1 2138 145 THE EFFECTS OF AN 8-WEEK HATHA YOGA INTERVENTION ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER ADULTS. BACKGROUND: FEW SCIENTIFIC STUDIES HAVE EXAMINED MOVEMENT-BASED EMBODIED CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES SUCH AS YOGA AND THEIR EFFECTS ON COGNITION. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WAS TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF AN 8-WEEK HATHA YOGA INTERVENTION ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTION MEASURES OF TASK SWITCHING AND WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY. METHODS: COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS (N = 118; MEAN AGE = 62.0) WERE RANDOMIZED TO ONE OF TWO GROUPS: A HATHA YOGA INTERVENTION OR A STRETCHING-STRENGTHENING CONTROL. BOTH GROUPS PARTICIPATED IN HOUR-LONG EXERCISE CLASSES 3X/WEEK OVER THE 8-WEEK STUDY PERIOD. ALL PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED ESTABLISHED TESTS OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION INCLUDING THE TASK SWITCHING PARADIGM, N-BACK AND RUNNING MEMORY SPAN AT BASELINE AND FOLLOW-UP. RESULTS: ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCES SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY SHORTER REACTION TIMES ON THE MIXED AND REPEAT TASK SWITCHING TRIALS (PARTIAL ETA(2) = .04, P < .05) FOR THE HATHA YOGA GROUP. HIGHER ACCURACY WAS RECORDED ON THE SINGLE TRIALS (PARTIAL ETA(2) = .05, P < .05), THE 2-BACK CONDITION OF THE N-BACK (PARTIAL ETA(2) = .08, P < .001), AND PARTIAL RECALL SCORES (PARTIAL ETA(2) = .06, P < .01) OF RUNNING SPAN TASK. CONCLUSIONS: FOLLOWING 8 WEEKS OF YOGA PRACTICE, PARTICIPANTS IN THE YOGA INTERVENTION GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED PERFORMANCE ON THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTION MEASURES OF WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY AND EFFICIENCY OF MENTAL SET SHIFTING AND FLEXIBILITY COMPARED WITH THEIR STRETCHING-STRENGTHENING COUNTERPARTS. ALTHOUGH THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED, THESE RESULTS DEMAND LARGER SYSTEMATIC TRIALS TO THOROUGHLY EXAMINE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AS WELL AS ACROSS OTHER DOMAINS OF COGNITION, AND ITS POTENTIAL TO MAINTAIN OR IMPROVE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN THE AGING PROCESS. 2014 2 2743 68 YOGA PRACTICE IMPROVES EXECUTIVE FUNCTION BY ATTENUATING STRESS LEVELS. BACKGROUND: PROLONGED ACTIVATION OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS-PITUITARY-ADRENAL SYSTEM IS THOUGHT TO HAVE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS ON BRAIN FUNCTION. NEUROENDOCRINE STUDIES SUGGEST THAT BRAIN EXPOSURE TO HIGHER CORTISOL CONCENTRATIONS CONTRIBUTE TO COGNITIVE DEFICITS AS WE AGE. MIND-BODY TECHNIQUES SUCH AS YOGA HAVE SHOWN TO IMPROVE STRESS LEVELS BY RESTORING THE BODY'S SYMPATHETIC-PARASYMPATHETIC BALANCE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOGA PRACTICE MODERATED THE STRESS RESPONSE RESULTING IN IMPROVED EXECUTIVE FUNCTION. METHODS: SEDENTARY COMMUNITY DWELLING OLDER ADULTS (N=118, MEAN AGE=62.02) WERE RANDOMIZED TO AN 8-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION OR A STRETCHING CONTROL GROUP. AT BASELINE AND FOLLOWING 8 WEEKS, ALL PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED MEASURES OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, SELF-REPORTED STRESS AND ANXIETY AND PROVIDED SALIVA SAMPLES BEFORE AND AFTER COGNITIVE TESTING TO ASSESS CORTISOL. RESULTS: YOGA PARTICIPANTS SHOWED IMPROVED ACCURACY ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTION MEASURES AND AN ATTENUATED CORTISOL RESPONSE COMPARED TO THEIR STRETCHING COUNTERPARTS WHO SHOWED INCREASED CORTISOL LEVELS AND POOR COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AT FOLLOW UP. THE CHANGE IN CORTISOL LEVELS AS WELL AS SELF-REPORTED STRESS AND ANXIETY LEVELS PREDICTED PERFORMANCE ON THE RUNNING SPAN TASK, N-BACK WORKING MEMORY AND TASK SWITCHING PARADIGM (BETA'S=0.27-0.38, P'S