1 1321 107 HEMISPHERE SPECIFIC EEG RELATED TO ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUSLY, FORCED UNILATERAL NOSTRIL BREATHING WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IPSILATERAL, OR CONTRALATERAL CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE CHANGES, OR NO CHANGE. HENCE IT WAS INCONCLUSIVE. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON 13 NORMAL HEALTHY PARTICIPANTS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING ON (A) CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE ASYMMETRY, AND (B) CHANGES IN THE STANDARD EEG BANDS. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO THREE SESSIONS (A) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB), (B) BREATH AWARENESS AND (C) QUIET SITTING, ON SEPARATE DAYS. EEG WAS RECORDED FROM BILATERALLY SYMMETRICAL SITES (FP1, FP2, C3, C4, O1 AND O2). ALL SITES WERE REFERENCED TO THE IPSILATERAL EAR LOBE. RESULTS: THERE WAS NO CHANGE IN CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE SYMMETRY. THE RELATIVE POWER IN THE THETA BAND WAS DECREASED DURING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) AND THE BETA AMPLITUDE WAS LOWER AFTER ANYB. DURING QUIET SITTING THE RELATIVE POWER IN THE BETA BAND INCREASED, WHILE THE AMPLITUDE OF THE ALPHA BAND REDUCED. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ANYB WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER CALMNESS, WHEREAS QUIET SITTING WITHOUT SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH AROUSAL. THE RESULTS IMPLY A POSSIBLE USE OF ANYB FOR STRESS AND ANXIETY REDUCTION. 2017 2 1353 37 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF SPECIFIC NOSTRIL MANIPULATING YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES ON AUTONOMIC AND RESPIRATORY VARIABLES. THE EFFECT OF RIGHT, LEFT, AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (I.E., RNYB, LNYB, AND ANYB, RESPECTIVELY) WERE COMPARED WITH BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) AND NORMAL BREATHING (CTL). AUTONOMIC AND RESPIRATORY VARIABLES WERE STUDIED IN 21 MALE VOLUNTEERS WITH AGES BETWEEN 18 AND 45 YEARS AND EXPERIENCE IN THE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES BETWEEN 3 AND 48 MONTHS. SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED IN FIVE EXPERIMENTAL SESSIONS ON FIVE SEPARATE DAYS. THE SESSIONS WERE IN FIXED POSSIBLE SEQUENCES AND SUBJECTS WERE ASSIGNED TO A SEQUENCE RANDOMLY. EACH SESSION WAS FOR 40 MIN; 30 MIN FOR THE BREATHING PRACTICE, PRECEDED AND FOLLOWED BY 5 MIN OF QUIET SITTING. ASSESSMENTS INCLUDED HEART RATE VARIABILITY, SKIN CONDUCTANCE, FINGER PLETHYSMOGRAM AMPLITUDE, BREATH RATE, AND BLOOD PRESSURE. FOLLOWING RNYB THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SYSTOLIC, DIASTOLIC AND MEAN PRESSURE. IN CONTRAST, THE SYSTOLIC AND DIASTOLIC PRESSURE DECREASED AFTER ANYB AND THE SYSTOLIC AND MEAN PRESSURE WERE LOWER AFTER LNYB. HENCE, UNILATERAL NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES APPEAR TO INFLUENCE THE BLOOD PRESSURE IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THESE EFFECTS SUGGEST POSSIBLE THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS. 2008 3 1695 39 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 4 411 39 BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY DURING YOGA-BASED ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING PRACTICE AND BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS SHOWN A REDUCTION IN BLOOD PRESSURE (BP) IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRACTICE OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) IN NORMAL HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS AND IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS OF BOTH SEXES. THE BP DURING ANYB HAS NOT BEEN RECORDED. MATERIAL/METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE 26 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/-SD, 23.8+/-3.5 YEARS). WE ASSESSED (1) HEART RATE VARIABILITY, (2) NON-INVASIVE ARTERIAL BP, AND (3) RESPIRATION RATE, DURING (A) ANYB AND (B) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) SESSIONS. EACH SESSION WAS 25 MINUTES. WE PERFORMED ASSESSMENTS AT 3 TIME POINTS: PRE (5 MINUTES), DURING (15 MINUTES; FOR ANYB OR BAW) AND POST (5 MINUTES). A NAIVE-TO-YOGA CONTROL GROUP (N=15 MALES, MEAN AGE +/-SD 26.1+/-4.0 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED WHILE SEATED QUIETLY FOR 25 MINUTES. RESULTS: DURING ANYB THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA) IN SYSTOLIC BP AND RESPIRATION RATE; WHILE RMSSD (THE SQUARE ROOT OF THE MEAN OF THE SUM OF SQUARES OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADJACENT NN INTERVALS) AND NN50 (THE NUMBER OF INTERVAL DIFFERENCES OF SUCCESSIVE NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS GREATER THAN 50 MS) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED. DURING BAW RESPIRATION RATE DECREASED. IN CONTRAST, RESPIRATION RATE INCREASED DURING THE CONTROL STATE. ANYB AND BAW WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT (2-FACTOR ANOVA) IN RMSSD AND RESPIRATION RATE. BAW AND CONTROL WERE DIFFERENT WITH RESPECT TO RESPIRATION RATE. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT VAGAL ACTIVITY INCREASED DURING AND AFTER ANYB, WHICH COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE DECREASE IN BP AND CHANGES IN THE HRV. 2014 5 442 36 CEREBROVASCULAR DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. AIMS: BREATH FREQUENCY CAN ALTER CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW. THE STUDY AIMED TO DETERMINE BILATERAL MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERIAL HEMODYNAMICS IN HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND SLOW FREQUENCY ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) USING TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY. METHODS: HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS WERE ASSESSED IN TWO SEPARATE TRIALS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER HFYB (2.0 HZ FOR 1 MIN, N = 16) AND ANYB (12 BREATHS PER MINUTE FOR 5 MIN, N = 22). HFYB AND ANYB WERE SEPARATELY COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) AND TO CONTROL SESSIONS. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: THE DATA WERE ANALYZED USING REPEATED-MEASURES ANOVA WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST HOC TESTS. RESULTS: DURING HFYB THERE WAS A DECREASE IN END-DIASTOLIC VELOCITY (EDV) AND MEAN FLOW VELOCITY (MFV) (P < 0.01 FOR LEFT AND P < 0.05 FOR RIGHT MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERIES; MCA) WITH AN INCREASE IN PULSATILITY INDEX (PI) FOR THE RIGHT MCA (P < 0.05). DURING ANYB, THERE WAS A BILATERAL DECREASE IN PEAK SYSTOLIC VELOCITY (P < 0.05 FOR LEFT AND P < 0.01 FOR RIGHT MCA), EDV (P < 0.01) AND MFV (P < 0.01 FOR LEFT AND P < 0.001 FOR RIGHT MCA) AND AN INCREASE IN PI (P < 0.01). DURING BAW OF THE TWO SESSIONS THERE WAS A DECREASE IN LATERALIZED FLOW AND END-DIASTOLIC VELOCITIES (P < 0.05) AND AN INCREASE IN PI (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CHANGES IN PEAK FLOW VELOCITIES AND PULSATILITY INDICES DURING AND AFTER HFYB, ANYB, AND BAW SUGGEST DECREASED CEREBROVASCULAR BLOOD FLOW AND INCREASED FLOW RESISTANCE BASED ON DIFFERENT MECHANISMS. 2022 6 2511 52 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 7 463 43 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 8 72 38 A FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY STUDY OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (BREATH RATE OF 2.0 HZ) HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN OXY-HEMOGLOBIN IN THE PREFRONTAL REGION OF THE BRAIN. THE PRESENT STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECTS OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AT 1.0 HZ ON FRONTAL OXY-HEMOGLOBIN (OXY-HB) AND DEOXY-HEMOGLOBIN (DEOXY-HB). MATERIAL AND METHODS FORTY HEALTHY MALE PARTICIPANTS WERE RECRUITED FOR THE STUDY. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP CONSISTED OF 20 PARTICIPANTS 23-40 YEARS OLD (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 26.4+/-4.7 YEARS) WITH AT LEAST 3 MONTHS OF EXPERIENCE PERFORMING HFYB (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 16.3+/-9.8 MONTHS). THE CONTROL GROUP CONSISTED OF 20 PARTICIPANTS AGES 23-38 YEARS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- S.D., 27.4+/-4.1 YEARS), WHO WERE SEATED QUIETLY FOR THE SAME DURATION AND THEIR AVERAGE EXPERIENCE OF YOGA PRACTICE WAS (+/-S.D.) 4.3+/-2.7 MONTHS. EACH PARTICIPANT IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP WAS ASSESSED AT 2 SESSIONS (HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS [BAW]) ON ALTERNATE DAYS. HEMODYNAMIC CHANGES WERE ASSESSED USING A FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY SENSOR PLACED OVER THE FOREHEAD. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING REPEATED-MEASURES ANALYSES OF VARIANCE FOLLOWED BY POST HOC BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT. RESULTS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION WAS OBSERVED IN OXY-HB DURING AND AFTER HFYB ON THE LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES COMPARED TO VALUES BEFORE. WE ALSO FOUND A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DEOXY-HB DURING AND AFTER THE QUIET SITTING CONTROL SESSION COMPARED TO PRE-SESSION VALUES ON LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES. CONCLUSIONS THE DECREASE IN OXY-HB DURING AND AFTER HFYB SUGGESTS THAT THERE WAS NO FRONTAL ACTIVATION DURING HFYB WHEN PRACTICED AT THE RATE OF 1.0 HZ. 2016 9 1317 33 HEART RATE VARIABILITY CHANGES DURING HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: PRE AND POST COMPARISON AFTER ONE MINUTE OF HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) SUGGESTED THAT THE HFYB MODIFIES THE AUTONOMIC STATUS BY INCREASING SYMPATHETIC MODULATION, BUT ITS EFFECT DURING THE PRACTICE WAS NOT ASSESSED. METHODS: THIRTY-EIGHT MALE VOLUNTEERS WITH GROUP AVERAGE AGE +/- S.D., 23.3 +/- 4.4 YEARS WERE EACH ASSESSED ON TWO SEPARATE DAYS IN TWO SESSIONS, (I) HFYB AND (II) BREATH AWARENESS. EACH SESSION WAS FOR 35 MINUTES, WITH 3 PERIODS, I.E., PRE (5 MINUTES), DURING HFYB OR BREATH AWARENESS (15 MINUTES) AND POST (5 MINUTES). RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN NN50, PNN50 AND THE MEAN RR INTERVAL DURING AND AFTER HFYB AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS, COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE 'PRE' VALUES (P < 0.05) (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA FOLLOWED BY POST-HOC ANALYSIS). THE LF POWER INCREASED AND HF POWER DECREASED DURING AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS AND LF/HF RATIO INCREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THERE WAS REDUCED PARASYMPATHETIC MODULATION DURING AND AFTER HFYB AND INCREASED SYMPATHETIC MODULATION WITH REDUCED PARASYMPATHETIC MODULATION DURING AND AFTER BREATH AWARENESS. 2011 10 1610 38 METABOLIC AND VENTILATORY CHANGES DURING AND AFTER HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING. BACKGROUND PRACTICING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) INDUCED A HYPERMETABOLIC STATE IN A SINGLE SUBJECT DURING THE PRACTICE BUT THE EFFECT HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED IN MULTIPLE PRACTITIONERS. MATERIAL AND METHODS HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS (N=47, GROUP MEAN AGE +/- S.D., 23.2 +/- 4.1 YEARS) WERE RECRUITED AS AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP AND ANOTHER TWENTY VOLUNTEERS WERE RECRUITED AS A CONTROL GROUP. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP PRACTICED EITHER HFYB (BREATH RATE 1.0 HZ) OR BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) ON TWO SEPARATE DAYS. THE SEQUENCE WAS REVERSED FOR ALTERNATE PARTICIPANTS. THE CONTROL GROUP WAS ASSESSED UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS WHILE SITTING AT EASE. THE BREATH RATE (RR), TIDAL VOLUME (VT), VENTILATION (VE), VO2, VCO2, ARTERIAL PCO2 AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE (EE KCAL/DAY) WERE ASSESSED FOR 35 MINUTES USING AN OPEN CIRCUIT OXYGEN CONSUMPTION ANALYZER. THE ASSESSMENT PERIOD WAS DIVIDED INTO BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER CONDITIONS. REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSES OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) WERE USED TO COMPARE DATA RECORDED DURING AND AFTER THE TWO PRACTICES WITH DATA RECORDED BEFORE. BEFORE-AFTER COMPARISONS IN THE CONTROL GROUP WERE WITH PAIRED T-TESTS. RESULTS THE MOST RELEVANT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE INCREASES IN VE, VO2, VCO2 AND EE DURING HFYB, WHILE THE SAME VARIABLES DECREASED DURING THE CONTROL PERIOD. HOWEVER AFTER HFYB THERE WAS NO CHANGE IN VO2 OR EE, ALTHOUGH VE DECREASED AS IT DID AFTER THE CONTROL PERIOD. CONCLUSIONS HFYB INDUCES A HYPERMETABOLIC STATE FOR THE DURATION OF THE PRACTICE WHICH RETURNS TO BASELINE AFTER HFYB SUGGESTING A POSSIBLE APPLICATION FOR HFYB IN HYPOMETABOLIC STATES. 2015 11 770 34 EFFECT OF UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING ON BRAIN HEMODYNAMICS: A FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY STUDY. OBJECTIVES: TO MEASURE THE EFFECT OF THE RIGHT AND LEFT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING ON FRONTAL HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSES IN 32 RIGHT HANDED HEALTHY MALE SUBJECTS WITHIN THE AGE RANGE OF 18-35 YEARS (23.75 +/- 4.14 YEARS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: EACH SUBJECT PRACTICED RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (RNYB), LEFT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (LNYB) OR BREATH AWARENESS (BA) (AS CONTROL) FOR 10 MIN AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY FOR THREE CONSECUTIVE DAYS, RESPECTIVELY. THE SEQUENCE OF INTERVENTION WAS ASSIGNED RANDOMLY. THE FRONTAL HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSE IN TERMS OF CHANGES IN THE OXYGENATED HEMOGLOBIN (OXYHB), DEOXYGENATED HEMOGLOBIN (DEOXYHB), AND TOTAL HEMOGLOBIN (TOTALHB OR BLOOD VOLUME) CONCENTRATION WAS TAPPED FOR 5 MIN BEFORE (PRE) AND 10 MIN DURING THE BREATHING PRACTICES USING A 16 CHANNEL FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SYSTEM (FNIR100-ACK-W, BIOPAC SYSTEMS, INC., U.S.A.). AVERAGE OF THE EIGHT CHANNELS ON EACH SIDE (RIGHT AND LEFT FRONTALS) WAS OBTAINED FOR THE TWO SESSIONS (PRE AND DURING). DATA WAS ANALYZED USING SPSS VERSION 10.0 THROUGH PAIRED AND INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST. RESULTS: WITHIN GROUP COMPARISON SHOWED THAT DURING RNYB, OXYHB LEVELS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE LEFT PREFRONTAL CORTEX (PFC) AS COMPARED TO THE BASELINE (P = 0.026). LNYB SHOWED A TREND TOWARDS SIGNIFICANCE FOR REDUCTION IN OXYHB IN THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE (P = 0.057). WHEREAS BA CAUSED SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DEOXYHB (P = 0.023) IN THE LEFT HEMISPHERE. BETWEEN GROUPS COMPARISON REVEALED THAT OXYHB AND BLOOD VOLUME IN THE LEFT PFC INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING RNYB AS COMPARED TO BA (OXYHB: P =0.012; TOTALHB: P =0.017) AND LNYB (OXYHB: P =0.024; TOTALHB: P =0.034). CONCLUSION: RNYB INCREASED OXYGENATION AND BLOOD VOLUME IN THE LEFT PFC AS COMPARED TO BA AND LNYB. THIS SUPPORTS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NASAL CYCLE AND ULTRADIAN RHYTHM OF CEREBRAL DOMINANCE AND SUGGESTS A POSSIBLE APPLICATION OF UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL STATES WHICH SHOW LATERALIZED CEREBRAL DYSFUNCTIONS. 2016 12 1726 40 PERFORMANCE IN A CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK FOLLOWING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING OR BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES HAVE IMPROVED SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES. THERE HAS BEEN NO ASSESSMENT ON THE EFFECT OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) ON WORKING MEMORY AND SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES USING THE CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK (CBTT). OBJECTIVES: THE PRESENT STUDY WAS PLANNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) COMPARED TO A CONTROL SESSION ON PERFORMANCE IN A CBTT. METHODS: FIFTEEN PARTICIPANTS OF BOTH SEXES WITH AGES BETWEEN 18 AND 24 YEARS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 20.0 +/- 1.6 YEARS; 10 FEMALES) WERE RECRUITED FOR THE TRIAL FROM A UNIVERSITY IN NORTH INDIA. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN THREE SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THE THREE SESSIONS WERE (I) HFYB, (II) BAW, AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS). THE DURATION OF THE INTERVENTION WAS 18 MIN. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. REPEATED-MEASURES-ANALYSES OF VARIANCE FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. RESULTS: BAW RESULTED IN AN IMPROVEMENT IN BACKWARD TOTAL SCORES (P < 0.05) AND THE BACKWARD CORSI SPAN (P < 0.05; ONE TAILED). CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT BAW IMPROVES PRIMARY WORKING MEMORY, SPATIAL MEMORY, AND SPATIAL ATTENTION. HFYB DID NOT CAUSE ANY CHANGE. 2019 13 1909 36 RIGHT UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING INFLUENCES IPSILATERAL COMPONENTS OF MIDDLE LATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS. A PREVIOUS REPORT DESCRIBED SELECTIVE ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES WITH UNINOSTRIL BREATHING. IN THE PRESENT STUDY, MIDDLE LATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (MLAEPS) WERE RECORDED FROM SYMMETRICAL SCALP SITES DURING THE PRACTICE OF UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. THERE WERE TWO SESSIONS (40 MIN EACH) OF RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (RNB) AND OF BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), WITH (I) 'BEFORE', (II) TEST (EITHER RNB OR BAW) AND (III) 'AFTER' PERIODS. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE 14 MALE VOLUNTEERS AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 33 YEARS, AND THE SETTING WAS A YOGA CENTRE. MLAEPS WERE RECORDED FROM SYMMETRICAL SCALP SITES (C4 AND C3). DURING RNB, THE PEAK AMPLITUDES OF TWO NEGATIVE COMPONENTS (VIZ. NA WAVE AND NB WAVE) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED ON THE RIGHT SIDE. INCREASED PEAK AMPLITUDES OF NA AND NB WAVES SUGGESTED THAT RNB INCREASED THE NUMBER OF NEURONS RECRUITED ON THE RIGHT SIDE, SUGGESTING A POSSIBLE APPLICATION OF RNB IN CERTAIN PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS WITH CEREBRAL HEMISPHERIC IMBALANCE. 2004 14 2362 34 VOLITIONAL YOGA BREATHING INFLUENCES ATTENTION AND ANXIETY: AN EXPLORATORY RANDOMIZED CROSSOVER STUDY. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS STUDIES ASSESSED YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES INDIVIDUALLY. THIS EXPLORATORY, RANDOMIZED CROSSOVER STUDY ASSESSED ATTENTION AND ANXIETY FOLLOWING FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES, BREATH AWARENESS, AND QUIET SEATED REST. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIRTY-EIGHT MALE VOLUNTEERS BETWEEN 20 AND 37 YEARS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- SD; 24.08 +/- 4.01 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED IN SIX SESSIONS IN RANDOM ORDER (WWW.RANDOMIZER.ORG) ON SEPARATE DAYS. THE SESSIONS WERE: (I) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, (II) BELLOWS YOGA BREATHING, (III) BUMBLEBEE YOGA BREATHING, (IV) HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING, (V) BREATH AWARENESS, AND (VI) QUIET SEATED REST. THE SESSIONS WERE FOR 18 MIN EACH. SIX LETTER CANCELLATION TEST (SLCT) AND SPIELBERGER'S STATE TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY-STATE (STAI-S) WERE ADMINISTERED PRE AND POST EACH SESSION. DATA ANALYSIS USED GENERAL LINEAR MIXED MODEL ANALYSIS, WITH FIXED EFFECT OF STATES (PRE AND POST) AND SESSIONS. RESULTS: A SIGNIFICANT MAIN EFFECT OF STATES WAS OBSERVED ON TOTAL ATTEMPTED (F1,407 = 5.374, P = 0.021) AND NET ATTEMPTED SCORES (F1,407 = 6.178, P = 0.013) OF THE SLCT, WITH A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SCORES FOLLOWING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (PADJ = 0.031 FOR TOTAL ATTEMPTED SCORES; PADJ = 0.029 FOR NET ATTEMPTED SCORES). ALSO, A SIGNIFICANT MAIN EFFECT OF STATES ON STAI-S SCORES WAS OBSERVED (F1,407 = 33.979, P < 0.001), WITH A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN SCORES FOLLOWING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (PADJ = 0.001), BELLOWS YOGA BREATHING (PADJ = 0.008), BUMBLEBEE YOGA BREATHING (PADJ = 0.002), AND HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (PADJ = 0.042) COMPARED TO THE CORRESPONDING PRE STATE. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT MAIN EFFECT OF SESSIONS (F5,407 = 3.043, P = 0.010) ON STAI-S SCORES, WITH SCORES POST ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN POST BREATH AWARENESS (PADJ = 0.037). CONCLUSION: FOLLOWING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING SUSTAINED ATTENTION WAS BETTER THAN BEFORE WHILE STATE ANXIETY DECREASED IN POST-PRE COMPARISONS OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, BELLOWS YOGA BREATHING, BUMBLEBEE YOGA BREATHING, AND HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BREATHING PRACTICES MAY BE DUE TO DIFFERENCES IN DEGREE OF VOLITIONAL REGULATION OF BREATHING AND IN THE BREATH PATTERNS MODIFIED VOLITIONALLY. THE GENERALIZABILITY OF THE FINDINGS WAS LIMITED BY INCLUDING AN ALL MALE, YOGA EXPERIENCED SAMPLE. FUTURE RESEARCH SHOULD INCLUDE PARTICIPANTS OF BOTH GENDERS AND COULD INCLUDE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF YOGA EXPERIENCE, WITH ASSESSMENTS INCLUDING OBJECTIVE MEASURES OF ATTENTION AND ANXIETY. 2022 15 98 31 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 16 457 27 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 17 1273 30 FRONTAL HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSES TO HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: A FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY STUDY. FRONTAL HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSES TO HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUE, KAPALABHATI (KB), WERE COMPARED BETWEEN PATIENTS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA (N = 18; 14 MALES, 4 FEMALES) AND AGE, GENDER, AND EDUCATION MATCHED HEALTHY SUBJECTS (N = 18; 14 MALES, 4 FEMALES) USING FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY. THE DIAGNOSIS WAS CONFIRMED BY A PSYCHIATRIST USING DSM-IV. ALL PATIENTS EXCEPT ONE RECEIVED ATYPICAL ANTIPSYCHOTICS (ONE WAS ON TYPICAL). THEY HAD OBTAINED A STABILIZED STATE AS EVIDENCED BY A STEADY UNCHANGED MEDICATION FROM THEIR PSYCHIATRIST FOR THE PAST 3 MONTHS OR LONGER. THEY LEARNED KB, AMONG OTHER YOGA PROCEDURES, IN A YOGA RETREAT. KB WAS PRACTICED AT THE RATE OF 120 TIMES/MIN FOR 1 MIN. HEALTHY SUBJECTS WHO WERE FRESHLY LEARNING YOGA TOO WERE TAUGHT KB. BOTH THE GROUPS HAD NO PREVIOUS EXPOSURE TO KB PRACTICE AND THE TRAINING WAS CARRIED OUT OVER 2 WEEKS. A CHEST PRESSURE TRANSDUCER WAS USED TO MONITOR THE FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY OF THE PRACTICE OBJECTIVELY. THE FRONTAL HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSE IN TERMS OF THE OXYGENATED HEMOGLOBIN (OXYHB), DEOXYGENATED HEMOGLOBIN (DEOXYHB), AND TOTAL HEMOGLOBIN (TOTALHB) OR BLOOD VOLUME CONCENTRATION WAS TAPPED FOR 5 MIN BEFORE, 1 MIN DURING, AND FOR 5 MIN AFTER KB. THIS WAS OBTAINED IN A QUIET ROOM USING A 16-CHANNEL FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SYSTEM (FNIR100-ACK-W, BIOPAC SYSTEMS, INC., USA). THE AVERAGE OF THE EIGHT CHANNELS FOR EACH SIDE (RIGHT AND LEFT FRONTALS) WAS OBTAINED FOR THE THREE SESSIONS. THE CHANGES IN THE LEVELS OF OXYHB, DEOXYHB, AND BLOOD VOLUME FOR THE THREE SESSIONS WERE COMPARED BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS USING INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST. WITHIN GROUP COMPARISON SHOWED THAT THE INCREASE IN BILATERAL OXYHB AND TOTALHB FROM THE BASELINE WAS HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT IN HEALTHY CONTROLS DURING KB (RIGHT OXYHB, P = 0.00; LEFT OXYHB, P = 0.00 AND RIGHT TOTALHB, P = 0.01; LEFT TOTALHB, P = 0.00), WHEREAS SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS DID NOT SHOW ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE SAME ON BOTH THE SIDES. ON THE OTHER HAND, SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DEOXYHB IN THE RIGHT PRE-FRONTAL CORTEX (RIGHT DEOXYHB, P = 0.00). COMPARISON BETWEEN THE GROUPS SHOWED THAT SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS HAVE REDUCED BILATERAL PRE-FRONTAL ACTIVATION (RIGHT OXYHB, P = 0.01; LEFT OXYHB, P = 0.03 AND RIGHT TOTAL HB, P = 0.03; LEFT TOTAL HB, P = 0.04) DURING KB AS COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS. THIS HYPO-FRONTALITY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS IN RESPONSE TO KB MAY BE USED CLINICALLY TO SUPPORT THE DIAGNOSIS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA IN FUTURE. 2014 18 1354 26 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THREE YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE ON A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK. THE EFFECTS OF THREE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES WERE EVALUATED ON PERFORMANCE ON A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK WHICH IS A LEFT-HEMISPHERE DOMINANT TASK. THE THREE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES (RIGHT, LEFT, AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING) WERE SELECTED BECAUSE UNILATERAL FORCED NOSTRIL BREATHING STIMULATES THE CONTRALATERAL HEMISPHERE. THERE WERE 20 MALE VOLUNTEERS WHOSE AGES RANGED FROM 20 TO 45 YEARS (M AGE=28.4 YR., SD=5.7). ALL SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER FOUR SESSIONS, I.E., RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, LEFT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, AND BREATH AWARENESS AS A CONTROL. THE LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED, I.E., THERE WERE FEWER ERRORS FOLLOWING RIGHT AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (WILCOXON PAIRED SIGNED-RANKS TEST). THE IMPROVED PERFORMANCE MAY BE RELATED TO THE ENHANCEMENT OF CONTRALATERAL HEMISPHERE FUNCTION FOUND WITH SELECTIVE NOSTRIL BREATHING. 2007 19 462 39 CHANGES IN REACTION TIME AFTER YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING IN HEALTHY FEMALE VOLUNTEERS. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUSLY, YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING (BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA) REDUCED REACTION TIME (RT) OR REDUCED ANTICIPATORY RESPONSES IN MALE PARTICIPANTS OR A MIXED GROUP OF MALE AND FEMALE PARTICIPANTS. AIMS: THE PRESENT STUDY AS A CONTROL TRIAL AIMED TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING ON RT IN FEMALES EXCLUSIVELY. METHODS: THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 25 HEALTHY FEMALES, AGED BETWEEN 19 AND 32 YEARS (GROUP MEAN +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 22.8 +/- 3.5 YEARS). ALL OF THEM HAD PRIOR MINIMUM EXPERIENCE OF YOGA INCLUDING YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING OF 12 MONTHS. THE RT WAS ASSESSED IN EACH PARTICIPANT BEFORE AND AFTER THREE RANDOMIZED SESSIONS DIFFERED IN THE INTERVENTION GIVEN HELD ON THREE SEPARATE DAYS. THE SESSIONS WERE (I) YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING OR BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA(BHK), (II) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), AND (III) SITTING QUIETLY (CTL) AS A CONTROL SESSION. THE DURATION OF THE INTERVENTION WAS 18 MIN, AND THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED FOR RT BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. RESULTS: REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, POST HOC TESTS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTED SHOWED THAT THE TIME TAKEN TO OBTAIN A CORRECT RESPONSE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER 18 MIN OF BAW (P < 0.05) AND CTL (P < 0.05). HOWEVER, NO CHANGES WERE SEEN IN THE RT AFTER BHK. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT DIFFERENT INTERVENTIONS MAY OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE IN TASKS REQUIRING ATTENTION IN FEMALES COMPARED TO MALES. 2018 20 2510 33 YOGA BREATHING THROUGH A PARTICULAR NOSTRIL INCREASES SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES WITHOUT LATERALIZED EFFECTS. UNINOSTRIL BREATHING FACILITATES THE PERFORMANCE ON SPATIAL AND VERBAL COGNITIVE TASKS, SAID TO BE RIGHT AND LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS, RESPECTIVELY. SINCE HEMISPHERIC MEMORY FUNCTIONS ARE ALSO KNOWN TO BE LATERALIZED, THE PRESENT STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECTS OF UNINOSTRIL BREATHING ON THE PERFORMANCE IN VERBAL AND SPATIAL MEMORY TESTS. SCHOOL CHILDREN (N = 108 WHOSE AGES RANGED FROM 10 TO 17 YEARS) WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO FOUR GROUPS. EACH GROUP PRACTICED A SPECIFIC YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUE: (I) RIGHT NOSTRIL BREATHING, (II) LEFT NOSTRIL BREATHING, (III) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING, OR (IV) BREATH AWARENESS WITHOUT MANIPULATION OF NOSTRILS. THESE TECHNIQUES WERE PRACTICED FOR 10 DAYS. VERBAL AND SPATIAL MEMORY WAS ASSESSED INITIALLY AND AFTER 10 DAYS. AN AGE-MATCHED CONTROL GROUP OF 27 WERE SIMILARLY ASSESSED. ALL 4 TRAINED GROUPS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SPATIAL TEST SCORES AT RETEST, BUT THE CONTROL GROUP SHOWED NO CHANGE. AVERAGE INCREASE IN SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES FOR THE TRAINED GROUPS WAS 84%. IT APPEARS YOGA BREATHING INCREASES SPATIAL RATHER THAN VERBAL SCORES, WITHOUT A LATERALIZED EFFECT. 1997