCUSED ATTENTION, BUT (II) DOES NOT REDUCE STATE ANXIETY FOLLOWING THIS TASK. 2019 3 1350 36 IMMEDIATE CHANGES IN MUSCLE STRENGTH AND MOTOR SPEED FOLLOWING YOGA BREATHING. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING ON MUSCLE STRENGTH AND MOTOR SPEED. BILATERAL HANDGRIP STRENGTH, LEG AND BACK STRENGTH, FINGER TAPPING AND ARM TAPPING SPEED WERE ASSESSED IN FIFTY MALE PARTICIPANTS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- SD, 26.9 +/- 6.2 YEARS) BEFORE AND AFTER (A) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING FOR 15 MINUTES AND (B) BREATH AWARENESS FOR THE SAME DURATION. SESSIONS (A) AND (B) WERE ON TWO DIFFERENT DAYS BUT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THE SCHEDULE WAS ALTERNATED FOR DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE (P < 0.05) IN RIGHT HAND GRIP STRENGTH AFTER HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING. BOTH FINGER AND ARM TAPPING IMPROVED AFTER BOTH PRACTICES. THE RESULTS SUGGEST A ROLE FOR HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING IN IMPROVING THE HAND GRIP STRENGTH AS AN IMMEDIATE EFFECT. 2014 4 994 45 EFFECTS OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING CALLED KAPALABHATI COMPARED WITH BREATH AWARENESS ON THE DEGREE OF OPTICAL ILLUSION PERCEIVED. PRIOR RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT METHODS OF MEDITATION, BREATH CONTROL, AND DIFFERENT KINDS OF YOGA BREATHING AFFECT ATTENTION AND VISUAL PERCEPTION, INCLUDING DECREASING THE SIZE OF CERTAIN OPTICAL ILLUSIONS. EVALUATING RELATIONSHIPS SHEDS LIGHT ON THE PERCEPTUAL AND COGNITIVE CHANGES INDUCED BY YOGA AND RELATED METHODS, AND THE LOCUS OF THE EFFECTS. IN THE PRESENT STUDY, THE DEGREE OF OPTICAL ILLUSION WAS ASSESSED USING MULLER-LYER STIMULI BEFORE AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRACTICE, A HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING CALLED KAPALABHATI, AND BREATH AWARENESS. A NONYOGA, CONTROL SESSION TESTED FOR PRACTICE EFFECTS. THIRTY PARTICIPANTS (WITH GROUP M AGE = 26.9 YR., SD = 5.7) PRACTICED THE TWO TECHNIQUES FOR 18 MIN. ON TWO SEPARATE DAYS. THE CONTROL GROUP HAD 15 NONYOGA PRACTITIONERS ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER 18 MIN. IN WHICH THEY DID NOT PERFORM ANY SPECIFIC ACTIVITY BUT WERE SEATED AND RELAXED. AFTER BOTH KAPALABHATI AND BREATH AWARENESS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE DEGREE OF OPTICAL ILLUSION. THE POSSIBILITY THAT THIS WAS DUE TO A PRACTICE OR REPETITION EFFECT WAS RULED OUT WHEN 15 NONYOGA PRACTITIONERS SHOWED NO CHANGE IN THE DEGREE OF ILLUSION WHEN RETESTED AFTER 18 MIN. THE CHANGES WERE INTERPRETED AS DUE TO CHANGES IN PERCEPTION RELATED TO THE WAY THE STIMULI WERE JUDGED. 2011 5 1351 40 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 6 98 42 A NONRANDOMIZED NON-NAIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF KAPALABHATI AND BREATH AWARENESS ON EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS IN TRAINED YOGA PRACTITIONERS. OBJECTIVES: THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO COMPARE THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS RECORDED BEFORE AND AFTER (1) HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND (2) BREATH AWARENESS. DESIGN: THE P300 WAS RECORDED IN PARTICIPANTS OF TWO GROUPS BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION SESSION (1 MINUTE IN DURATION). SETTINGS AND LOCATION: ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE RECEIVING YOGA TRAINING IN A RESIDENTIAL YOGA CENTER, SWAMI VIVEKANADA YOGA RESEARCH FOUNDATION IN BANGALORE, INDIA. SUBJECTS: THIRTY (30) MALE PARTICIPANTS FORMED TWO GROUPS (N = 15 EACH) WITH COMPARABLE AGES (WITHIN AN AGE RANGE OF 20-35 YEARS) AND COMPARABLE EXPERIENCE OF THE TWO TECHNIQUES, THE MINIMUM EXPERIENCE BEING 3 MONTHS. INTERVENTIONS: THE TWO GROUPS WERE EACH GIVEN A SEPARATE INTERVENTION. ONE GROUP PRACTICED A HFYB AT A FREQUENCY OF APPROXIMATELY 2.0 HZ, CALLED KAPALABHATI. THE OTHER GROUP PRACTICED BREATH AWARENESS DURING WHICH PARTICIPANTS WERE AWARE OF THEIR BREATH WHILE SEATED, RELAXED. OUTCOME MEASURES: THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL, WHICH IS GENERATED WHEN ATTENDING TO AND DISCRIMINATING BETWEEN AUDITORY STIMULI, WAS RECORDED BEFORE AND AFTER BOTH TECHNIQUES. RESULTS: THE P300 PEAK LATENCY DECREASED AFTER HFYB AND THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE INCREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS. CONCLUSIONS: BOTH PRACTICES (HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS), THOUGH VERY DIFFERENT, INFLUENCED THE P300. HFYB REDUCED THE PEAK LATENCY, SUGGESTING A DECREASE IN TIME NEEDED FOR THIS TASK, WHICH REQUIRES SELECTIVE ATTENTION. BREATH AWARENESS INCREASED THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE, SUGGESTING AN INCREASE IN THE NEURAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR THE TASK. 2009 7 523 29 COMPARISON OF CHANGES IN AUTONOMIC AND RESPIRATORY PARAMETERS OF GIRLS AFTER YOGA AND GAMES AT A COMMUNITY HOME. THE HEART RATE, BREATHING RATE, AND SKIN RESISTANCE WERE RECORDED FOR 20 COMMUNITY HOME GIRLS (HOME GROUP) AND FOR 20 AGE-MATCHED GIRLS FROM A REGULAR SCHOOL (SCHOOL GROUP). THE FORMER GROUP HAD A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER RATE OF BREATHING AND A MORE IRREGULAR BREATH PATTERN KNOWN TO CORRELATE WITH HIGH FEAR AND ANXIETY, THAN THE SCHOOL GROUP. SKIN RESISTANCE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN THE SCHOOL GROUP, WHICH MAY SUGGEST GREATER AROUSAL, 28 GIRLS OF THE HOME GROUP FORMED 14 PAIRS, MATCHED FOR AGE AND DURATION OF STAY IN THE HOME. SUBJECTS OF A PAIR WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EITHER YOGA OR GAMES GROUPS. FOR THE FORMER EMPHASIS WAS ON RELAXATION AND AWARENESS, WHEREAS FOR THE LATTER INCREASING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WAS EMPHASIZED. AT THE END OF AN HOUR DAILY FOR SIX MONTHS BOTH GROUPS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE RESTING HEART RATE RELATIVE TO INITIAL VALUES (WILCOXON PAIRED-SAMPLE REST), AND THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN BREATH RATE, WHICH APPEARED MORE REGULAR BUT NO SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE SKIN RESISTANCE. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT A YOGA PROGRAM WHICH INCLUDES RELAXATION, AWARENESS, AND GRADED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS A USEFUL ADDITION TO THE ROUTINE OF COMMUNITY HOME CHILDREN. 1997 8 2863 29 YOGA-BASED GUIDED RELAXATION REDUCES SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY JUDGED FROM BASELINE LEVELS. 35 MALE VOLUNTEERS WHOSE AGES RANGED FROM 20 TO 46 YEARS WERE STUDIED IN TWO SESSIONS OF YOGA-BASED GUIDED RELAXATION AND SUPINE REST. ASSESSMENTS OF AUTONOMIC VARIABLES WERE MADE FOR 15 SUBJECTS, BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER THE PRACTICES, WHEREAS OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND BREATH VOLUME WERE RECORDED FOR 25 SUBJECTS BEFORE AND AFTER BOTH TYPES OF RELAXATION. A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND INCREASE IN BREATH VOLUME WERE RECORDED AFTER GUIDED RELAXATION (PAIRED T TEST). THERE WERE COMPARABLE REDUCTIONS IN HEART RATE AND SKIN CONDUCTANCE DURING BOTH TYPES OF RELAXATION. DURING GUIDED RELAXATION THE POWER OF THE LOW FREQUENCY COMPONENT OF THE HEART-RATE VARIABILITY SPECTRUM REDUCED, WHEREAS THE POWER OF THE HIGH FREQUENCY COMPONENT INCREASED, SUGGESTING REDUCED SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY. ALSO, SUBJECTS WITH A BASELINE RATIO OF LF/HF > 0.5 SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE RATIO AFTER GUIDED RELAXATION, WHILE SUBJECTS WITH A RATIO < OR = 0.5 AT BASELINE SHOWED NO SUCH CHANGE. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY DECREASED AFTER GUIDED RELAXATION BASED ON YOGA, DEPENDING ON THE BASELINE LEVELS. 2002 9 306 35 AN EVALUATION OF THE ABILITY TO VOLUNTARILY REDUCE THE HEART RATE AFTER A MONTH OF YOGA PRACTICE. THE STUDY AIMED AT DETERMINING WHETHER NOVICES TO YOGA WOULD BE ABLE TO REDUCE THEIR HEART RATE VOLUNTARILY AND WHETHER THE MAGNITUDE OF REDUCTION WOULD BE MORE AFTER 30 DAYS OF YOGA TRAINING. TWO GROUPS (YOGA AND CONTROL, N = 12 EACH) WERE ASSESSED ON DAY 1 AND ON DAY 30. DURING THE INTERVENING 30 DAYS, THE YOGA GROUP RECEIVED TRAINING IN YOGA TECHNIQUES WHILE THE CONTROL GROUP CARRIED ON WITH THEIR ROUTINE. AT EACH ASSESSMENT THE BASELINE HEART RATE WAS RECORDED FOR ONE MINUTE, THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A SIX-MINUTE PERIOD DURING WHICH PARTICIPANTS WERE ASKED TO ATTEMPT TO VOLUNTARILY REDUCE THEIR HEART RATE, USING ANY STRATEGY. BOTH THE BASELINE HEART RATE AND THE LOWEST HEART RATE ACHIEVED VOLUNTARILY DURING THE SIX-MINUTE PERIOD WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN THE YOGA GROUP ON DAY 30 COMPARED TO DAY 1 BY A GROUP AVERAGE OF 10.7 BEATS PER MINUTE (I.E., BPM) AND 6.8 BPM, RESPECTIVELY (P < .05, WILCOXON PAIRED SIGNED RANKS TEST). IN CONTRAST, THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN EITHER THE BASELINE HEART RATE OR THE LOWEST HEART RATE ACHIEVED VOLUNTARILY IN THE CONTROL GROUP ON DAY 30 COMPARED TO DAY 1. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA TRAINING CAN ENABLE PRACTITIONERS TO USE THEIR OWN STRATEGIES TO REDUCE THE HEART RATE, WHICH HAS POSSIBLE THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS. 2004 10 678 35 EFFECT OF A YOGA PRACTICE SESSION AND A YOGA THEORY SESSION ON STATE ANXIETY. YOGA TECHNIQUES PRACTICED FOR VARYING DURATIONS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO REDUCE STATE ANXIETY. IN THIS STUDY, THERE WERE 300 NAIVE-TO-YOGA PERSONS OF BOTH SEXES WHO WERE ATTENDING A YOGA THERAPY CENTER IN NORTH INDIA FOR STRESS RELIEF AS DAY VISITORS AND WERE NOT RESIDING AT THE CENTER. THEY WERE ASSIGNED TO TWO GROUPS, YOGA PRACTICE AND YOGA THEORY, AND THEIR STATE ANXIETY WAS ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER A 2-HR. YOGA SESSION. A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN SCORES ON STATE ANXIETY WAS FOUND IN THE YOGA PRACTICE GROUP (14.7% DECREASE), AS WELL AS IN THE YOGA THEORY GROUP (3.4% DECREASE). THE DIFFERENCE IN SCORES FOLLOWING THE SESSIONS WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. HENCE, YOGA PRACTICE AS WELL AS LEARNING ABOUT THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF YOGA APPEAR TO REDUCE STATE ANXIETY, WITH A GREATER REDUCTION FOLLOWING YOGA PRACTICE. 2009 11 2364 36 VOLUNTARY HEART RATE REDUCTION FOLLOWING YOGA USING DIFFERENT STRATEGIES. BACKGROUND/AIMS: ONE MONTH OF YOGA TRAINING HAS BEEN SHOWN TO REDUCE THE PULSE RATE VOLUNTARILY WITHOUT USING EXTERNAL CUES. HENCE, THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO UNDERSTAND THE STRATEGIES USED BY YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND AUTONOMIC CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH VOLUNTARY HEART RATE REDUCTION. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FIFTY VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- S.D., 25.4 +/- 4.8 YEARS; 25 MALES) WERE ASSESSED IN TWO TRIALS ON SEPARATE DAYS. EACH TRIAL WAS FOR 12 MINUTES, WITH A 'PRE' STATE AND 'DURING' STATE OF 6 MINUTES EACH. FOR BOTH TRIALS THE 'PRE' STATE WAS RELAXATION WITH EYES CLOSED. IN THE 'DURING' STATE OF TRIAL I, SUBJECTS WERE ASKED TO VOLUNTARILY REDUCE THEIR HEART RATE USING A STRATEGY OF THEIR CHOICE. FROM THEIR RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC QUESTIONS IT WAS DETERMINED THAT 22 OUT OF 50 PERSONS USED BREATH REGULATION AS A STRATEGY. HENCE, IN THE 'DURING' STATE OF TRIAL II, SUBJECTS WERE ASKED TO VOLUNTARILY REDUCE THEIR HEART RATE BY BREATH REGULATION. RESULTS: IN THE FIRST TRIAL, THE HEART RATE WAS REDUCED BY AN AVERAGE OF 19.6 BEATS PER MINUTE AND IN THE SECOND TRIAL (WITH BREATH REGULATION EXCLUSIVELY) AN AVERAGE DECREASE OF 22.2 BEATS PER MINUTE WAS ACHIEVED. CONCLUSIONS: HENCE, THE STRATEGY USED DID NOT MARKEDLY ALTER THE OUTCOME. 2013 12 1463 37 INFLUENCE OF YOGA-BASED PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ON PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE AND SELF-EFFICACY IN SCHOOL CHILDREN. SELECTIVE ATTENTION AND EFFICACY ARE IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF SCHOLASTIC PERFORMANCE IN SCHOOL CHILDREN. WHILE ATTEMPTS ARE BEING MADE TO INTRODUCE NEW METHODS TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE EITHER AS PART OF CURRICULAR OR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOLS, THE SUCCESS RATES ARE MINIMAL. HENCE, THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECT OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTION ON PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE AND SELF-EFFICACY IN SCHOOL CHILDREN. TWO HUNDRED TEN SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH AGES RANGING FROM 11 TO 16 YEARS (MEAN AGE +/- SD; 13.7 +/- 0.8 YEARS) SATISFYING THE INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA WERE RECRUITED FOR THE 10-DAY YOGA PROGRAM. AN EQUAL NUMBER OF AGE-MATCHED PARTICIPANTS (N = 210; MEAN +/- SD; 13.1 +/- 0.8 YEARS) WERE SELECTED FOR THE CONTROL GROUP. PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED FOR ATTENTION AND PERFORMANCE AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF 10 DAYS USING TRAIL MAKING TASK (TMT) A AND B, AND SELF-EFFICACY QUESTIONNAIRE. THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED HIGHER SELF-EFFICACY AND IMPROVED PERFORMANCE AFTER 10 DAYS OF YOGA INTERVENTION. THE PERFORMANCE IN TMT-A AND -B OF THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS WITH A REDUCTION IN TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE THE TASK AND A NUMBER OF WRONG ATTEMPTS COMPARED WITH CONTROL GROUP. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA PRACTICE ENHANCES SELF-EFFICACY AND PROCESSING SPEED WITH FINE MOTOR COORDINATION, VISUAL-MOTOR INTEGRATION, VISUAL PERCEPTION, PLANNING ABILITY, AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE. 2016 13 2215 31 THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF MODIFIED YOGA POSITIONS ON MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN RELIEF. MANY MUSCULOSKELETAL PAINS ARE RELATED TO POOR POSTURE. THUS, THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFICIENCY OF A SINGLE SESSION OF TWO MODIFIED YOGA POSITIONS WITH 110 SUBJECTS AND THEIR 147 PAIN-RELATED COMPLAINTS. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: THE YOGA GROUP, WHICH RECEIVED TREATMENT OF TWO 20-MIN POSTURES AND THE CONTROL GROUP, WHICH RECEIVED A PLACEBO TREATMENT OF 15 MIN WITH A TURNED OFF ULTRASOUND. ALL VOLUNTEERS EXPERIENCED SOME PAIN BEFORE TREATMENT AND WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER TREATMENT USING THE ANALOG PAIN SCALE. A SCORE OF 0 INDICATED NO PAIN WHEREAS 10 WAS THE MAXIMUM DEGREE OF PAIN ON THE SCALE. THE DIFFERENCE BEFORE AND AFTER TREATMENT WAS COMPARED BETWEEN THE GROUPS WITH A P-VALUE OF 0.0001, AS MEASURED BY THE STUDENT'S T-TEST. IT IS POSSIBLE TO CONCLUDE THAT ONE THERAPY SESSION IS EFFECTIVE IN THE TREATMENT OF VARIOUS MUSCULOSKELETAL PROBLEMS. 2013 14 1422 33 IMPROVEMENT IN HAND GRIP STRENGTH IN NORMAL VOLUNTEERS AND RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS FOLLOWING YOGA TRAINING. THE PRESENT STUDY AIMED AT ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF A SET OF YOGA PRACTICES ON NORMAL ADULTS (N = 37), CHILDREN (N = 86), AND PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (N = 20). AN EQUAL NUMBER OF NORMAL ADULTS, CHILDREN, AND PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA WERE STUDIED UNDER EACH CATEGORY, FORMING RESPECTIVE CONTROL GROUPS. YOGA AND CONTROL GROUP SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED AT BASELINE AND AFTER VARYING INTERVALS, AS FOLLOWS, ADULTS AFTER 30 DAYS, CHILDREN AFTER 10 DAYS AND PATIENTS AFTER 15 DAYS, BASED ON THE DURATION OF THE YOGA PROGRAM, WHICH THEY ATTENDED, WHICH WAS ALREADY FIXED. HAND GRIP STRENGTH OF BOTH HANDS, MEASURED WITH A GRIP DYNAMOMETER, INCREASED IN NORMAL ADULTS AND CHILDREN, AND IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS, FOLLOWING YOGA, BUT NOT IN THE CORRESPONDING CONTROL GROUPS, SHOWING NO RE-TEST EFFECT. ADULT FEMALE VOLUNTEERS AND PATIENTS SHOWED A GREATER PERCENTAGE IMPROVEMENT THAN CORRESPONDING ADULT MALES. THIS GENDER-BASED DIFFERENCE WAS NOT OBSERVED IN CHILDREN. HENCE YOGA PRACTICE IMPROVES HAND GRIP STRENGTH IN NORMAL PERSONS AND IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, THOUGH THE MAGNITUDE OF IMPROVEMENT VARIES WITH FACTORS SUCH AS GENDER AND AGE. 2001 15 760 28 EFFECT OF SUDARSANKRIYA YOGA PRACTICES ON P300 AMPLITUDE AND LATENCY. THE COGNITIVE ABILITY WHICH WAS PERCEIVED AS A CONSTANT TRAIT, IS NOW UNDERSTOOD TO BE UPGRADED BY ADAPTIVE AND EXTENDED TRAINING. YOGA PRACTICES ARE KNOWN TO SHARPEN THE INTELLECT AND ENHANCE CONCENTRATION. IN THE INITIAL PERIOD OF PRACTICING YOGA AS AN ALTERNATIVE/SUPPORTING TOOL TO MEDICAL LINE OF TREATMENT, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO INVESTIGATE EFFECT OF YOGA ON COGNITIVE ABILITY USING OBJECTIVE METHOD, IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH EVIDENCES. HENCE, AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXPLORE THE EFFECT OF REGULAR PRACTICE OF SUDARSANKRIYA YOGA ON AUDITORY EVENT RELATED POTENTIAL (P300) BY RECORDING AND COMPARING PEAK LATENCY AND AMPLITUDE. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS WITH GROUP I AND GROUP II PARTICIPANTS PRACTICING SUDARSANKRIYA YOGA FOR MORE THAN 36 MONTHS AND LESS THAN 36 MONTHS RESPECTIVELY. GROUP III WERE NON-PRACTITIONERS WITH NO PRIOR PRACTICE OF ANY FORM OF YOGA. TWENTY PARTICIPANTS IN EACH GROUP WITH A TOTAL OF 60 PARTICIPANTS BETWEEN 40 TO 65 YEARS OF AGE WERE RECRUITED FOR THE STUDY. RESULTS REVEALED A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE FOR MEAN LATENCY AND AMPLITUDE BETWEEN THREE GROUPS. FINDINGS OF THE CURRENT STUDY SUGGEST THAT SUDARSANKRIYA YOGA PRACTICES SLOWS DOWN THE PROCESS OF AGING EFFECT OR MAINTAINS ON COGNITIVE ABILITY IN ADULTS. 2021 16 778 30 EFFECT OF YOGA AND WORKING MEMORY TRAINING ON COGNITIVE COMMUNICATIVE ABILITIES AMONG MIDDLE AGED ADULTS. SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE REPORTED IMPROVEMENTS IN COGNITIVE COMMUNICATIVE ABILITIES WITH WORKING MEMORY TRAINING AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPEUTIC METHODS CONDUCTED SEPARATELY. THE PRESENT STUDY AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF COMBINING YOGA AND WORKING MEMORY TRAINING AMONG HEALTHY MIDDLE AGED ADULTS. A TOTAL OF 45 PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED INTO THREE GROUPS. GROUP 1 RECEIVED BOTH YOGA AND WORKING MEMORY TRAINING, GROUP 2 RECEIVED ONLY WORKING MEMORY TRAINING AND GROUP 3 SERVED AS THE CONTROL GROUP. WORKING MEMORY TRAINING WAS PROVIDED ON SIX TASKS. YOGA TRAINING INVOLVED PRANAYAMAS AND MUDRAS. EFFECTS OF TRAINING WERE ASSESSED ALONG WITH THE SELF-PERCEPTUAL RATING OF THE PARTICIPANTS TOWARDS TRAINING. RESULTS REVEAL GREATER TRAINING EFFECTS AMONG GROUP 1 PARTICIPANTS, FOLLOWED BY GROUP 2 AND GROUP 3. GROUP 1 ALSO REPORTED BETTER PERCEPTION OF TRAINING (P < 0.05) THAN GROUP 2. THE STUDY HIGHLIGHTS THAT YOGA IS NOT ONLY AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH, BUT ALSO AUGMENTATIVE IN IMPROVING COGNITIVE COMMUNICATIVE ABILITIES. 2017 17 1835 26 PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES AT THE TIME OF EXAMINATION IN MEDICAL STUDENTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF YOGA AND RELAXATION. THE EFFECT OF YOGA AND RELAXATION CHANGES IN PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS IN RESPONSE TO THE STRESS OF EXAMINATION IN 75 MEDICAL STUDENTS WAS STUDIED. INITIALLY FIVE PARAMETERS (ANXIETY LEVEL, HEART RATE, BLOOD PRESSURE, GALVANIC SKIN RESISTANCE AND CHOICE REACTION TIME) WERE RECORDED, A MONTH BEFORE THE EXAMINATION AND ON THE DAY OF EXAMINATION. STUDENTS WERE THEN RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO 3 GROUP OF 25 EACH. ONE GROUP PRACTICED YOGA (GROUP- Y), AND ANOTHER GROUP PRACTICED RELAXATION (GROUP-R) REGULARLY FOR THREE MONTHS. THE THIRD GROUP WAS CONTROL GROUP (GROUP-C). ALL THE PARAMETERS WERE RECORDED AFTER THE CHANGES IN ANXIETY LEVEL, HEART RATE, BLOOD PRESSURE, AND GALVANIC SKIN RESISTANCE IN RESPONSE TO STRESS OF EXAMINATION WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ATTENUATED AND THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN CHOICE REACTION TIME IN GROUP-Y AND GROUP-R AS COMPARED TO GROUP-C AFTER YOGA AND RELAXATION. 1998 18 1616 38 MINDFUL AWARENESS FOR FEMALE DENTAL STUDENTS THROUGH YOGA, MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO, AND A COMBINATION OF TWO ON STRESS REDUCTION. OBJECTIVE: ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL EFFECT OF YOGA, MOTIVATIONAL VIDEOS, AND A COMBINATION OF TWO ON STRESS REDUCTION IN FEMALE DENTAL STUDENTS. METHODS: THE CURRENT STUDY DESIGN IS A NONRANDOMIZED TRIAL CARRIED OUT AMONG FEMALE DENTAL STUDENTS (N = 120). THE SELECTED SUBJECTS WERE ALLOCATED INTO THREE GROUPS, NAMELY, GROUP A: YOGA GROUP ASSIGNED UNDER A PROFESSIONAL YOGA INSTRUCTOR, GROUP B: MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO GROUP, AND GROUP C: A COMBINATION OF TWO (A AND B) INVOLVING YOGA SESSIONS AND MOTIVATIONAL VIDEOS; FOLLOWING WHICH FORMATIVE EXAMINATIONS WERE CARRIED OUT AT 6 WEEKS WHICH WERE REFERRED TO AS STRESSOR 1 AND THOSE CARRIED OUT AT 12 WEEKS WERE REFERRED TO AS STRESSOR 2. USING SPIELBERGER'S STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY FOR ADULTS (STAI-A) RECORDINGS WERE MEASURED AT BASELINE, STRESSOR 1, AND STRESSOR 2. RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN TRAIT ANXIETY SCORES AT BOTH STRESSORS IN ALL THE GROUPS WITH A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DEPRESSION SCORE FROM STRESSOR 1 TO 2 IN GROUP 1 AND GROUP 3 SUBJECTS. THE SIGNIFICANT DECREASE OCCURRED IN STAI-A SCORES IN GROUP 1 AND GROUP 3 SUBJECTS AT BOTH STRESSORS (P < 0.001) WITH NO CHANGE OBSERVED IN GROUP 2 SUBJECTS. CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT STUDY IS ONE OF A KIND AND POSITIVELY CORRELATES YOGA AND MOTIVATIONAL VIDEOS WITH STRESS REDUCTION. BOTH OF THESE INTERVENTIONS PROVED TO BE BENEFICIARY FOR PHYSICAL AS WELL AS MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDY SUBJECTS. 2020 19 1986 33 SPATIAL AND VERBAL MEMORY TEST SCORES FOLLOWING YOGA AND FINE ARTS CAMPS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN. THE PERFORMANCE SCORES OF CHILDREN (AGED 11 TO 16 YEARS) IN VERBAL AND SPATIAL MEMORY TESTS WERE COMPARED FOR TWO GROUPS (N = 30, EACH), ONE ATTENDING A YOGA CAMP AND THE OTHER A FINE ARTS CAMP. BOTH GROUPS WERE ASSESSED ON THE MEMORY TASKS INITIALLY AND AFTER TEN DAYS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE INTERVENTIONS. A CONTROL GROUP (N = 30) WAS SIMILARLY STUDIED TO ASSESS THE TEST-RETEST EFFECT. AT THE FINAL ASSESSMENT THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE OF 43% IN SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES (MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS, TUKEY TEST), WHILE THE FINE ARTS AND CONTROL GROUPS SHOWED NO CHANGE. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA PRACTICE, INCLUDING PHYSICAL POSTURES, YOGA BREATHING, MEDITATION AND GUIDED RELAXATION IMPROVED DELAYED RECALL OF SPATIAL INFORMATION. 2004 20 33 33 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