1 1814 96 PROGRESSIVE INCREASE IN CRITICAL FLICKER FUSION FREQUENCY FOLLOWING YOGA TRAINING. THE CRITICAL FLICKER FUSION FREQUENCY (CFF) IS THE FREQUENCY AT WHICH A FLICKERING STIMULUS IS PERCEIVED TO BE STEADY, WITH HIGHER VALUES SUGGESTING GREATER PERCEPTUAL ACCURACY. THE CFF WAS MEASURED IN TWO AGE-MATCHED GROUPS OF HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS WHOSE AGES RANGED FROM 25 TO 39 YEARS, WITH 18 SUBJECTS IN EACH GROUP. AFTER BASELINE ASSESSMENTS ONE GROUP (YOGA GROUP) RECEIVED YOGA TRAINING, WHILE THE OTHER GROUP (CONTROL GROUP) CARRIED ON WITH THEIR ROUTINE ACTIVITIES. YOGA PRACTICES INCLUDED ASANAS, PRANAYAMAS, KRIYAS, MEDITATION, DEVOTIONAL SESSIONS AND LECTURES ON THE THEORY OF YOGA. AFTER 10 DAYS NEITHER GROUP SHOWED A CHANGE IN CFF. HOWEVER, AT 20 AND AT 30 DAYS THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN CFF BY 11.1% AND 14.9%, RESPECTIVELY (TWO FACTOR ANOVA, TUKEY MULTIPLE COMPARISON TEST). THE CONTROL GROUP SHOWED NO CHANGE AT THE DAY 20 AND DAY 30 FOLLOWUP. 1997 2 1653 34 MUSCLE POWER, DEXTERITY SKILL AND VISUAL PERCEPTION IN COMMUNITY HOME GIRLS TRAINED IN YOGA OR SPORTS AND IN REGULAR SCHOOL GIRLS. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO COMPARE CRITICAL FLICKER FUSION FREQUENCY (CFF), DEGREE OF OPTICAL ILLUSION ("DI"), DEXTERITY SCORES, AND GRIP STRENGTH IN THREE GROUPS OF SUBJECTS, VIZ COMMUNITY HOME GIRLS WHO HAD LEARNED YOGA FOR 6 MONTHS (CHY), AGE-MATCHED COMMUNITY HOME GIRLS WHO HAD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TRAINING FOR 6 MONTHS (CHP), AND GIRLS WHO WERE ATTENDING A REGULAR SCHOOL (SCH). THERE WERE EQUAL NUMBERS IN EACH GROUP FOR EACH OF THE 4 ASSESSMENT (RANGE 11 TO 30 SUBJECTS) AND AGE RANGE WAS 12 TO 16 YEARS OF AGE. THE CHP GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER CFF AND "DI" WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER (ONE FACTOR ANOVA, T TEST FOR UNPAIRED DATA) IN THE CHP GROUP, BOTH COMPARED TO CHY AND SCH GROUPS. RIGHT HAND GRIP STRENGTH WAS ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY LESS IN THE CHP GROUP COMPARED TO SCH. THE RESULTS WERE EXPLAINED BY PREVIOUS REPORTS OF HIGH LEVELS OF ANXIETY AND AGGRESSION IN COMMUNITY-HOME GROUPS, WHICH IS KNOWN TO INFLUENCE THE FOUR PARAMETERS DESCRIBED HERE. THE BETTER PERFORMANCE OF THE CHY GROUP COMPARED TO CHP, SUGGESTED THAT YOGA PRACTICE HAS A BENEFICIAL EFFECT IN THESE SUBJECTS. 1997 3 885 21 EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON REACTION TIME, RESPIRATORY ENDURANCE AND MUSCLE STRENGTH. THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT THE PRACTICE OF YOGA IMPROVES PHYSICAL AND MENTAL PERFORMANCE. THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION WAS UNDERTAKEN TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON VISUAL AND AUDITORY REACTION TIMES (RTS), MAXIMUM EXPIRATORY PRESSURE (MEP), MAXIMUM INSPIRATORY PRESSURE (MIP), 40 MMHG TEST, BREATH HOLDING TIME AFTER EXPIRATION (BHTEXP), BREATH HOLDING TIME AFTER INSPIRATION (BHTINSP), AND HAND GRIP STRENGTH (HGS). TWENTY SEVEN STUDENT VOLUNTEERS WERE GIVEN YOGA TRAINING FOR 12 WEEKS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT (P < 0.001) DECREASE IN VISUAL RT (FROM 270.0 +/- 6.20 (SE) TO 224.81 +/- 5.76 MS) AS WELL AS AUDITORY RT (FROM 194.18 +/- 6.00 TO 157.33 +/- 4.85 MS). MEP INCREASED FROM 92.61 +/- 9.04 TO 126.46 +/- 10.75 MMHG, WHILE MIP INCREASED FROM 72.23 +/- 6.45 TO 90.92 +/- 6.03 MMHG, BOTH THESE CHANGES BEING STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (P < 0.05). 40 MMHG TEST AND HGS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY (P < 0.001) FROM 36.57 +/- 2.04 TO 53.36 +/- 3.95 S AND 13.78 +/- 0.58 TO 16.67 +/- 0.49 KG RESPECTIVELY. BHTEXP INCREASED FROM 32.15 +/- 1.41 TO 44.53 +/- 3.78S (P < 0.01) AND BHTINSP INCREASED FROM 63.69 +/- 5.38 TO 89.07 +/- 9.61 S (P < 0.05). OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT YOGA PRACTICE FOR 12 WEEKS RESULTS IN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN VISUAL AND AUDITORY RTS AND SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN RESPIRATORY PRESSURES, BREATH HOLDING TIMES AND HGS. 1992 4 804 14 EFFECT OF YOGA ON AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC POWER OF MUSCLES. AEROBIC POWER (VO2 MAX) AND ANAEROBIC POWER WERE ESTIMATED IN MEDICAL STUDENTS BEFORE AND AFTER SIX WEEKS OF YOGIC TRAINING. A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN AEROBIC POWER AND A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN ANAEROBIC POWER WAS OBSERVED. THIS MAY BE DUE TO CONVERSION OF SOME OF THE FAST TWITCH (F.T.) MUSCLE FIBRES INTO SLOW TWITCH FIBRES (S.T.) DURING YOGIC TRAINING. 1991 5 1420 31 IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN THE TOWER OF LONDON TEST FOLLOWING YOGA. TWENTY GIRLS BETWEEN 10 AND 13 YEARS OF AGE, STUDYING AT A RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO TWO GROUPS. ONE GROUP PRACTICED YOGA FOR ONE HOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES PER DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK, WHILE THE OTHER GROUP WAS GIVEN PHYSICAL TRAINING FOR THE SAME TIME. TIME FOR PLANNING AND FOR EXECUTION AND THE NUMBER OF MOVES REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE TOWER OF LONDON TASK WERE ASSESSED FOR BOTH GROUPS AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF A MONTH. THESE THREE ASSESSMENTS WERE SEPARATELY TESTED IN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX TASKS REQUIRING 2-MOVES, 4-MOVES AND 5-MOVES. THE PRE-POST DATA WERE COMPARED USING THE WILCOXON PAIRED SIGNED RANKS TEST. THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN PLANNING TIME FOR BOTH 2-MOVES AND 4-MOVES TASKS (53.9 AND 59.1 PERCENT RESPECTIVELY), EXECUTION TIME IN BOTH 4-MOVES AND 5-MOVES TASKS (63.7 AND 60.3 PERCENT RESPECTIVELY), AND IN THE NUMBER OF MOVES IN THE 4-MOVES TASKS (20.9 PERCENT). THE PHYSICAL TRAINING GROUP SHOWED NO CHANGE. HENCE YOGA TRAINING FOR A MONTH REDUCED THE PLANNING AND EXECUTION TIME IN SIMPLE (2-MOVES) AS WELL AS COMPLEX TASKS (4, 5-MOVES) AND FACILITATED REACHING THE TARGET WITH A SMALLER NUMBER OF MOVES IN A COMPLEX TASK (4-MOVES). 2001 6 48 37 A COMBINATION OF FOCUSING AND DEFOCUSING THROUGH YOGA REDUCES OPTICAL ILLUSION MORE THAN FOCUSING ALONE. THE DEGREE OF OPTICAL ILLUSION WAS ASSESSED USING STANDARD MULLER-LYER LINES IN TWO GROUPS (YOGA AND CONTROL) OF THIRTY SUBJECTS EACH. ALL SUBJECTS WERE BETWEEN EIGHTEEN AND FORTY TWO YEARS OF AGE. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE READING AT WHICH THE LINES WERE ACTUALLY EQUAL AND THE READING AT WHICH THE SUBJECT FELT THEM TO BE EQUAL, WAS NOTED AS THE DEGREE OF ILLUSION ("DI"). EACH SUBJECT WAS ASSESSED AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF A MONTH. DURING THE MONTH THE YOGA GROUP RECEIVED TRAINING IN YOGA, WHILE THE CONTROL GROUP CARRIED ON WITH THEIR USUAL ROUTINE. AT THE END OF THE MONTH THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT (TWO FACTOR ANOVA, TUKEY TEST, P < .001) DECREASE IN THE "DI" (86%), WHEREAS THE CONTROL GROUP SHOWED NO CHANGE. THE IMPROVEMENT FOLLOWING YOGA COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE COMBINATION OF FOCUSING AND DEFOCUSING INVOLVED IN YOGA PRACTICE, AS THESE FACTORS ARE KNOWN TO INFLUENCE THE "DI". PREVIOUS RESULTS WHICH MENTIONED A 79% DECREASE IN "DI" WITH FOCUSING ALONE, PROVIDED A COMPARISON. 1997 7 1323 33 HEMODYNAMIC OBSERVATIONS OF TUMO YOGA PRACTITIONERS IN A HIMALAYAN ENVIRONMENT. BACKGROUND: FEW ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO EVALUATE THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TRADITIONAL EASTERN HEALTH PRACTICES. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE HEMODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF THE MYSTERIOUS BUDDHIST PRACTICE OF TUMO. TUMO IS A MEDITATIVE PRACTICE THAT PRODUCES INNER HEAT THROUGH THE ALLEGED CULTIVATION OF BODY ENERGY-CHANNELS. METHODS: THIS STUDY WAS PERFORMED BY MEMBERS OF AN INTERNATIONAL EXPEDITION TO THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS IN THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA. THE STUDY WAS PERFORMED IN AN UNPOPULATED OUTDOOR MOUNTAINOUS AREA AT AN ALTITUDE OF 16,400 FT WITH AMBIENT TEMPERATURES BETWEEN -10 AND -15( DEGREES )C. TWO (2) COHORTS OF SUBJECTS WERE STUDIED: HEALTHY NON-YOGI VOLUNTEERS AND TUMO PRACTITIONERS. ALL OF THE SUBJECTS WERE STRIPPED DOWN TO THEIR UNDERCLOTHES AND EXPOSED TO THE SUBZERO ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURES FOR 5 MINUTES. THE VOLUNTEERS WERE THEN PASSIVELY REWARMED WHILE THE TUMO PRACTITIONERS PERFORMED TUMO FOR UP TO 10 MINUTES. BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART RATE, AND STROKE VOLUME INDEX (SVI) AND CARDIAC INDEX WERE MEASURED NONINVASIVELY USING A NICOM HEMODYNAMIC MONITOR, WHILE CAROTID BLOOD FLOW AND BIVENTRICULAR PERFORMANCE WERE DETERMINED ECHOCARDIOGRAPHICALLY AT EACH STAGE OF THE EXPERIMENT. THE TOTAL PERIPHERAL RESISTANCE INDEX (TPRI), LEFT VENTRICULAR EJECTION FRACTION (LVEF), AND TRICUSPID ANNULAR PLANE SYSTOLIC EXCURSION (TAPSE) WERE DETERMINED USING STANDARD FORMULA. RESULTS: FOURTEEN (14) SUBJECTS (SIX VOLUNTEERS AND EIGHT TUMO PRACTITIONERS) COMPLETED THE STUDY. THERE WAS ONE FEMALE SUBJECT IN EACH GROUP. WITH COLD EXPOSURE, THE SVI AND CAROTID BLOOD FLOW DECREASED WHILE THE TPRI INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN BOTH GROUPS. IN THE VOLUNTEER GROUP, THESE CHANGES RETUNED TO BASELINE WITH REWARMING. FOLLOWING TUMO, THE CARDIAC INDEX (4.8+/-0.6 VERSUS 4.0+/-0.5 L/M(2); P<0.01), CAROTID BLOOD FLOW (445+/-127 VERSUS 325+/-100 ML/MIN/M(2), P<0.01), LVEF (68+/-5 VERSUS 64+/-7%; P<0.05) AND TAPSE (2.9+/-0.4 VERSUS 2.4+/-0.5 CM; P<0.01) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER WHEN COMPARED WITH BASELINE, WHILE THE TPRI WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER (1786+/-189 VERSUS 2173+/-281; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: TUMO WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A HYPERDYNAMIC VASODILATED STATE WITH INCREASED BIVENTRICULAR PERFORMANCE. WE POSTULATE THAT TUMO RESULTS IN A MASSIVE INCREASE IN SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY WITH ACTIVATION OF BROWN ADIPOSE TISSUE AND MARKED HEAT PRODUCTION. THE INCREASED HEAT PRODUCTION MAY EXPLAIN THE PARADOXICAL VASODILATATION IN TUMO PRACTITIONERS EXPOSED TO SUBZERO TEMPERATURES. 2014 8 898 20 EFFECT OF YOGASANAS ON THE VISUAL AND AUDITORY REACTION TIME. VISUAL AND AUDITORY REACTION TIME (VRT, ART) WAS STUDIED IN 83 HEALTHY MALE SUBJECTS OF 30-40 YEARS OF AGE WHO HAD NEVER PRACTICED YOGASANAS BEFORE. THESE SUBJECTS WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS VIZ. GROUP A WHOSE VRT AND ART WAS DETERMINED AFTER 1 HR. YOGASANAS AND GROUP B WHOSE ART AND VRT WAS DETERMINED AFTER 6 WEEKS YOGASANAS TRAINING PROGRAMME. VRT AND ART SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN GROUP A (P LESS THAN .05) AND GROUP B (P LESS THAN .001). 1989 9 323 24 ANTHROPOMETRIC AND PHYSIOLOGIC PROFILES OF FEMALE PROFESSIONAL YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE DURING ASANAS EXECUTION. AIM: THE PRESENT STUDY AIMED TO: 1) DEFINE THE ANTHROPOMETRIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PROFILES OF FEMALE PROFESSIONAL YOGA PRACTITIONER COMPARED TO THAT OF OTHER ATHLETES; 2) EVALUATE THE ENERGY EXPENDITURE (EE) DURING A YOGA SESSION. METHODS: THE PERCENTAGE FAT MASS (FM%) AND FAT FREE MASS (FFM%), THE MAXIMAL AEROBIC POWER (VO2MAX), THE MAXIMAL VOLUNTARY CONTRACTION (MVC) OF KNEE EXTENSOR MUSCLES AND THE MAXIMAL ANAEROBIC ALACTACID POWER (WMAX) WERE ASSESSED IN A GROUP OF YOGA PRACTITIONERS (YO), LONG DISTANCE RUNNERS (LDR), SPRINTERS (SPR), KARATE PRACTITIONERS (KA) AND SEDENTARY CONTROL SUBJECTS (CON). EE WAS EVALUATED IN YO DURING A YOGA SESSION (EXECUTION OF A SEQUENCE OF SIX YOGA POSTURES, CALLED ASANAS). RESULTS: FM% WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN CON (24.2+/-2.6%) THAN IN OTHER GROUPS (18+/-1.9%, POOLED DATA, P<0.05). FFM% DID NOT DIFFER AMONG GROUPS. VO2MAX WAS HIGHER IN LDR (55.6+/-1.8 ML MIN-1 KG-1) COMPARED TO OTHER GROUPS (41.7+/-3 ML MIN-1 KG-1, POOLED DATA, P<0.05). MVC AND WMAX WERE HIGHER IN YO, SPR AND KA THAN IN LDR AND CON (P<0.05). IN YO, EE INCREASED IN COMPARISON TO BASELINE, DURING SIRASANA EXECUTION ONLY (+59%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: THESE DATA SUGGEST THAT CHRONIC YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH 1) VALUES OF FM%, FFM%, MVC AND WMAX SIMILAR TO THOSE INDUCED BY SPORTS REQUIRING HIGH DEGREE OF FORCE AND POWER OF LOWER LIMB MUSCLES, WITH MAXIMAL AEROBIC PERFORMANCE SIMILAR TO CONTROL SUBJECTS; 2) LOW EE DURING MOST ASANAS EXECUTION. 2015 10 416 30 BODY TEMPERATURE AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE DURING AND AFTER YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES TRADITIONALLY DESCRIBED AS COOLING. BACKGROUND IN TRADITIONAL YOGA TEXTS, SHEETALI AND SITKARI PRANAYAMAS ARE DESCRIBED AS COOLING. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS AIMED AT RECORDING THE SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE, OXYGEN CONSUMED, AND CARBON DIOXIDE ELIMINATED BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER PERFORMANCE OF SHEETALI AND SITKARI PRANAYAMAS. MATERIAL AND METHODS SEVENTEEN HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS WITH AGES BETWEEN 19 TO 25 YEARS (AVERAGE AGE 20.7+/-1.8 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED IN 4 SESSIONS, VIZ. SHEETALI PRANAYAMA, SITKARI PRANAYAMA, BREATH AWARENESS AND QUIET LYING, ON 4 SEPARATE DAYS, IN RANDOM SEQUENCE. THE AXILLARY SURFACE BODY TEMPERATURE (TRUSCOPE II, SCHILLER, CHINA) AND METABOLIC VARIABLES (QUARK CPET, COSMED, ITALY) WERE RECORDED IN 3 PERIODS: BEFORE (5 MINUTES), DURING (18 MINUTES), AND AFTER (5 MINUTES), IN EACH OF THE 4 SESSIONS. THE HEAT INDEX WAS CALCULATED IN THE BEFORE AND AFTER PERIODS, BASED ON RECORDINGS OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING SPSS (VERSION 24.0). RESULTS BODY TEMPERATURE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING SHEETALI AND SITKARI (P<0.05, P<0.01; RESPECTIVELY) WHILE IT DECREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS AND QUIET LYING DOWN (P<0.01, P<0.001; RESPECTIVELY) WHEN COMPARED WITH RESPECTIVE POST-EXERCISE STATES. OXYGEN CONSUMPTION INCREASED BY 9.0% DURING SHEETALI (P<0.05) AND BY 7.6% DURING SITKARI (P<0.01) WHILE IT DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING (P<0.05) AND AFTER (P<0.01) QUIET LYING DOWN COMPARED TO RESPECTIVE PRE-EXERCISE STATES. CONCLUSIONS THE RESULTS DO NOT SUPPORT THE DESCRIPTION OF THESE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES AS COOLING. THESE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES MAY BE USED TO INDUCE A MILD HYPERMETABOLIC STATE. 2020 11 1706 16 PATTERN OF BREATHING AND VENTILATORY RESPONSE TO CO2 IN SUBJECTS PRACTICING HATHA-YOGA. WE STUDIED EIGHT BELGIAN SUBJECTS WELL ADVANCED IN THE PRACTICE OF HATHA-YOGA AND COMPARED THEM WITH EIGHT SEX-, AGE-, AND HEIGHT-MATCHED CONTROL SUBJECTS. PRACTICE OF YOGA (RANGE 4-12 YR) INVOLVES CONTROL OF POSTURE AND MANIPULATION OF BREATHING, INCLUDING SLOW NEAR-VITAL CAPACITY MANEUVERS ACCOMPANIED BY APNEA AT END INSPIRATION AND END EXPIRATION. AVERAGE VALUES FOR THE YOGA AND THE CONTROL GROUP (IN PARENTHESES) ARE AS FOLLOWS: VENTILATION (VE) 5.53 1 X MIN-1 (7.07); TIDAL VOLUME (VT), 1.03 LITERS (0.56); RATE OF BREATHING, 5.5 MIN-1 (13.4); END-TIDAL PCO2, 39.0 TORR (35.3). ALL DIFFERENCES ARE SIGNIFICANT (P LESS THAN 0.05). VENTILATORY RESPONSE TO CO2 (REBREATHING TECHNIQUE) WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IN THE YOGA GROUP (P LESS THAN 0.01). THE REGRESSION RELATING VE TO VT DURING REBREATHING OF CO2 WAS VE = 8.1 (VT - 0.23) FOR THE YOGA GROUP AND VE = 15.8 (VT - 0.16) FOR THE CONTROL GROUP (P LESS THAN 0.005). WE ATTRIBUTE THESE CHANGES TO CHRONIC MANIPULATION OF RESPIRATION. 1981 12 887 14 EFFECT OF YOGA TYPE BREATHING ON HEART RATE AND CARDIAC AXIS OF NORMAL SUBJECTS. EFFECT OF INSPIRATORY AND EXPIRATORY PHASES OF NORMAL QUIET BREATHING, DEEP BREATHING AND SAVITRI PRANAYAM TYPE BREATHING ON HEART RATE AND MEAN VENTRICULAR QRS AXIS WAS INVESTIGATED IN YOUNG, HEALTHY UNTRAINED SUBJECTS. PRANAYAM TYPE BREATHING PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT CARDIOACCELERATION AND INCREASE IN QRS AXIS DURING THE INSPIRATORY PHASE AS COMPARED TO EUPNEA. ON THE OTHER HAND, EXPIRATORY EFFORT DURING PRANAYAM TYPE BREATHING DID NOT PRODUCE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN HEART RATE OR QRS AXIS. THE CHANGES IN HEART RATE AND QRS AXIS DURING THE INSPIRATORY AND EXPIRATORY PHASES OF PRANAYAM TYPE BREATHING WERE SIMILAR TO THE CHANGES OBSERVED DURING THE CORRESPONDING PHASES OF DEEP BREATHING. 1986 13 2814 29 YOGA TRAINING AND MOTOR SPEED BASED ON A FINGER TAPPING TASK. A FINGER TAPPING TASK WAS USED TO ASSESS MOTOR SPEED (MS) OF BOTH HANDS IN 53 ADULTS AND 152 CHILDREN BEFORE AND AFTER YOGA TRAINING AND IN 38 ADULTS OF A NON-YOGA (CONTROL) GROUP. ALL SUBJECTS WERE RIGHT HAND DOMINANT. THE 30-SECOND TAPPING SPEED (TS) TEST WAS CONSIDERED AS THREE TIME INTERVALS, I.E. 0-10 SECOND (TS1), 10-20 SECONDS (TS2) AND 20-30 SECONDS (TS3). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT (STUDENT'S T-TEST) INCREASE IN ALL THREE TS VALUES FOLLOWING 10 DAYS OF YOGA IN CHILDREN AND 30 DAYS OF YOGA IN ADULTS. HOWEVER FOR BOTH GROUPS AT BASELINE AND FINAL ASSESSMENTS, TS2 AND TS3 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN TS1. HENCE THE TS WAS INCREASED AFTER YOGA TRAINING DURING THE FIRST 10-SECONDS OF THE TEST BUT NOT DURING THE NEXT 20 SECONDS. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST AN INCREASE IN MOTOR SPEED FOR REPETITIVE FINGER MOVEMENTS FOLLOWING YOGA TRAINING, BUT NOT IN STRENGTH OR ENDURANCE, AS THE INCREASE WAS NOT SUSTAINED OVER 30 SEC. 1999 14 808 25 EFFECT OF YOGA ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN ELDERLY SUBJECTS WITH INCREASED PULSE PRESSURE: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY. OBJECTIVE: WE AIMED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON ARTERIAL FUNCTION IN ELDERLY WITH INCREASED PULSE PRESSURE (PP). DESIGN: RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY WITH TWO PARALLEL GROUPS. PARTICIPANTS: ELDERLY SUBJECTS WITH PP>/=60 MMHG (N=60). INTERVENTIONS: YOGA GROUP (N=30) WAS ASSIGNED FOR YOGA TRAINING AND BRISK-WALKING (BW) GROUP (N=30) FOR BRISK-WALK WITH STRETCHING EXERCISE FOR 1H IN THE MORNING FOR 6 DAYS IN A WEEK FOR 12 WEEKS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ARTERIAL STIFFNESS MEASURES: BRACHIAL-ANKLE PULSE WAVE VELOCITY (BAPWV), CAROTID-FEMORAL PULSE WAVE VELOCITY (C-F PWV), AORTIC AUGMENTATION INDEX (AIX@75), ARTERIAL STIFFNESS INDEX AT BRACHIAL (BASI) AND TIBIAL ARTERIES (AASI). TOTAL SERUM NITRIC OXIDE CONCENTRATION (NOX) AS AN INDEX OF ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION. HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) MEASURES: LOW FREQUENCY AND HIGH FREQUENCY IN NORMALIZED UNITS (LFNU, HFNU) AND LF/HF RATIO. RESULTS: THE MEAN BETWEEN-GROUP CHANGE (WITH 95% CI) IN ARTERIAL STIFFNESS: C-F PWV(M/S) [1.25(0.59-1.89); P<0.001], BAPWV(M/S) [1.96(0.76-3.16), P<0.01], AIX@75 [3.07(0.24-5.89), P=0.066], AASI [8.3(4.06-12.53), P<0.001]; ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION INDEX: NO(MUMOL/L) [-9.03(-14.57 TO -3.47), P<0.001]; SBP(MMHG) [14.23(12.03-16.44), P<0.001], DBP(MMHG) [0.1(-1.95-2.15), P=0.38], PP(MMHG) [14.07(11.2-16.92), P<0.001], MAP(MMHG) [4.7(3.08-6.32), P<0.001]; AND CARDIAC AUTONOMIC FUNCTION: LF(NU) [4.81(1.54-8.08), P<0.01], HF(NU) [-4.13(-7.57 TO -0.69), P<0.01], LF/HF RATIO [0.84(0.3-1.37), P<0.001], INDICATE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN EFFECTS OF TWO INTERVENTION ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS, ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION, BP AND CARDIAC AUTONOMIC ACTIVITY. THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT CHANGE WITHIN-YOGA GROUP IN VASCULAR FUNCTION, BP AND AUTONOMIC FUNCTION, WHILE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE WITHIN-BW GROUP WAS OBSERVED. CONCLUSION: OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT YOGA PROGRAM OFFERED WAS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN BRISK-WALK IN REDUCING ARTERIAL STIFFNESS ALONG WITH BP IN ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS WITH INCREASED PP. YOGA CAN ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND IMPROVE ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION WITH ENHANCEMENT IN BIOAVAILABILITY OF NO. 2015 15 379 13 BASILAR ARTERY OCCLUSION FOLLOWING YOGA EXERCISE: A CASE REPORT. BASILAR ARTERY OCCLUSION DEVELOPED IN A 34 YEAR OLD WOMAN 2 MONTHS AFTER ADOPTING UNUSUAL NECK POSTURES DURING YOGA PRACTICE. ON ANGIOGRAPHY, HER BASILAR ARTERY WAS FILLED WITH INTRALUMINAL CLOT WHILE THE VERTEBRAL ARTERIES WERE NORMAL. WE POSTULATE THAT A SEVERE REDUCTION IN BLOOD FLOW AND POSSIBLY AN INTIMAL TEAR TRIGGERED THROMBOSIS OF THE VERTEBRAL ARTERY AND THAT THE FINAL STROKE MECHANISM WAS ARTERY-TO-ARTERY EMBOLISM. 1993 16 883 28 EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON MAZE LEARNING. THE PERFORMANCE IN A MAZE LEARNING TASK WAS ASSESSED IN ADULTS OF EITHER SEX (N = 31) BEFORE AND AFTER 30 DAYS OF YOGA TRAINING AND IN AN AGE AND GENDER MATCHED CONTROL GROUP OF SUBJECTS WHO DID NOT RECEIVE TRAINING IN YOGA. SUBJECTS WERE BLIND FOLDED AND USED THE DOMINANT HAND TO TRACE THE PATH IN A WOODEN PENCIL MAZE. AT EACH ASSESSMENT, SUBJECTS WERE GIVEN 5 TRIALS, WITHOUT A GAP BETWEEN THEM. PERFORMANCE WAS BASED ON THE TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE THE MAZE AND THE NUMBER OF BLIND ALLEYS TAKEN. THE TIME AND ERROR SCORES OF TRIAL 1 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS AFTER YOGA (TWO-FACTOR ANOVA, TUKEY TEST). REPEATING TRIALS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED TIME SCORES AT TRIAL 5 VERSUS TRIAL 1, FOR BOTH GROUPS ON DAY 1 AND FOR THE CONTROL GROUP ON DAY 30. HENCE THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN MAZE TRACING AT RETEST 30 DAYS LATER, WHICH MAY BE RELATED TO THIS GROUP BEING FASTER LEARNERS AND ALSO THE EFFECT OF YOGA ITSELF. YOGA TRAINING DID NOT INFLUENCE MAZE LEARNING, BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE IN 5 REPEAT TRIALS. 2000 17 837 28 EFFECT OF YOGA ON PERFORMANCE AND PHYSICAL FITNESS IN CRICKET BOWLERS. CRICKET-BOWLING PERFORMANCE IS KNOWN TO BE INFLUENCED BY SPEED OF BALL RELEASE AND ACCURACY. CURRENTLY, TRAINING SESSIONS TYPICALLY INVOLVE FIELDING-SPECIFIC DRILLS AND CONDITIONING EXERCISES. SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR INCLUSION OF A COMPREHENSIVE YOGA INTERVENTION IN DAILY TRAINING AND EXERCISE SESSIONS REMAINS UNEXPLORED. THE PRESENT STUDY EXPLORED THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON BOWLING PERFORMANCE AND PHYSICAL FITNESS IN CRICKET BOWLERS. SPORTS FITNESS TESTING AND TRAINING WERE CONDUCTED AMONG 60 NON-ELITE RECREATIONAL-CLUB MALE CRICKET PLAYERS AGED 13-25 YEARS. CRICKET-BOWLING SPEED WAS E VALUATED USING A SPEED RADAR GUN, ACCURACY WITH A TEST DEVELOPED BY PORTUS ET AL., CARDIORESPIRATORY ENDURANCE USING THE YO-YO INTERMITTENT RECOVERY TEST, LOWER-EXTREMITY AND TRUNK STRENGTH USING A BACK-LEG DYNAMOMETER, UPPER-LIMB POWER USING A MEDICINE BALL-THROW TEST, POWER USING A VERTICAL-JUMP TEST, AND FLEXIBILITY USING A SIT-AND-REACH TEST. IN ADDITION TO BOWLING PRACTICE, THE YOGA INTERVENTION GROUP (N = 30) PERFORMED PRANAYAMA AND STANDING AND PRONE ASANA, WHEREAS THE CONTROL GROUP (N = 30) PRACTICED CONVENTIONAL CONDITIONING EXERCISES, FOR 45 MINUTES/DAY, THREE TIMES A WEEK, FOR 12 WEEKS. IMPROVEMENT IN BOWLING SPEED, ACCURACY, CARDIORESPIRATORY ENDURANCE, MUSCLE STRENGTH, AND FLEXIBILITY WERE COMPARABLE BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS. STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN BASELINE SCORES IN BOWLING SPEED, ACCURACY, CARDIORESPIRATORY ENDURANCE, MUSCLE FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH, AND POWER WERE COMPARABLE BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS OF NON-ELITE MALE CRICKET PLAYERS. BOWLING SPEED IMPROVED BY 6.52% IN THE YOGA GROUP AND BY 5.18% IN THE CONTROL GROUP. BOWLING ACCURACY IMPROVED BY 35.40% IN THE YOGA GROUP AND BY 31.29% IN THE CONTROL GROUP. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH ON LONG-DURATION INTERVENTION IN ELITE PLAYERS MAY HELP TO ESTABLISH THE ROLE OF YOGA IN CONVENTIONAL CRICKET-BOWLING TRAINING. 2021 18 1766 20 POSTURAL CONTROL ADAPTATIONS IN YOGA SINGLE-LEG SUPPORT POSTURES: COMPARISON BETWEEN PRACTITIONERS AND NONPRACTITIONERS. THIS PAPER INVESTIGATES WHETHER A GROUP OF REGULAR YOGA PRACTITIONERS SHOWS POSTURAL CONTROL DIFFERENCES COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS WHILE PERFORMING SINGLE-LEG YOGA POSTURES. TEN YOGA PRACTITIONERS WERE COMPARED WITH A CONTROL GROUP OF 10 NONPRACTITIONERS PERFORMING TWO SINGLE-LEG SUPPORT YOGA POSTURES: VRKSASANA (TREE POSTURE) AND NATARAJASANA (DANCER POSTURE). RAMBLING AND TREMBLING DECOMPOSITION OF THE CENTER OF PRESSURE TRAJECTORIES WAS IMPLEMENTED USING A GENETIC ALGORITHM SPECTRAL OPTIMIZATION THAT AVOIDS USING HORIZONTAL FORCES AND WAS VALIDATED WITH BIPEDAL POSTURE DATA. ADDITIONALLY, THE CENTER OF MASS WAS ESTIMATED FROM BODY KINEMATICS USING OPENSIM AND COMPARED WITH THE RAMBLING OUTPUTS. DURING NATARAJASANA, NO POSTURAL CONTROL ADAPTATIONS WERE OBSERVED. FOR VRKSASANA, THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS SHOWED A LOWER CENTER OF PRESSURE ELLIPSE CONFIDENCE INTERVAL AREA, CENTER OF PRESSURE ANTEROPOSTERIOR SD, AND SMALLER RAMBLING SD IN THE MEDIOLATERAL DIRECTION, SUGGESTING POSSIBLE SUPRASPINAL FEED-FORWARD MOTOR ADAPTATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH YOGA TRAINING. 2022 19 994 28 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 20 655 16 EEG PAROXYSMAL GAMMA WAVES DURING BHRAMARI PRANAYAMA: A YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUE. HERE WE REPORT THAT A SPECIFIC FORM OF YOGA CAN GENERATE CONTROLLED HIGH-FREQUENCY GAMMA WAVES. FOR THE FIRST TIME, PAROXYSMAL GAMMA WAVES (PGW) WERE OBSERVED IN EIGHT SUBJECTS PRACTICING A YOGA TECHNIQUE OF BREATHING CONTROL CALLED BHRAMARI PRANAYAMA (BHPR). TO OBTAIN NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE NATURE OF THE EEG DURING BHPR, WE ANALYZED EEG SIGNALS USING TIME-FREQUENCY REPRESENTATIONS (TFR), INDEPENDENT COMPONENT ANALYSIS (ICA), AND EEG TOMOGRAPHY (LORETA). WE FOUND THAT THE PGW CONSISTS OF HIGH-FREQUENCY BIPHASIC RIPPLES. THIS UNUSUAL ACTIVITY IS DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO PREVIOUS REPORTS ON YOGA AND MEDITATION. IT IS CONCLUDED THIS EEG ACTIVITY IS MOST PROBABLY NON-EPILEPTIC, AND THAT APPLYING THE SAME METHODOLOGY TO OTHER MEDITATION RECORDINGS MIGHT YIELD AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE NEUROCORRELATES OF MEDITATION. 2009