1  370 143 AUTONOMIC TONE AND BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY DURING 70 DEGREES HEAD-UP TILT IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. INTRODUCTION: THE INTERVENTION OF YOGA WAS SHOWN TO IMPROVE THE AUTONOMIC CONDITIONING IN HUMANS EVIDENT FROM THE ENHANCEMENT OF PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY (BRS). FROM THE DOCUMENTED HEALTH BENEFITS OF YOGA, WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT THE EXPERIENCE OF YOGA MAY RESULT IN ADAPTATION TO THE ORTHOSTATIC STRESS DUE TO ENHANCED BRS. AIM: TO DECIPHER THE EFFECTS OF YOGA IN THE MODULATION OF AUTONOMIC FUNCTION DURING ORTHOSTATIC CHALLENGE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIS WAS A COMPARATIVE STUDY DESIGN CONDUCTED IN AUTONOMIC FUNCTION TEST LAB, OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY, ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, NEW DELHI, INDIA. HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV), BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY, AND BRS WERE ANALYZED ON FORTY NAIVE TO YOGA (NY) SUBJECTS AND FORTY YOGA PRACTITIONERS WITH AN AVERAGE AGE OF 31.08 +/- 7.31 YEARS AND 29.93 +/- 7.57 YEARS, RESPECTIVELY. ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE HEALTHY. SEVENTY DEGREES HEAD UP TILT (HUT) WAS USED AS AN INTERVENTION TO EVALUATE THE CARDIOVASCULAR VARIABILITY DURING ORTHOSTATIC CHALLENGE. RESULTS: DURING HUT, THE R-R INTERVAL (P = 0.042), ROOT MEAN SQUARE OF SUCCESIVE R-R INTERVAL DIFFERENCES (RMSSD) (P = 0.039), STANDARD DEVIATION OF INSTANTANEOUS BEAT-TO-BEAT R-R INTERVAL VARIABILITY (SD1) (P = 0.039) OF HRV, AND SEQUENCE BRS (P = 0.017) AND ALPHA LOW FREQUENCY OF SPECTRAL BRS (P = 0.002) WERE HIGHER IN THE YOGA GROUP. THE DELTA DECREASE IN RRI (P = 0.033) AND BRS (P < 0.01) WAS HIGHER IN THE YOGA GROUP THAN THE NY GROUP. CONCLUSION: THE EFFERENT VAGAL ACTIVITY AND BRS WERE HIGHER IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. THE DELTA CHANGE (DECREASE) IN PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BRS WAS HIGHER, WITH RELATIVELY STABLE SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE INDICATING AN ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO ORTHOSTATIC CHALLENGE BY THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS COMPARED TO THE NY GROUP.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
2  758  60 EFFECT OF SLOW BREATHING ON AUTONOMIC TONE & BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: SLOW BREATHING INCREASES PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY (BRS) IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS, ALSO SIMILARLY OBSERVED IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. PRANAYAMA WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF YOGA WHEN PRACTICED AT A SLOW PACE WAS AT A RESPIRATORY FREQUENCY OF AROUND 0.1 HZ (6 BREATHS/MIN). THEREFORE, IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT YOGA PRACTITIONERS MIGHT HAVE ADAPTED TO SLOW BREATHING. THIS STUDY WAS AIMED TO DECIPHER THE ROLE OF YOGA ON CARDIOVASCULAR VARIABILITY DURING SLOW BREATHING (0.1 HZ) IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. METHODS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN IN NAIVE-TO-YOGA INDIVIDUALS (N=40) AND YOGA PRACTITIONERS (N=40) WITH AN AVERAGE AGE OF 31.08 +/- 7.31 AND 29.93 +/- 7.57 YR, RESPECTIVELY. THE ANALYSIS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY, BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY (BPV) AND BRS DURING SPONTANEOUS AND SLOW BREATHING WAS COMPARED BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS. RESULTS: DURING SLOW BREATHING, THE HEART RATE (P<0.01) WAS LOWER, RESPIRATORY RATE INTERVAL (P<0.05) AND PNN50 PER CENT (P=0.01) WERE HIGHER, MEAN SYSTOLIC BP (SBP) (P<0.05) AND SDSD (STANDARD DEVIATION OF SUCCESSIVE BEAT TO BEAT SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE DIFFERENCES) (P<0.01) OF SBP VARIABILITY WERE LOWER WITH SEQUENCE BRS (P<0.001) AND ALPHA LOW FREQUENCY (P<0.01) AND ALPHA HIGH FREQUENCY (P<0.001) OF SPECTRAL BRS WERE HIGHER IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: THE PRESENT STUDY INDICATED HIGHER PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BRS WITH LOWER SBP VARIABILITY AT REST AND DURING SLOW BREATHING IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS COMPARED TO NAIVE GROUP. FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THE SHORT-TERM PRACTICE OF SLOW BREATHING COMPLEMENTS THE AUGMENTED PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BRS IN THE YOGA GROUP.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
3 2065 100 THE CARDIOVASCULAR VARIABILITY DURING TRANSIENT 6 DEGREES HEAD DOWN TILT AND SLOW BREATHING IN YOGA EXPERIENCED HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS. OBJECTIVE: THE INTERVENTION OF YOGA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE AUTONOMIC CONDITIONING IN HUMANS AND BETTER ADAPTABILITY TO ORTHOSTATIC CHALLENGES. SIMILARLY, SLOW BREATHING AT 0.1 HZ AKIN TO PRANAYAMA ALSO INCREASES BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY (BRS). HENCE, WE INTENDED TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER YOGA PRACTITIONERS HAVE DIFFERENT AUTONOMIC RESPONSES AT REST,DURING SLOW DEEP BREATHINGAS WELL AS DURING 6 DEGREES HEAD DOWN TILT (HDT) COMPARED TO NAIVE GROUP INDIVIDUALS. AIM: THE AIM OF THE STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE ACUTE EFFECTS OF SLOW BREATHING ON CARDIOVASCULAR VARIABILITY DURING HDT IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS COMPARED TO YOGA-NAIVE INDIVIDUALS. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: THIS WAS A COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH REPEATED MEASURES DESIGN CONDUCTED IN AUTONOMIC FUNCTION TEST LAB OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY, ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, NEW DELHI, INDIA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TIME DOMAIN AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY, BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY (BPV), AND BRS WERE EVALUATED DURING 6 DEGREES HDT AND SLOW BREATHING AT 0.1 HZ ON FORTY YOGA-NAIVE INDIVIDUALS AND FORTY YOGA PRACTITIONERS WITH AN AVERAGE AGE OF 31.08 +/- 7.31 YEARS AND 29.93 +/- 7.57 YEARS, RESPECTIVELY. ALL OF THE PARTICIPANTS WERE HEALTHY. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: GENERAL LINEAR MIXED MODEL ANOVA WAS APPLIED WITH YOGA EXPERIENCE AS A BETWEEN-GROUP FACTOR IN REPEATED MEASURES. INDEPENDENT SAMPLE T-TEST WAS APPLIED FOR BETWEEN GROUP COMPARISON OF RESPIRATORY RATE, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND ANTHROPOMETRIC DATA. P <0.05 IS CONSIDERED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. RESULTS: BETWEEN-GROUP COMPARISON DURING HDT WITH SPONTANEOUS BREATHING HAS SHOWN A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER HEART RATE (P = 0.004) WITH HIGHER RR INTERVAL (RRI) (P = 0.002) AND PNN50% (P = 0.019) IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. THE SEQUENCE BRS (P < 0.0001) AND ALPHA LOW FREQUENCY (LF) OF SPECTRAL BRS (P = 0.035) WERE ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN THE YOGA GROUP COMPARED TO THE NAIVE GROUP. SIMILARLY, DURING HDT WITH SLOW BREATHING, THE HEART RATE WAS LOWER (P = 0.01); WITH HIGHER RRI (P = 0.009); PNN50% (P = 0.048). STANDARD DEVIATION OF SUCCESSIVE RR INTERVAL DIFFERENCE OF SYSTOLIC BPV WAS LOWER (P = 0.024) WITH HIGHER SEQUENCE BRS (P = 0.001) AND ALPHA LF OF SPECTRAL BRS (P = 0.002) IN YOGA GROUP THAN NAIVE GROUP. CONCLUSION: THE YOGA EXPERIENCED INDIVIDUALS EXHIBIT HIGHER RESTING PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY, LOWER SYSTOLIC BPV, AND HIGHER BRS THAN NAIVE TO YOGA INDIVIDUALS. IT IS INFERRED FROM THE FINDINGS THAT YOGA PRACTITIONERS WERE BETTER ADAPTED TO TRANSIENT CEPHALAD FLUID SHIFT THAT HAPPENS DURING 6 DEGREES HDT. FURTHERMORE, ACUTE SLOW BREATHING DURING 6 DEGREES HDT REDUCED THE SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE IN ALL THE PARTICIPANTS SUGGESTING THE BENEFICIAL ROLE OF SLOW BREATHING DURING EXPOSURE TO EXTREME CONDITIONS SUCH AS MICROGRAVITY WHICH MIGHT HELP IN THE PREVENTION OF ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CEPHALAD FLUID SHIFT DURING LONG-TERM WEIGHTLESSNESS AND MAINTAIN THE ASTRONAUT HEALTH. FUTURE MECHANISTIC STUDIES WITH ACTIVE YOGA INTERVENTION ARE NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND THE ADAPTIVE MECHANISMS INVOLVING CENTRAL AND VASCULAR MODULATIONS CONTRIBUTING TO EITHER ATTENUATION OR ACCENTUATION OF THE CARDIOVAGAL BAROREFLEX DURING HDT AND SLOW BREATHING IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS.	2021	

4 1329  40 HIGH-FREQUENCY CEREBRAL ACTIVATION AND INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION FOLLOWING SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA AS GLOBAL BRAIN RHYTHMS: THE STATE EFFECTS. CONTEXT: RESPIRATION IS KNOWN TO MODULATE NEURONAL OSCILLATIONS IN THE BRAIN AND IS MEASURED BY ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG). SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) IS A POPULAR BREATHING PROCESS AND IS ESTABLISHED FOR ITS SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS ON THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY. AIMS: THIS STUDY AIMED TO OBSERVE NEURONAL OSCILLATIONS IN MULTIFREQUENCY BANDS AND INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION FOLLOWING SKY. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: THIS STUDY EMPLOYED BEFORE- AND AFTER-STUDY DESIGN. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: FORTY HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (AVERAGE AGE 25.45 +/- 5.75, 23 MALES AND 17 FEMALES) PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. NINETEEN-CHANNEL EEG WAS RECORDED AND ANALYZED FOR 5 MIN EACH: BEFORE AND AFTER SKY. SPECTRAL POWER FOR DELTA, THETA, ALPHA, BETA, AND GAMMA FREQUENCY BAND WAS CALCULATED USING MULTI-TAPER FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM (CHRONUX TOOLBOX). THE ASYMMETRY INDEX WAS CALCULATED BY SUBTRACTING THE NATURAL LOG OF POWERS OF LEFT (L) HEMISPHERE FROM THE RIGHT((R)) TO SHOW INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: PAIRED T-TEST WAS USED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. RESULTS: SPECTRAL POWER INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN ALL FREQUENCY BANDS BILATERALLY IN FRONTAL, CENTRAL, PARIETAL, TEMPORAL, AND OCCIPITAL REGIONS OF THE BRAIN AFTER LONG SKY. ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY SHIFTED FROM LOWER TO HIGHER FREQUENCY RANGE WITH A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN THE GAMMA AND BETA POWERS FOLLOWING SKY. ASYMMETRY INDEX VALUES TENDED TOWARD 0 FOLLOWING SKY. CONCLUSIONS: A SINGLE SESSION OF SKY GENERATES GLOBAL BRAIN RHYTHM DOMINANTLY WITH HIGH-FREQUENCY CEREBRAL ACTIVATION AND INITIATES APPROPRIATE INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION IN BRAIN RHYTHMS AS STATE EFFECTS. THIS SUGGESTS THAT SKY LEADS TO BETTER ATTENTION, MEMORY, AND EMOTIONAL AND AUTONOMIC CONTROL ALONG WITH ENHANCED COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS, WHICH FINALLY IMPROVES PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
5  350  54 ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE FOLLOWING LONG SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA IN ART OF LIVING PRACTITIONERS. OBJECTIVE: THE BREATHING PROCESSES ARE KNOWN TO MODULATE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE AND IMPROVE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATUS. WE INVESTIGATED CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE FOLLOWING LONG SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) AND SKIN CONDUCTANCE LEVEL (SCL). METHODS: THIRTY HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (AGE 28.3 +/- 8.4 YEARS; 23 M: 7 F) PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (ECG) AND SCL WERE RECORDED FOR 5 MIN EACH, BEFORE AND AFTER LONG SKY. LONG SKY IS A COMBINATION OF PRANAYAMA AND CYCLIC RHYTHMIC BREATHING AND IS PERFORMED BY FOLLOWING THE GUIDED AUDIO INSTRUCTIONS. HRV ANALYSIS WAS USED FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE. TIME AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF HRV WERE CALCULATED BY USING RR INTERVAL OF ECG. SCL WAS ACQUIRED USING GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE (GSR) AMPLIFIER OF POWERLAB IN MICROSEIMENS (MUS). RESULTS: TIME DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF HRV, INCLUDING MEAN RR INTERVAL (P = 0.000), RESPIRATORY SINUS ARRHYTHMIA (RSA) (P = 0.037), STANDARD DEVIATION OF ALL NN INTERVALS (SDNN) (P = 0.013), NN50 COUNT DIVIDED BY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ALL NN INTERVALS (PNN50) (P = 0.004), AND SQUARE ROOT OF THE MEAN OF THE SUM OF THE SQUARES OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADJACENT NN INTERVALS (RMSSD) (P = 0.002) INCREASED, AND MEAN HEART RATE DECREASED (P = 0.000) FOLLOWING LONG SKY. IN FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS, POWER OF LOW-FREQUENCY (LF) COMPONENT (P = 0.010) AND LF/HF RATIO (P = 0.008) DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, WHEREAS POWER OF HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED (P = 0.010). SCL DECREASED FOLLOWING LONG SKY, ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT ATTAIN STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT LONG SKY INDUCES SIGNIFICANT OSCILLATIONS IN CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE. PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY INCREASES AND SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY DECREASES AND SYMPATHOVAGAL BALANCE IMPROVES FOLLOWING LONG SKY. DECREASE IN SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY IS ALSO DEMONSTRATED BY DECREASE IN CONDUCTANCE ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT REACH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. FROM THIS STUDY IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT LONG SKY HAS A BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE, AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL RELAXATION. IT MAY SERVE AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE HRV, WHICH IS THE MARKER OF CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
6 1208  37 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
7 2759  67 YOGA PRACTITIONERS EXHIBIT HIGHER PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY AND BETTER ADAPTABILITY TO 40 MM HG LOWER-BODY NEGATIVE PRESSURE. YOGA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE AUTONOMIC CONDITIONING IN HUMANS, AS EVIDENCED BY THE ENHANCEMENT OF PARASYM-PATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY. THEREFORE, WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT THE EXPERIENCE OF YOGA MAY RESULT IN ADAPTATION TO ACUTE HEMODYNAMIC CHANGES. TO DECIPHER THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CARDIOVASCULAR VARIABILITY, YOGA PRACTITIONERS WERE COMPARED TO YOGA-NAIVE SUBJECTS DURING EXPOSURE TO -40 MM HG LOWER-BODY NEGATIVE PRESSURE (LBNP). A COMPARATIVE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON 40 YOGANAIVE SUBJECTS AND 40 YOGA PRACTITIONERS WITH AN AVERAGE AGE OF 31.08 +/- 7.31 YEARS AND 29.93 +/- 7.57 YEARS, RESPECTIVELY. HEART RATE VARIABILITY, BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY, BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY, AND CORRELATION BETWEEN SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AND RR INTERVAL WERE EVALUATED AT REST AND DURING LBNP. IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS, THE HEART RATE WAS LOWER IN SUPINE REST (P = 0.011) AND DURING LBNP (P = 0.043); THE PNN50 MEASURE OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY WAS HIGHER IN SUPINE REST (P = 0.011) AND DURING LBNP (P = 0.034). THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS' STANDARD DEVIATION OF SUCCESSIVE BEAT-TO-BEAT BLOOD PRESSURE INTERVALS OF SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY WAS LOWER IN SUPINE REST (P = 0.034) AND DURING LBNP (P = 0.007), WITH HIGHER SEQUENCE BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY (P = 0.019) AND ~ HIGH-FREQUENCY BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY. MEAN SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AND RR INTERVAL WERE INVERSELY CORRELATED IN THE YOGA GROUP (R = -0.317, P = 0.049). THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS EXHIBITED HIGHER PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY WITH LOWER SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY, INDICATING BETTER ADAPTABILITY TO LBNP COMPARED TO THE YOGA-NAIVE GROUP. OUR FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THE YOGA MODULE WAS HELPFUL IN CONDITIONS OF HYPOVOLEMIA IN HEALTHY SUBJECTS; IT IS PROPOSED TO BE BENEFICIAL IN CLINICAL CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE, IMPAIRED BARORE-FLEX SENSITIVITY, AND ORTHOSTATIC INTOLERANCE.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
8 1578  47 MEASUREMENT OF THE EFFECT OF ISHA YOGA ON CARDIAC AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM USING SHORT-TERM HEART RATE VARIABILITY. BACKGROUND: BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA HAVE BEEN POSTULATED TO BE DUE TO MODULATION OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF ISHA YOGA PRACTICES ON CARDIOVASCULAR AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM THROUGH SHORT-TERM HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV). DESIGN OF THE STUDY: SHORT-TERM HRV OF LONG-TERM REGULAR HEALTHY 14 (12 MALES AND 2 FEMALES) ISHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS WAS COMPARED WITH THAT OF AGE- AND GENDER-MATCHED 14 (12 MALES AND 2 FEMALES) NON-YOGA PRACTITIONERS. METHODS AND MATERIALS: ECG LEAD II AND RESPIRATORY MOVEMENTS WERE RECORDED IN BOTH GROUPS USING POLYRITE DURING SUPINE REST FOR 5 MIN AND CONTROLLED DEEP BREATHING FOR 1 MINUTE. FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS [RR INTERVAL IS THE MEAN OF DISTANCE BETWEEN SUBSEQUENT R WAVE PEAKS IN ECG], LOW FREQUENCY (LF) POWER, HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) POWER, LF NORMALIZED UNITS (NU), HF NU, LF/HF RATIO] AND TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS [STANDARD DEVIATION OF NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVAL (SDNN), SQUARE OF MEAN SQUARED DIFFERENCE OF SUCCESSIVE NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS (RMSSD), NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS WHICH ARE DIFFERING BY 50 MS (NN50), AND PERCENTAGE OF NN50 (PNN50)] OF HRV VARIABLES WERE ANALYZED FOR SUPINE REST. TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS WAS RECORDED FOR DEEP BREATHING. RESULTS: RESULTS SHOWED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ISHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND CONTROLS IN BOTH FREQUENCY AND TIME DOMAIN ANALYSES OF HRV INDICES, WITH NO DIFFERENCE IN RESTING HEART RATE BETWEEN THE GROUPS. CONCLUSIONS: PRACTITIONERS OF ISHA YOGA SHOWED WELL-BALANCED BENEFICIAL ACTIVITY OF VAGAL EFFERENTS, AN OVERALL INCREASED HRV, AND SYMPATHOVAGAL BALANCE, COMPARED TO NON-YOGA PRACTITIONERS DURING SUPINE REST AND DEEP BREATHING.	2012	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
9 1317  34 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  650  36 DYNAMICS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF COURSE YOGA BREATHING EXERCISES ON HEALTHY YOUNG PEOPLE. OBJECTIVE: INTRODUCTION: HEART RATE VARIABILITY IS A HIGHLY INFORMATIVE NON-INVASIVE METHOD OF RESEARCH NOT ONLY FOR THE FUNCTIONAL STATE OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM AND ALSO FOR THE INTEGRATIVE REGULATORY ACTIVITY OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. THE POSITIVE EFFECT OF DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING IS POSITIVE IN THE MODE OF BIOLOGICAL FEEDBACK USING PORTABLE DEVICES, BUT THERE IS LITTLE EVIDENCE OF THE USE OF YOGA BREATHING GYMNASTICS IN ORDER TO INFLUENCE THE HEART RATE VARIABILITY. THE AIM: TO COMPARE THE POSSIBILITIES OF USING COURSES OF BREATHING GYMNASTICS OF YOGIS AND DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING SESSIONS IN THE MODE OF BIOLOGICAL FEEDBACK USING A PORTABLE DEVICE. PATIENTS AND METHODS: MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE STUDY INVOLVED 70 PRACTICALLY HEALTHY FOREIGNERS, WHO WERE DIVIDED INTO 2 GROUPS OF 35 PEOPLE. PARTICIPANTS OF THE 1ST GROUP DAILY ENGAGE IN RESPIRATORY EXERCISES PRANAYAMA FOR 15 MINUTES IN 1 MONTH. PARTICIPANTS IN THE 2ND GROUP USED THE MYCALMBEAT PORTABLE DEVICE. HEART RATE VARIABILITY WAS REGISTERED BY USING THE COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC COMPLEX "CARDIOLAB" ("KHAI-MEDIKA", UKRAINE). RESULTS: RESULTS: IN BOTH GROUPS THERE WAS SIMILAR DYNAMICS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY INDICES, BUT ITS SEVERITY WAS DIFFERENT. THE COMMON INTEGRAL EFFECT WAS A SIGNIFICANT GROWTH OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY BOTH ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL AND SPECTRAL INDICATORS - TOTAL POWER INCREASED, AS WELL AS HIGH-FREQUENCY COMPONENT. THE POWER OF THE VERY-LOW FREQUENCY WAVES HAS PROBABLY DECREASED ONLY IN THE GROUP WITH THE DEVICE. IN THE PERCENTAGE STRUCTURE OF THE CARDIAC RHYTHM SPECTRUM, THE SPECIFIC WEIGHT OF VERY-LOW FREQUENCY COMPONENT AND THE PERCENTAGE OF HIGH-FREQUENCY COMPONENT INCREASED. CONCLUSION: CONCLUSIONS: RESPIRATORY GYMNASTICS YOGA FOR 15 MINUTES DAILY CONTRIBUTES TO THE GROWTH OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY THROUGH THE SUPPRESSION OF THE CENTRAL LINK (VERY-LOW FREQUENCY COMPONENT) OF REGULATION OF CARDIAC RHYTHM AND INCREASED ACTIVITY OF PARASYMPATHETIC INFLUENCES (HIGH-FREQUENCY COMPONENT), AS WELL AS THE REDISTRIBUTION OF REGULATORY ACTIVITY OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM BETWEEN THE CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL LINKS OF REGULATION OF THE CARDIAC RHYTHM IN FAVOR OF THE LATTER.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
11  297  40 ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING AT DIFFERENT RATES AND ITS INFLUENCE ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN NON PRACTITIONERS OF YOGA. INTRODUCTION: HEART RATE VARIABILITY IS A MEASURE OF MODULATION IN AUTONOMIC INPUT TO THE HEART AND IS ONE OF THE MARKERS OF AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS. THOUGH THERE ARE MANY STUDIES ON THE LONG TERM INFLUENCE OF BREATHING ON HRV (HEART RATE VARIABILITY) THERE ARE ONLY A FEW STUDIES ON THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF BREATHING ESPECIALLY ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING ON HRV. THIS STUDY FOCUSES ON THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING AND THE INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT BREATHING RATES ON HRV. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE STUDY WAS DONE ON 25 SUBJECTS IN THE AGE GROUP OF 17-35 YEARS. ECG AND RESPIRATION WERE RECORDED BEFORE INTERVENTION AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SUBJECTS WERE ASKED TO PERFORM ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING FOR FIVE MINUTES. RESULTS: LOW FREQUENCY (LF) WHICH IS A MARKER OF SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY INCREASED, HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) WHICH IS A MARKER OF PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY DECREASED AND THEIR RATIO LF/HF WHICH IS A MARKER OF SYMPATHO/VAGAL BALANCE INCREASED IMMEDIATELY AFTER 6 AND 12 MINUTES IN COMPARISON TO BASELINE VALUES WHEREAS THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE MEANS OF THESE COMPONENTS WHEN BOTH 6 AND 12 MINUTES WERE COMPARED. CONCLUSION: IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING ON HRV IN NON PRACTITIONERS OF YOGIC BREATHING ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE LONG TERM INFLUENCE OF YOGIC BREATHING ON HRV WHICH SHOW A PREDOMINANT PARASYMPATHETIC INFLUENCE ON THE HEART.	2016	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
12 2731  43 YOGA OFFERS CARDIOVASCULAR PROTECTION IN EARLY POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN. CONTEXT: POSTMENOPAUSE, AN ESTROGEN DEFICIENT STATE COMES WITH INCREASED INCIDENCE OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES (CVDS). YOGA HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS HAVING A BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV), A MARKER FOR CARDIAC AUTONOMIC ACTIVITY WHICH CAN ASSESS CARDIOVASCULAR RISK, IN VARIOUS POPULATIONS. AIM: THE AIM OF THE STUDY WAS TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF 3-MONTH LONG YOGA PRACTICE ON HRV IN EARLY POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A PROSPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF 67 WOMEN WITHIN 5 YEARS OF MENOPAUSE BETWEEN 45 AND 60 YEARS OF AGE ATTENDING MENOPAUSE CLINIC OF DEPARTMENT OF GYNAECOLOGY, SUCHETA KRIPLANI HOSPITAL FULFILLING INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA AND CONSENTING WERE ENROLLED FOR THE STUDY. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: HRV OF 37 CASES (YOGA GROUP) AND 30 CONTROLS (NON-YOGA GROUP) WAS RECORDED PRE AND 3-MONTH POSTINTERVENTION. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: GRAPHPAD PRISM VERSION 5 SOFTWARE WAS USED. VALUES ARE A MEAN AND STANDARD ERROR OF MEAN. STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE WAS SET UP AT P < 0.05. RESULTS: IN HRV, FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT FALL IN LOW FREQUENCY (LF) IN NORMALIZED UNITS (NU) AND LF: HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) RATIO AND SIGNIFICANT RISE IN HF IN NU IN THE YOGA GROUP (DEPICTING PARASYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE) AGAINST A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN LF (NU) AND LF: HF RATIO AND SIGNIFICANT FALL IN HF (NU) IN NON-YOGA GROUP (INDICATING SYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE). TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN STANDARD DEVIATION OF NN INTERVALS IN NON-YOGA GROUP AGAINST NONSIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN YOGA GROUP INDICATING DETERIORATION IN PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY IN NON-YOGA GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: THREE-MONTH LONG YOGA PRACTICE IMPROVED HRV IN EARLY POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN SIGNIFICANTLY AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ATTENUATE THE CVD RISK IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN.	2018	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
13  448  42 CHANGES IN AUTONOMIC VARIABLES FOLLOWING TWO MEDITATIVE STATES DESCRIBED IN YOGA TEXTS. OBJECTIVES: IN ANCIENT YOGA TEXTS THERE ARE TWO MEDITATIVE STATES DESCRIBED. ONE IS DHARANA, WHICH REQUIRES FOCUSING, THE SECOND IS DHYANA, DURING WHICH THERE IS NO FOCUSING, BUT AN EXPANSIVE MENTAL STATE IS REACHED. WHILE AN EARLIER STUDY DID SHOW IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN AN ATTENTION TASK AFTER DHARANA, THE AUTONOMIC CHANGES DURING THESE TWO STATES HAVE NOT BEEN STUDIED. METHODS: AUTONOMIC AND RESPIRATORY VARIABLES WERE ASSESSED IN 30 HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- SD, 29.1 +/- 5.1 YEARS) DURING FOUR MENTAL STATES DESCRIBED IN TRADITIONAL YOGA TEXTS. THESE FOUR MENTAL STATES ARE RANDOM THINKING (CANCALATA), NONMEDITATIVE FOCUSING (EKAGRATA), MEDITATIVE FOCUSING (DHARANA), AND EFFORTLESS MEDITATION (DHYANA). ASSESSMENTS WERE MADE BEFORE (5 MINUTES), DURING (20 MINUTES), AND AFTER (5 MINUTES), EACH OF THE FOUR STATES, ON FOUR SEPARATE DAYS. RESULTS: DURING DHYANA THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE SKIN RESISTANCE LEVEL (P<0.001; POST HOC ANALYSIS FOLLOWING ANOVA, DURING COMPARED TO PRE) AND PHOTO-PLETHYSMOGRAM AMPLITUDE (P<0.05), WHEREAS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE HEART RATE (P<0.001) AND BREATH RATE (P<0.001). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE LOW FREQUENCY (LF) POWER (P<0.001) AND INCREASE IN THE HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) POWER (P<0.001) IN THE FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS OF THE HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) SPECTRUM, ON WHICH HF POWER IS ASSOCIATED WITH PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY. THERE WAS ALSO A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE NN50 COUNT (THE NUMBER OF INTERVAL DIFFERENCES OF SUCCESSIVE NN INTERVALS GREATER THAN 50 MS; P<0.001) AND THE PNN50 (THE PROPORTION DERIVED BY DIVIDING NN50 BY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF NN INTERVALS; P<0.001) IN TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS OF HRV, BOTH INDICATIVE OF PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY. CONCLUSIONS: MAXIMUM CHANGES WERE SEEN IN AUTONOMIC VARIABLES AND BREATH RATE DURING THE STATE OF EFFORTLESS MEDITATION (DHYANA). THE CHANGES WERE ALL SUGGESTIVE OF REDUCED SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND/OR INCREASED VAGAL MODULATION. DURING DHARANA THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN SKIN RESISTANCE. THE CHANGES IN HRV DURING EKAGRATA AND CANCALATA WERE INCONCLUSIVE.	2013	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
14  492  35 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
15  411  40 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
16 1565  33 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
17 1836  24 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
18  452  41 CHANGES IN HEART RATE VARIABILITY AFTER YOGA ARE DEPENDENT ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY AT BASELINE AND DURING YOGA: A STUDY SHOWING AUTONOMIC NORMALIZATION EFFECT IN YOGA-NAIVE AND EXPERIENCED SUBJECTS. BACKGROUND: YOGA THERAPY IS WIDELY APPLIED TO THE MAINTENANCE OF HEALTH AND TO TREATMENT OF VARIOUS ILLNESSES. PREVIOUS RESEARCHES INDICATE THE INVOLVEMENT OF AUTONOMIC CONTROL IN ITS EFFECTS, ALTHOUGH THE GENERAL AGREEMENT HAS NOT BEEN REACHED REGARDING THE ACUTE MODULATION OF AUTONOMIC FUNCTION. AIM: THE PRESENT STUDY AIMED AT REVEALING THE ACUTE EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE AUTONOMIC ACTIVITY USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) MEASUREMENT. METHODS: TWENTY-SEVEN HEALTHY CONTROLS PARTICIPATED IN THE PRESENT STUDY. FIFTEEN OF THEM (39.5 +/- 8.5 YEARS OLD) WERE NAIVE AND 12 (45.1 +/- 7.0 YEARS OLD) WERE EXPERIENCED IN YOGA. YOGA SKILLS INCLUDED BREATH AWARENESS, TWO TYPES OF ASANA, AND TWO TYPES OF PRANAYAMA. HRV WAS MEASURED AT THE BASELINE, DURING YOGA, AND AT THE RESTING STATE AFTER YOGA. RESULTS: IN BOTH YOGA-NAIVE AND EXPERIENCED PARTICIPANTS, THE CHANGES IN LOW-FREQUENCY (LF) COMPONENT OF HRV AND ITS RATIO TO HIGH-FREQUENCY (HF) COMPONENT (LF/HF) AFTER YOGA WERE FOUND TO BE CORRELATED NEGATIVELY WITH THE BASELINE DATA. THE CHANGES IN LF AFTER YOGA WERE ALSO CORRELATED WITH LF DURING YOGA. THE CHANGES IN HF AS WELL AS THE RAW HRV DATA AFTER YOGA WERE NOT RELATED TO THE BASELINE HRV OR THE HRV DURING YOGA. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT YOGA LEADS TO AN INCREASE IN LF WHEN LF IS LOW AND LEADS TO A DECREASE IN LF WHEN IT IS HIGH AT THE BASELINE. THIS NORMALIZATION OF LF IS DEPENDENT ON THE AUTONOMIC MODULATION DURING YOGA AND MAY UNDERLIE THE CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA THERAPY BOTH IN YOGA-NAIVE AND EXPERIENCED SUBJECTS.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
19  967  34 EFFECTS OF AEROBIC EXERCISE TRAINING AND YOGA ON THE BAROREFLEX IN HEALTHY ELDERLY PERSONS. IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER THE AGE-ASSOCIATED REDUCTION IN BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY IS MODIFIABLE BY EXERCISE TRAINING. THE EFFECTS OF AEROBIC EXERCISE TRAINING AND YOGA, A NON-AEROBIC CONTROL INTERVENTION, ON THE BAROREFLEX OF ELDERLY PERSONS WAS DETERMINED. BAROREFLEX SENSITIVITY WAS QUANTIFIED BY THE ALPHA-INDEX, AT HIGH FREQUENCY (HF; 0.15-0.35 HZ, REFLECTING PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY) AND MID-FREQUENCY (MF; 0.05-0.15 HZ, REFLECTING SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AS WELL), DERIVED FROM SPECTRAL AND CROSS-SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF SPONTANEOUS FLUCTUATIONS IN HEART RATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE. TWENTY-SIX (10 WOMEN) SEDENTARY, HEALTHY, NORMOTENSIVE ELDERLY (MEAN 68 YEARS, RANGE 62-81 YEARS) SUBJECTS WERE STUDIED. FOURTEEN (4 WOMEN) OF THE SEDENTARY ELDERLY SUBJECTS COMPLETED 6 WEEKS OF AEROBIC TRAINING, WHILE THE OTHER 12 (6 WOMEN) SUBJECTS COMPLETED 6 WEEKS OF YOGA. HEART RATE DECREASED FOLLOWING YOGA (69 +/- 8 VS. 61 +/- 7 MIN-1, P < 0.05) BUT NOT AEROBIC TRAINING (66 +/- 8 VS. 63 +/- 9 MIN-1, P = 0.29). VO2 MAX INCREASED BY 11% FOLLOWING YOGA (P < 0.01) AND BY 24% FOLLOWING AEROBIC TRAINING (P < 0.01). NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN ALPHA MF (6.5 +/- 3.5 VS. 6.2 +/- 3.0 MS MMHG-1, P = 0.69) OR ALPHA HF (8.5 +/- 4.7 VS. 8.9 +/- 3.5 MS MMHG-1, P = 0.65) OCCURRED AFTER AEROBIC TRAINING. FOLLOWING YOGA, ALPHA HF (8.0 +/- 3.6 VS. 11.5 +/- 5.2 MS MMHG-1, P < 0.01) BUT NOT ALPHA MF (6.5 +/- 3.0 VS. 7.6 +/- 2.8 MS MMHG-1, P = 0.29) INCREASED. SHORT-DURATION AEROBIC TRAINING DOES NOT MODIFY THE ALPHA-INDEX AT ALPHA MF OR ALPHA HF IN HEALTHY NORMOTENSIVE ELDERLY SUBJECTS. ALPHA HF BUT NOT ALPHA MF INCREASED FOLLOWING YOGA, SUGGESTING THAT THESE PARAMETERS ARE MEASURING DISTINCT ASPECTS OF THE BAROREFLEX THAT ARE SEPARATELY MODIFIABLE.	1997	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
20 2067  29 THE CONSCIOUSNESS STATE OF TRADITIONAL NIDRA YOGA/MODERN YOGA NIDRA: PHENOMENOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS FROM AN EEG STUDY. NIDRA YOGA IS AN ANCIENT YOGIC PRACTICE CAPABLE OF INDUCING ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS CHARACTERIZED BY DEEP RELAXATION, STRONG CONCENTRATION, ACUTE SELF-AWARENESS, AND JOY. IN MODERN CONTEMPLATIVE NEUROSCIENCE LANGUAGE, IT IS KNOWN BY THE NAME YOGA NIDRA, AND FEW STUDIES HAVE INVESTIGATED ITS PHENOMENOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS. SIX HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (FOUR FEMALES AGED 31-74) PERFORMED 12 YOGA NIDRA SESSIONS GUIDED BY AN EXPERT DURING A 6-DAY RETREAT. EACH SESSION CONSISTED OF 10 MINUTES IN A RESTING STATE (BASELINE) FOLLOWED BY 2 HOURS OF YOGA NIDRA. PSYCHOMETRIC DATA REGARDING DISSOCIATIVE EXPERIENCES (CLINICIAN ADMINISTERED DISSOCIATIVE STATES SCALE) AND THE STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS (PHENOMENOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS INVENTORY) WERE COLLECTED AFTER BASELINE AND YOGA NIDRA, WHILE HIGH-DENSITY EEG WAS RECORDED DURING THE ENTIRE SESSION. DURING NIDRA SESSIONS, NO SLEEP HALLMARKS (I.E., K-COMPLEXES AND SLEEP SPINDLES) WERE DETECTED BY THE EEG IN ANY SUBJECT. PSYCHOMETRIC DATA WE RE ANALYZED USING A WILCOXON SIGNED-RANK TEST CORRECTED WITH THE FALSE DISCOVERY RATE APPROACH FOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS. COMPARED TO BASELINE, YOGA NIDRA PRACTICE WAS RELATED TO: (1) INCREASED DISSOCIATIVE EFFECTS (P = 0.022); (2) PERCEPTION OF BEING IN AN ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS (P = 0.026); (3) ALTERATIONS IN PERCEIVED BODY IMAGE (P = 0.022); (4) INCREASED "MEANINGFULNESS" ATTRIBUTED TO THE EXPERIENCE (P = 0.026); (5) REDUCED RATIONAL THINKING (P = 0.029); AND (6) REDUCED VOLITIONAL THOUGHT CONTROL (P = 0.026). FIRST-PERSON EXPERIENCE IS DISCUSSED IN RELATION TO DESCRIPTIVE EEG POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY ANALYSIS, WHICH WAS PERFORMED IN ONE SUBJECT BECAUSE OF SEVERE EEG ARTIFACTS IN THE OTHER RECORDINGS; THAT SUBJECT SHOWED, COMPARED TO BASELINE: (1) EARLY INCREASE OF ALPHA AND BETA POWER, FOLLOWED BY A PROGRESSIVE WIDESPREAD REDUCTION; (2) WIDESPREAD EARLY INCREASE OF THETA POWER, FOLLOWED BY A PROGRESSIVE REDUCTION; AND (3) WIDESPREAD INCREASE OF GAMMA POWER IN THE LATEST STAGES. THE PRESENT PRELIMINARY RESULTS ENRICH THE KNOWLEDGE OF YOGA NIDRA, ELUCIDATING ITS PHENOMENOLOGY AND SUGGESTING SOME PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES THAT FUTURE STUDIES MAY ADDRESS.	2021