1 1695 129 P300 FOLLOWING FOUR VOLUNTARILY REGULATED YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES AND BREATH AWARENESS. ATTENTION WAS INFLUENCED BY YOGA BREATHING IN PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED RESEARCH. EACH YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE UNIQUELY MODIFIES SPECIFIC BREATH CHARACTERISTICS. DIFFERENCES IN THE STUDY DESIGNS, ASSESSMENT METHODS AND INTERVENTIONS RESULTED IN DIFFICULTY IN COMPARING EFFECTS BETWEEN YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. THIS STUDY AIMED (I) TO COMPARE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES ON ATTENTION USING AN AUDITORY ODDBALL TASK AND (II) TO DETERMINE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENTION USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY. P300 EVENT RELATED POTENTIAL WAS RECORDED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH HEART RATE VARIABILITY BEFORE AND AFTER 18-MINUTE PERIODS EACH OF (I) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (WITH INCREASED BREATH FREQUENCY), (II) BELLOWS YOGA BREATHING (WITH INCREASED DEPTH OF RESPIRATION), (III) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (WITH ALTERNATE NOSTRIL PATENCY), (IV) BUMBLEBEE YOGA BREATHING (WITH PROLONGED EXHALE), (V) BREATH AWARENESS (WITH ATTENTION TO THE BREATH) AND (VI) QUIET SEATED REST AS CONTROL IN 38 YOGA EXPERIENCED MALES (AVERAGE AGE +/- SD; 24.08 +/- 4.01 YEARS). THE SIX SESSIONS WERE ON SEPARATE, RANDOMLY ALLOCATED DAYS. THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE RECORDED AT PZ WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AFTER FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES (BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST-HOC TESTS, REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA). NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE NOTED IN HEART RATE VARIABILITY FOLLOWING YOGA BREATHING OR CONTROL SESSIONS. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES INCREASE THE ATTENTIONAL NEURAL RESOURCES ENGAGED FOR THIS AUDITORY ODDBALL TASK, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE CHARACTERISTIC OF BREATH UNIQUELY REGULATED IN THE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. 2022 2 458 32 CHANGES IN P300 FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE THAT COMBINES "STIMULATING" AND "CALMING" PRACTICES, BASED ON A STATEMENT IN ANCIENT YOGA TEXTS SUGGESTING THAT SUCH A COMBINATION MAY BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL TO REACH A STATE OF MENTAL EQUILIBRIUM. THE CHANGES IN THE PEAK LATENCY AND PEAK AMPLITUDE OF P300 AUDITORY EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS WERE STUDIED BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF CYCLIC MEDITATION COMPARED TO AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST IN 42 VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- SD, 27 +/- 6.3 YEARS), FROM FZ, CZ, AND PZ ELECTRODE SITES REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES. THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND THE ORDER WAS ALTERNATED. THERE WAS REDUCTION IN THE PEAK LATENCIES OF P300 AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ COMPARED TO THE "PRE" VALUES. A SIMILAR TREND OF REDUCTION IN P300 PEAK LATENCIES AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ WAS ALSO OBSERVED AFTER SUPINE REST, COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE "PRE" VALUES, ALTHOUGH THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE IN EACH CASE WAS LESS AFTER SUPINE REST COMPARED TO AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION. THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDES AFTER CM WERE HIGHER AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ SITES COMPARED TO THE "PRE" VALUES. IN CONTRAST, NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE OBSERVED IN THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDES AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ AFTER SUPINE REST COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE "PRE" STATE. THE PRESENT RESULTS SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT "CYCLIC" MEDITATION ENHANCES COGNITIVE PROCESSES UNDERLYING THE GENERATION OF THE P300. 2006 3 454 43 CHANGES IN MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. PRACTICING MEDITATION WHILE FOCUSING ON A SOUND OR A SYMBOL INFLUENCED MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (MLAEPS). CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE COMBINING YOGA POSTURES WITH MEDITATION WHILE SUPINE, WHICH HAS INFLUENCED THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL. THE EFFECTS OF CM ON MLAEPS HAVE NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY STUDIED. THE MLAEPS WERE STUDIED BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF CM COMPARED TO AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST (SR) IN 47 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE 26.5 +/- 4.4 YEARS), RECORDED FROM THE VERTEX REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES. THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EACH SESSION. THE PA WAVE PEAK LATENCY AND NB WAVE PEAK LATENCY SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED FOLLOWING CM COMPARED TO BEFORE CM (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, POST-HOC ANALYSIS WITH LEAST SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE, P<0.05). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE OF THE NB WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE CM. POST SR THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK LATENCY OF THE NA WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE SR. IN CONCLUSION FOLLOWING CM THE LATENCIES OF NEURAL GENERATORS CORRESPONDING TO CORTICAL AREAS IS PROLONGED, WHEREAS FOLLOWING SR A SIMILAR CHANGE OCCURS AT MESENCEPHALIC-DIENCEPHALIC LEVELS. 2009 4 457 37 CHANGES IN P300 FOLLOWING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECT OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (NADISUDDHI PRANAYAMA) ON P300 AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS COMPARED TO A SESSION OF BREATH AWARENESS OF EQUAL DURATION, IN 20 MALE ADULT VOLUNTEERS WHO HAD AN EXPERIENCE OF YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES FOR MORE THAN THREE MONTHS. PEAK AMPLITUDES AND PEAK LATENCIES OF THE P300 WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE RESPECTIVE SESSIONS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDES AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ AND A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE PEAK LATENCY AT FZ ALONE FOLLOWING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. FOLLOWING BREATH AWARENESS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE OF P300 AT CZ. THIS SUGGESTS THAT ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING POSITIVELY INFLUENCES COGNITIVE PROCESSES WHICH ARE REQUIRED FOR SUSTAINED ATTENTION AT DIFFERENT SCALP SITES (FRONTAL, VERTEX AND PARIETAL), WHEREAS BREATH AWARENESS BRINGS ABOUT CHANGES AT THE VERTEX ALONE. 2013 5 1458 29 INFLUENCE OF YOGA ON BLOOD COAGULATION. YOGA IS KNOWN TO INDUCE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON PHYSIOLOGICAL, BIOCHEMICAL AND MENTAL FUNCTIONS IN MAN. ITS EFFECTS ON BLOOD COAGULATION ARE NOT KNOWN. A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN SEVEN PREVIOUSLY UNTRAINED MALE ADULTS WHO UNDERWENT A COMBINATION OF YOGIC EXERCISES, DAILY FOR ONE HOUR, OVER A PERIOD OF FOUR MONTHS. PARAMETERS OF BLOOD COAGULATION WERE ESTIMATED BEFORE AND AFTER THE END OF YOGA TRAINING. THE FOLLOWING CHANGES WERE OBSERVED: FIBRINOLYTIC ACTIVITY INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY WITH A CONCOMITANT FALL IN FIBRINOGEN; ACTIVATED PARTIAL THROMBOPLASTIN TIME AND PLATELET AGGREGATION TIME WERE PROLONGED; BLOOD AND PLASMA PLATELETS SHOWED A RISE; AND BOTH HAEMOGLOBIN AND HEAMATOCRIT WERE RAISED AT THE END OF THE TRAINING. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT YOGA INDUCES A STATE OF BLOOD HYPOCOAGULABILITY. THE IMPACT OF YOGA ON PREVENTION OF CARDIOVASCULAR AND THROMBOTIC DISORDERS IS OBVIOUS. 1984 6 2511 61 YOGA BREATHING THROUGH A PARTICULAR NOSTRIL IS ASSOCIATED WITH CONTRALATERAL EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL CHANGES. BACKGROUND: IN EARLIER STUDIES UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING WAS SHOWN TO INFLUENCE THE ACTIVITY OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES DIFFERENTLY, BASED ON (I) AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS RECORDED FROM BILATERAL SCALP SITES, AND (II) PERFORMANCE IN HEMISPHERE-SPECIFIC TASKS. BUT CHANGE IN P300 (EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL GENERATED WHEN SUBJECTS ATTEND TO AND DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN STIMULI) FROM BILATERAL SCALP SITES WHEN SUBJECTS WERE PRACTICING UNI- AND ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL BREATHING ARE YET TO BE EXPLORED. AIM: THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT IMMEDIATELY AFTER UNINOSTRIL OR ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING THERE WOULD BE A CHANGE IN THE ABILITY TO PAY ATTENTION TO A GIVEN STIMULUS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TWENTY-NINE HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS, WITH AGES BETWEEN 20 AND 45 YEARS WERE RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO FIVE SESSIONS, VIZ., (I) RIGHT-, (II) LEFT-, (III) ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, (IV) BREATH AWARENESS AND (V) NO INTERVENTION, EACH FOR 45 MIN ON SEPARATE DAYS. THE P300 EVENT RELATED POTENTIAL WAS RECORDED USING AN AUDITORY ODDBALL PARADIGM FROM SITES ON THE LEFT (C3) AND RIGHT (C4), REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES, BEFORE AND AFTER EACH SESSION. RESULTS: POST-HOC ANALYSIS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT SHOWED THAT THE P300 PEAK LATENCY WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER AT C3 COMPARED TO THAT AT C4, FOLLOWING RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING FACILITATES THE ACTIVITY OF CONTRALATERAL (LEFT) HEMISPHERE, IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE P300 TASK. 2012 7 98 47 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 8 2743 35 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