1 1836 88 PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF THE PRACTICE OF TANTRIC YOGA MEDITATION. AUTONOMIC AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC (EEG) CORRELATES OF TANTRIC YOGA MEDITATION WERE STUDIED IN THREE GROUPS OF SUBJECTS AS THEY PROGRESSED FROM NORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS INTO MEDITATION. GROUPS DIFFERED IN THEIR LEVEL OF MEDITATION PROFICIENCY. MEASURES OF SKIN RESISTANCE, HEART RATE, RESPIRATION, AUTONOMIC ORIENTING RESPONSES, RESTING EEG, EEG ALPHA AND THETA FREQUENCIES, SLEEP-SCORED EEG, AVERAGED EVOKED RESPONSES, AND SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE WERE EMPLOYED. UNLIKE MOST PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MEDITATION STUDIES, PROFICIENT MEDITATORS DEMONSTRATED INCREASED AUTONOMIC ACTIVATION DURING MEDITATION WHILE UNEXPERIENCED MEDITATORS DEMONSTRATED AUTONOMIC RELAXATION. DURING MEDITATION, PROFICIENT MEDITATORS DEMONSTRATED INCREASED ALPHA AND THETA POWER, MINIMAL EVIDENCE OF EEG-DEFINED SLEEP, AND DECREASED AUTONOMIC ORIENTING TO EXTERNAL STIMULATION. AN EPISODE OF SUDDEN AUTONOMIC ACTIVATION WAS OBSERVED THAT WAS CHARACTERIZED BY THE MEDITATOR AS AN APPROACH TO THE YOGIC ECSTATIC STATE OF INTENSE CONCENTRATION. THESE FINDINGS CHALLENGE THE CURRENT "RELAXATION" MODEL OF MEDITATIVE STATES. 1978 2 492 27 COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR EVALUATION BASED ON PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AMONG YOUNG HEALTHY SUBJECTS WITH YOGA AS INTERVENTION. OBJECTIVE: TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON COGNITIVE SKILLS, AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY BY ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS. METHODS: THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON 30 NORMAL YOUNG HEALTHY ENGINEERING STUDENTS. THEY WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED INTO TWO GROUPS: YOGA GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP. THE YOGA GROUP PRACTICED YOGA ONE AND HALF HOUR PER DAY FOR SIX DAYS IN A WEEK, FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE MONTHS. RESULTS: THE YOGA PRACTISING GROUP SHOWED INCREASED ALPHA, BETA, AND DELTA EEG BAND POWERS AND SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THETA AND GAMMA BAND POWERS. THE INCREASED ALPHA AND BETA POWER CAN REPRESENT ENHANCED COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS SUCH AS MEMORY AND CONCENTRATION, AND THAT OF DELTA SIGNIFIES SYNCHRONIZATION OF BRAIN ACTIVITY. THE HEART RATE INDEX THETA/ALPHA DECREASED, NEURAL ACTIVITY BETA/THETA INCREASED, ATTENTION RESOURCE INDEX BETA/(ALPHA + THETA) INCREASED, EXECUTIVE LOAD INDEX (DELTA + THETA)/ALPHA DECREASED, AND THE RATIO (DELTA + THETA)/(ALPHA + BETA) DECREASED. THE YOGA PRACTICE GROUP SHOWED IMPROVEMENT IN HEART RATE VARIABILITY, INCREASED SDNN/RMSSD, AND REDUCTION IN LF/HF RATIO. CONCLUSION: YOGA PRACTISING GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN VARIOUS COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS, SUCH AS PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT, NEURAL ACTIVITY, ATTENTION, AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION. IT ALSO RESULTED IN INCREASE IN THE HEART RATE VARIABILITY, PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY, AND BALANCED AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM REACTIVITY. 2015 3 1565 27 LOW AND THEN HIGH FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS OF DISTINCT RIGHT CORTICAL NETWORKS ARE PROGRESSIVELY ENHANCED BY MEDIUM AND LONG TERM SATYANANDA YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICE. MEDITATION PROFICIENCY IS RELATED TO TRAIT-LIKE (LEARNED) EFFECTS ON BRAIN FUNCTION, DEVELOPED OVER TIME. PREVIOUS STUDIES SHOW INCREASES IN EEG POWER IN LOWER FREQUENCY BANDS (THETA, ALPHA) IN EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS IN BOTH MEDITATION STATES AND BASELINE CONDITIONS. HIGHER GAMMA BAND POWER HAS BEEN FOUND IN ADVANCED BUDDHIST MEDITATORS, YET IT IS NOT KNOWN IF THIS OCCURS IN YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICES. THIS STUDY USED ELORETA TO COMPARE DIFFERENCES IN CORTICAL SOURCE ACTIVITY UNDERLYING SCALP EEG FROM INTERMEDIATE (MEAN EXPERIENCE 4 YEARS) AND ADVANCED (MEAN EXPERIENCE 30 YEARS) AUSTRALIAN MEDITATORS FROM THE SATYANANDA YOGA TRADITION DURING A BODY-STEADINESS MEDITATION, MANTRA MEDITATION, AND NON-MEDITATION MENTAL CALCULATION CONDITION. INTERMEDIATE YOGA MEDITATORS SHOWED GREATER SOURCE ACTIVITY IN LOW FREQUENCIES (PARTICULARLY THETA AND ALPHA1) DURING MENTAL CALCULATION, BODY-STEADINESS AND MANTRA MEDITATION. A SIMILAR SPATIAL PATTERN OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WAS FOUND IN ALL CONDITIONS BUT THE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT VOXELS WAS DOUBLE DURING BODY-STEADINESS AND MANTRA MEDITATION THAN IN THE NON-MEDITATION (CALCULATION) CONDITION. THESE DIFFERENCES WERE GREATEST IN RIGHT (R) SUPERIOR FRONTAL AND R PRECENTRAL GYRI AND EXTENDED BACK TO INCLUDE THE R PARIETAL AND OCCIPITAL LOBES. ADVANCED YOGA MEDITATORS SHOWED GREATER ACTIVITY IN HIGH FREQUENCIES (BETA AND ESPECIALLY GAMMA) IN ALL CONDITIONS BUT GREATLY EXPANDED DURING MEDITATION PRACTICE. ACROSS ALL CONDITIONS (MEDITATION AND NON-MEDITATION) DIFFERENCES WERE GREATEST IN THE SAME REGIONS: R INSULA, R INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS AND R ANTERIOR TEMPORAL LOBE. DISTINCT R CORE NETWORKS WERE IDENTIFIED IN ALPHA1 (8-10 HZ) AND GAMMA (25-42 HZ) BANDS, RESPECTIVELY. THE VOXELS RECRUITED TO THESE NETWORKS GREATLY EXPANDED DURING MEDITATION PRACTICE TO INCLUDE HOMOLOGOUS REGIONS OF THE LEFT HEMISPHERE. FUNCTIONAL INTERPRETATION PARALLELS TRADITIONALLY DESCRIBED STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN YOGA PROFICIENCY. 2014 4 1972 21 SHORT-TERM SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION TRAINING MODULATES BRAIN STRUCTURE AND SPONTANEOUS ACTIVITY IN THE EXECUTIVE CONTROL NETWORK. INTRODUCTION: WHILE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES HAVE SHOWN NEURAL CHANGES IN LONG-TERM MEDITATORS, THEY MIGHT BE CONFOUNDED BY SELF-SELECTION AND POTENTIAL BASELINE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEDITATORS AND NON MEDITATORS. PROSPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION IN NAIVE SUBJECTS ARE MORE CONCLUSIVE WITH RESPECT TO CAUSAL INFERENCES, BUT RELATED EVIDENCE IS SO FAR LIMITED. METHODS: HERE, WE ASSESSED THE EFFECTS OF A 4-WEEK SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION TRAINING ON GRAY MATTER DENSITY AND SPONTANEOUS RESTING-STATE BRAIN ACTIVITY IN A GROUP OF 12 MEDITATION-NAIVE HEALTHY ADULTS. RESULTS: COMPARED WITH 30 CONTROL SUBJECTS, THE PARTICIPANTS TO MEDITATION TRAINING SHOWED INCREASED GRAY MATTER DENSITY AND CHANGES IN THE COHERENCE OF INTRINSIC BRAIN ACTIVITY IN TWO ADJACENT REGIONS OF THE RIGHT INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS ENCOMPASSING THE ANTERIOR COMPONENT OF THE EXECUTIVE CONTROL NETWORK. BOTH THESE MEASURES CORRELATED WITH SELF-REPORTED WELL-BEING SCORES IN THE MEDITATION GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF A BRIEF MEDITATION TRAINING ON BRAIN REGIONS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENTION, SELF-CONTROL, AND SELF-AWARENESS MAY REFLECT THE ENGAGEMENT OF COGNITIVE CONTROL SKILLS IN SEARCHING FOR A STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE, A DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. THE MANIFOLD IMPLICATIONS OF THESE FINDINGS INVOLVE BOTH MANAGERIAL AND REHABILITATIVE SETTINGS CONCERNED WITH WELL-BEING AND EMOTIONAL STATE IN NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. 2019 5 1605 22 MENTAL STRESS: NEUROPHYSIOLOGY AND ITS REGULATION BY SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA. AIM: THE PRESENT STUDY FOCUSES ON ANALYZING THE EFFECTS OF SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) ON EEG AS WELL AS ECG SIGNALS FOR STRESS REGULATION. TO ENVISION THE REGULATION OF STRESS DETERMINATION TEST (DT) HAS BEEN USED. WE HAVE CHOSEN A CONTROL GROUP FOR CONTRIVING A COGENT COMPARISON THAT COULD BE CORROBORATED USING STATISTICAL TESTS. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A TOTAL OF 20 SUBJECTS WERE TAKEN IN THE STUDY, OF WHICH 10 WERE ALLOTTED TO A CONTROL GROUP. ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH WAS TAKEN DURING A DT TASK, BEFORE AND AFTER SKY THE SKY SESSION WITH 30 DAYS OF SKY SESSION GIVEN TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. NO SKY WAS GIVEN TO THE CONTROL GROUP. RESULTS: WE QUANTIFIED MENTAL STRESS USING EEG, ECG AND DT SYNERGISTICALLY AND USED SKY TO REGULATE IT. WE OBSERVED THAT ALPHA BAND POWER DECREASES IN THE FRONTAL LOBE OF THE BRAIN WITH INCREASING MENTAL STRESS WHILE FRONTAL BRAIN ASYMMETRY DECREASES WITH INCREASING STRESS TOLERANCE. CONCLUSIONS: THESE EEG, ECG AND DT SHOWS A SIGNIFICANT DECREMENT IN MENTAL STRESS AND IMPROVEMENT IN COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AFTER SKY, INDICATING SKY AS A GOOD ALTERNATIVE OF MEDICATION FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT. 2017 6 760 20 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 7 1208 30 EXPLORATION OF LOWER FREQUENCY EEG DYNAMICS AND CORTICAL ALPHA ASYMMETRY IN LONG-TERM RAJYOGA MEDITATORS. BACKGROUND: RAJYOGA MEDITATION IS TAUGHT BY PRAJAPITA BRAHMAKUMARIS WORLD SPIRITUAL UNIVERSITY (BRAHMAKUMARIS) AND HAS BEEN FOLLOWED BY MORE THAN ONE MILLION FOLLOWERS ACROSS THE GLOBE. HOWEVER, RARE STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED ON PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF RAJYOGA MEDITATION USING ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY (EEG). BAND POWER AND CORTICAL ASYMMETRY WERE NOT STUDIED WITH RAJYOGA MEDITATORS. AIMS: THIS STUDY AIMS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF REGULAR MEDITATION PRACTICE ON EEG BRAIN DYNAMICS IN LOW-FREQUENCY BANDS OF LONG-TERM RAJYOGA MEDITATORS. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: SUBJECTS WERE MATCHED FOR AGE IN BOTH GROUPS. LOWER FREQUENCY EEG BANDS WERE ANALYZED IN RESTING AND DURING MEDITATION. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TWENTY-ONE MALE LONG-TERM MEDITATORS (LTMS) AND SAME NUMBER OF CONTROLS WERE SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN STUDY AS PAR INCLUSION CRITERIA. SEMI HIGH-DENSITY EEG WAS RECORDED BEFORE AND DURING MEDITATION IN LTM GROUP AND RESTING IN CONTROL GROUP. THE MAIN OUTCOME OF THE STUDY WAS SPECTRAL POWER OF ALPHA AND THETA BANDS AND CORTICAL (HEMISPHERICAL) ASYMMETRY CALCULATED USING BAND POWER. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: ONE-WAY ANOVA WAS PERFORMED TO FIND THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EEG SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF GROUPS. PEARSON'S CHI-SQUARE TEST WAS USED TO FIND DIFFERENCE AMONG DEMOGRAPHICS DATA. RESULTS: RESULTS REVEAL HIGH-BAND POWER IN ALPHA AND THETA SPECTRA IN MEDITATORS. CORTICAL ASYMMETRY CALCULATED THROUGH EEG POWER WAS ALSO FOUND TO BE HIGH IN FRONTAL AS WELL AS PARIETAL CHANNELS. HOWEVER, NO CORRELATION WAS SEEN BETWEEN THE EXPERIENCE OF MEDITATION (YEARS, HOURS) PRACTICE AND EEG INDICES. CONCLUSION: OVERALL FINDINGS INDICATE CONTRIBUTION OF SMALLER FREQUENCIES (ALPHA AND THETA) WHILE MAINTAINING MEDITATIVE EXPERIENCE. THIS SUGGESTS A POSITIVE IMPACT OF MEDITATION ON FRONTAL AND PARIETAL AREAS OF BRAIN, INVOLVED IN THE PROCESSES OF REGULATION OF SELECTIVE AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION AS WELL AS PROVIDE EVIDENCE ABOUT THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN EMOTION AND COGNITIVE PROCESSING. 2018 8 436 21 CARDIORESPIRATORY AND METABOLIC CHANGES DURING YOGA SESSIONS: THE EFFECTS OF RESPIRATORY EXERCISES AND MEDITATION PRACTICES. THE NOVELTY OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE CHANGES IN CARDIORESPIRATORY AND METABOLIC INTENSITY BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE PRACTICE OF PRANAYAMAS (BREATHING EXERCISES OF YOGA) AND MEDITATION DURING THE SAME HATHA-YOGA SESSION. THE TECHNIQUE APPLIED WAS THE ONE ADVOCATED BY THE HATHA-YOGA SYSTEM. NINE YOGA INSTRUCTORS-FIVE FEMALES AND FOUR MALES, MEAN AGE OF 44+/-11, 6, WERE SUBJECTED TO ANALYSIS OF THE GASES EXPIRED DURING THREE DISTINCT PERIODS OF 30 MIN: REST, RESPIRATORY EXERCISES AND MEDITATIVE PRACTICE. A METABOLIC OPEN CIRCUIT COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM WAS APPLIED (VO2000, MEDGRAPHICS-USA). THE OXYGEN UPTAKE (VO(2)) AND THE CARBON DIOXIDE OUTPUT (VCO(2)) WERE STATISTICALLY DIFFERENT (P