1  770 159 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
2 1273  82 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	

3 2099  43 THE EFFECT OF YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICE ON YOUNG ADULTS' INHIBITORY CONTROL: AN FNIRS STUDY. OBJECTIVES: THE PRESENT STUDY AIMED TO TEST THE EFFECT OF YOGA MEDITATION (YOMED) PRACTICE ON INHIBITORY CONTROL OF YOUNG ADULTS. METHODS: A TOTAL OF 50 PARTICIPANTS (23 MALE, 21-28 YEARS OLD) FROM A UNIVERSITY IN JINAN, SHANDONG PROVINCE WERE ENROLLED IN THIS STUDY. PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO A YOMED GROUP OR A CONTROL GROUP. PARTICIPANTS' BASIC INFORMATION, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND INHIBITORY CONTROL WERE MEASURED. A MULTI-CHANNEL CONTINUOUS-WAVE NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROMETER WAS USED TO MONITOR THE BRAIN'S HEMODYNAMIC RESPONSES. RESULTS: AFTER THE INTERVENTION, WE FOUND SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN FLANKER TASKS BETWEEN THE YOMED GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP. THE ACCURACY IN THE YOMED GROUP WAS HIGHER THAN THOSE IN THE CONTROL GROUP (P < 0.05). ANALYSIS OF FNIRS DATA SHOWED THAT OXYHEMOGLOBIN (OXY-HB) LEVELS IN THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX (PFC) INCREASED IN THE YOMED GROUP DURING THE FLANKER TASKS AFTER THE YOMED INTERVENTION. CONCLUSION: YOMED HAS A TEMPORARILY PROMOTING EFFECT ON THE BRAIN ACTIVATION OF YOUNG ADULTS. IT IS AN EFFECTIVE AND APPROPRIATE EXERCISE TO IMPROVE THE INHIBITORY CONTROL OF YOUNG ADULTS.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
4  442  42 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
5   72  50 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
6 1353  38 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
7 1555  33 LONG-TERM ASHTANGA YOGA PRACTICE DECREASES MEDIAL TEMPORAL AND BRAINSTEM GLUCOSE METABOLISM IN RELATION TO YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS INCREASINGLY POPULAR WORLDWIDE WITH SEVERAL PHYSICAL AND MENTAL BENEFITS, BUT THE UNDERLYING NEUROBIOLOGY REMAINS UNCLEAR. WHEREAS MANY STUDIES HAVE FOCUSED ON PURE MEDITATIONAL ASPECTS, THE TRIAD OF YOGA INCLUDES MEDITATION, POSTURES, AND BREATHING. WE CONDUCTED A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY COMPARING EXPERIENCED YOGA PRACTITIONERS TO YOGA-NAIVE HEALTHY SUBJECTS USING A MULTIPARAMETRIC 2 X 2 DESIGN WITH SIMULTANEOUS POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY/MAGNETIC RESONANCE (PET/MR) IMAGING. METHODS: (18)F-FDG PET, MORPHOMETRIC AND DIFFUSION TENSOR IMAGING, RESTING STATE FMRI, AND MR SPECTROSCOPY WERE ACQUIRED IN 10 EXPERIENCED (4.8 +/- 2.3 YEARS OF REGULAR YOGA EXPERIENCE) YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND 15 MATCHED CONTROLS IN REST AND AFTER A SINGLE PRACTICE (YOGA PRACTICE AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE, RESPECTIVELY). RESULTS: IN REST, DECREASED REGIONAL GLUCOSE METABOLISM IN THE MEDIAL TEMPORAL CORTEX, STRIATUM, AND BRAINSTEM WAS OBSERVED IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS COMPARED TO CONTROLS (P < 0.0001), WITH A SIGNIFICANT INVERSE CORRELATION OF RESTING PARAHIPPOCAMPAL AND BRAINSTEM METABOLISM WITH YEARS OF REGULAR YOGA PRACTICE (RHO < - 0.63, P < 0.05). A SINGLE YOGA PRACTICE RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT HYPERMETABOLISM IN THE CEREBELLUM (P < 0.0001). NONE OF THE MR MEASURES DIFFERED, BOTH AT REST AND AFTER INTERVENTION. CONCLUSIONS: EXPERIENCED YOGA PRACTITIONERS SHOW REGIONAL LONG-TERM DECREASES IN GLUCOSE METABOLISM RELATED TO YEARS OF PRACTICE. TO ELUCIDATE A POTENTIAL CAUSALITY, A PROSPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL STUDY IN YOGA-NAIVE INDIVIDUALS IS WARRANTED.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
8 2386  37 YOGA AIDS BLOOD PRESSURE RECOVERY AFTER EXPOSURE OF FOREHEAD TO COLD: A PILOT STUDY. CONTEXT: HYPOTENSION THAT OCCURS AFTER A SINGLE BOUT OF AEROBIC EXERCISE ALSO ATTENUATES THE VASCULAR RESPONSE TO DISCRETE STRESSORS, AN EFFECT THAT CAN LAST FOR HOURS. IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER THE HYPOTENSIVE BENEFITS OF TRADITIONAL EXERCISE EXTEND TO ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF MINDFUL EXERCISE, SUCH AS YOGA, TO CONFER TRANSIENT PROTECTION AGAINST NEUROVASCULAR CHALLENGES THAT INCREASE BLOOD PRESSURE (BP). OBJECTIVES: THE STUDY INTENDED TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTS OF ACUTE EXERCISE ON NEUROVASCULAR RESPONSES TO EXPOSURE OF THE FOREHEAD OF FEMALE YOGA PRACTITIONERS TO VASOCONSTRICTIVE COLD (IE, TO COLD PRESSOR STRESS). DESIGN: THE RESEARCH TEAM DESIGNED A STUDY WITH 3 CONDITIONS (IE, WITH PARTICIPANTS' PARTICIPATION IN 3 ACTIVITIES ON SEPARATE DAYS IN A REPEATED-MEASURES DESIGN). PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO PERFORM THE ACTIVITIES IN 1 OF 3 ORDERS ACROSS SUCCESSIVE VISITS. PARTICIPANTS: PARTICIPANTS WERE 9 FEMALES, 20 TO 33 Y OLD, WHO HAD REGULARLY PRACTICED HATHA YOGA FROM 6 MO TO 12 Y BEFORE THE START OF THE STUDY. ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE NORMOTENSIVE AT ENTRY TO THE STUDY AND HAD NORMAL BODY WEIGHTS FOR THEIR HEIGHTS. INTERVENTIONS: ALL PARTICIPANTS PERFORMED 3 ACTIVITIES: (1) SELF-DIRECTED YOGA PRACTICE, THE INTERVENTION; (2) CYCLING EXERCISE AT A SELF-SELECTED INTENSITY, A POSITIVE CONTROL; AND (3) QUIET REST, A NEGATIVE CONTROL. OUTCOME MEASURES: POSTINTERVENTION, PARTICIPANTS' FOREHEADS WERE EXPOSED TO COLD. THEIR SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURES (SBPS), DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURES (DBPS), PULSE RATES, AND FOREARM OXYGENATION WERE ASSESSED USING NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY. RESULTS: PARTICIPANTS' SBPS AND DBPS INCREASED DURING COLD PRESSOR STRESS UNDER ALL CONDITIONS, CONCURRENT WITH DECREASED FOREARM OXYGENATION. DURING RECOVERY FROM THE COLD, PARTICIPANTS' BPS DECLINED TO NEAR PRECOLD PRESSOR BASELINE LEVELS AFTER YOGA AND CYCLING BUT REMAINED ELEVATED AFTER QUIET REST. CONCLUSIONS: THE ENHANCED RECOVERY OF BP FROM COLD APPLIED TO THE FOREHEAD AFTER YOGA PRACTICE OR CYCLING EXERCISE SUGGESTS THAT BOTH TYPES OF EXERCISE PROMOTE A HYPOTENSIVE RESPONSE, WHICH COULD INDICATE LOWERED CARDIOVASCULAR RISK.	2018	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
9 1877  25 REAL-WORLD FNIRS BRAIN ACTIVITY MEASUREMENTS DURING ASHTANGA VINYASA YOGA. FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (FNIRS) IS OFTEN PRAISED FOR ITS PORTABILITY AND ROBUSTNESS TOWARDS MOTION ARTIFACTS. WHILE AN INCREASING BODY OF FNIRS RESEARCH IN REAL-WORLD ENVIRONMENTS IS EMERGING, MOST FNIRS STUDIES ARE STILL CONDUCTED IN LABORATORIES, AND DO NOT INCORPORATE LARGER MOVEMENTS PERFORMED BY PARTICIPANTS. THIS STUDY EXTENDS FNIRS APPLICATIONS IN REAL-WORLD ENVIRONMENTS BY CONDUCTING A SINGLE-SUBJECT OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF A YOGA PRACTICE WITH CONSIDERABLE MOVEMENT (ASHTANGA VINYASA YOGA) IN A PARTICIPANT'S NATURAL ENVIRONMENT (THEIR APARTMENT). THE RESULTS SHOW DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE LOAD (PREFRONTAL CORTEX ACTIVATION) WHEN COMPARING TECHNICALLY COMPLEX POSTURES TO RELATIVELY SIMPLE ONES, BUT ALSO SOME CONTRASTS WITH SURPRISINGLY LITTLE DIFFERENCE. THIS STUDY EXPLORES THE BOUNDARIES OF REAL-WORLD COGNITIVE LOAD MEASUREMENTS, AND CONTRIBUTES TO THE EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE BASE OF USING FNIRS IN REALISTIC SETTINGS. TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, THIS IS THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF FNIRS BRAIN IMAGING RECORDED DURING ANY MOVING YOGA PRACTICE. FUTURE WORK WITH FNIRS SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS BY ACCOMPLISHING STUDIES WITH CONSIDERABLE REAL-WORLD MOVEMENT.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
10  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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
11 1105  39 EFFECTS OF YOGA VERSUS WALKING ON MOOD, ANXIETY, AND BRAIN GABA LEVELS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED MRS STUDY. OBJECTIVES: YOGA AND EXERCISE HAVE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON MOOD AND ANXIETY. GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID (GABA)-ERGIC ACTIVITY IS REDUCED IN MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS. THE PRACTICE OF YOGA POSTURES IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED BRAIN GABA LEVELS. THIS STUDY ADDRESSES THE QUESTION OF WHETHER CHANGES IN MOOD, ANXIETY, AND GABA LEVELS ARE SPECIFIC TO YOGA OR RELATED TO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. METHODS: HEALTHY SUBJECTS WITH NO SIGNIFICANT MEDICAL/PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS WERE RANDOMIZED TO YOGA OR A METABOLICALLY MATCHED WALKING INTERVENTION FOR 60 MINUTES 3 TIMES A WEEK FOR 12 WEEKS. MOOD AND ANXIETY SCALES WERE TAKEN AT WEEKS 0, 4, 8, 12, AND BEFORE EACH MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY SCAN. SCAN 1 WAS AT BASELINE. SCAN 2, OBTAINED AFTER THE 12-WEEK INTERVENTION, WAS FOLLOWED BY A 60-MINUTE YOGA OR WALKING INTERVENTION, WHICH WAS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY SCAN 3. RESULTS: THE YOGA SUBJECTS (N = 19) REPORTED GREATER IMPROVEMENT IN MOOD AND GREATER DECREASES IN ANXIETY THAN THE WALKING GROUP (N = 15). THERE WERE POSITIVE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN IMPROVED MOOD AND DECREASED ANXIETY AND THALAMIC GABA LEVELS. THE YOGA GROUP HAD POSITIVE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN CHANGES IN MOOD SCALES AND CHANGES IN GABA LEVELS. CONCLUSIONS: THE 12-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER IMPROVEMENTS IN MOOD AND ANXIETY THAN A METABOLICALLY MATCHED WALKING EXERCISE. THIS IS THE FIRST STUDY TO DEMONSTRATE THAT INCREASED THALAMIC GABA LEVELS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED MOOD AND DECREASED ANXIETY. IT IS ALSO THE FIRST TIME THAT A BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION (I.E., YOGA POSTURES) HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN ACUTE INCREASES IN THALAMIC GABA LEVELS AND IMPROVEMENTS IN MOOD AND ANXIETY SCALES. GIVEN THAT PHARMACOLOGIC AGENTS THAT INCREASE THE ACTIVITY OF THE GABA SYSTEM ARE PRESCRIBED TO IMPROVE MOOD AND DECREASE ANXIETY, THE REPORTED CORRELATIONS ARE IN THE EXPECTED DIRECTION. THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF GABA IN MEDIATING THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA ON MOOD AND ANXIETY WARRANTS FURTHER STUDY.	2010	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
12 1317  40 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
13 2510  41 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
14 2504  32 YOGA ASANA SESSIONS INCREASE BRAIN GABA LEVELS: A PILOT STUDY. OBJECTIVES: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO COMPARE CHANGES IN BRAIN GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC (GABA) LEVELS ASSOCIATED WITH AN ACUTE YOGA SESSION VERSUS A READING SESSION. IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT AN INDIVIDUAL YOGA SESSION WOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASE IN BRAIN GABA LEVELS. DESIGN: THIS IS A PARALLEL-GROUPS DESIGN. SETTINGS/LOCATION: SCREENINGS, SCAN ACQUISITIONS, AND INTERVENTIONS TOOK PLACE AT MEDICAL SCHOOL-AFFILIATED CENTERS. SUBJECTS: THE SAMPLE COMPRISED 8 YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND 11 COMPARISON SUBJECTS. INTERVENTIONS: YOGA PRACTITIONERS COMPLETED A 60-MINUTE YOGA SESSION AND COMPARISON SUBJECTS COMPLETED A 60-MINUTE READING SESSION. OUTCOME MEASURES: GABA-TO-CREATINE RATIOS WERE MEASURED IN A 2-CM AXIAL SLAB USING MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPIC IMAGING IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER INTERVENTIONS. RESULTS: THERE WAS A 27% INCREASE IN GABA LEVELS IN THE YOGA PRACTITIONER GROUP AFTER THE YOGA SESSION (0.20 MMOL/KG) BUT NO CHANGE IN THE COMPARISON SUBJECT GROUP AFTER THE READING SESSION ( -0.001 MMOL/KG) (T = -2.99, DF = 7.87, P = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: THESE FINDINGS DEMONSTRATE THAT IN EXPERIENCED YOGA PRACTITIONERS, BRAIN GABA LEVELS INCREASE AFTER A SESSION OF YOGA. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THE PRACTICE OF YOGA SHOULD BE EXPLORED AS A TREATMENT FOR DISORDERS WITH LOW GABA LEVELS SUCH AS DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY DISORDERS. FUTURE STUDIES SHOULD COMPARE YOGA TO OTHER FORMS OF EXERCISE TO HELP DETERMINE WHETHER YOGA OR EXERCISE ALONE CAN ALTER GABA LEVELS.	2007	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
15 1667  38 NEUROCHEMICAL AND NEUROANATOMICAL PLASTICITY FOLLOWING MEMORY TRAINING AND YOGA INTERVENTIONS IN OLDER ADULTS WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT. BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY POPULAR APPROACHES TO AMELIORATE AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE DECLINE, BUT THEIR UNDERLYING NEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS AND CLINICAL EFFICIENCY HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY ELUCIDATED. THE PRESENT STUDY EXPLORED BRAIN PLASTICITY ASSOCIATED WITH TWO BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS, MEMORY ENHANCEMENT TRAINING (MET) AND A MIND-BODY PRACTICE (YOGIC MEDITATION), IN HEALTHY SENIORS WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (MCI) USING STRUCTURAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (S-MRI) AND PROTON MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY ((1)H-MRS). SENIOR PARTICIPANTS (AGE >/=55 YEARS) WITH MCI WERE RANDOMIZED TO THE MET OR YOGIC MEDITATION INTERVENTIONS. FOR BOTH INTERVENTIONS, PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED EITHER MET TRAINING OR KUNDALINI YOGA (KY) FOR 60-MIN SESSIONS OVER 12 WEEKS, WITH 12-MIN DAILY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS. GRAY MATTER VOLUME AND METABOLITE CONCENTRATIONS IN THE DORSAL ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX (DACC) AND BILATERAL HIPPOCAMPUS WERE MEASURED BY STRUCTURAL MRI AND (1)H-MRS AT BASELINE AND AFTER 12 WEEKS OF TRAINING. METABOLITES MEASURED INCLUDED GLUTAMATE-GLUTAMINE (GLX), CHOLINE-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS (CHO, INCLUDING GLYCEROPHOSPHOCHOLINE AND PHOSPHOCHOLINE), GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID (GABA), AND N-ACETYL ASPARTATE AND N-ACETYLASPARTYL-GLUTAMATE (NAA-NAAG). IN TOTAL, 11 PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED MET AND 14 COMPLETED YOGIC MEDITATION FOR THIS STUDY. STRUCTURAL MRI ANALYSIS SHOWED AN INTERACTION BETWEEN TIME AND GROUP IN DACC, INDICATING A TREND TOWARDS INCREASED GRAY MATTER VOLUME AFTER THE MET INTERVENTION. (1)H-MRS ANALYSIS SHOWED AN INTERACTION BETWEEN TIME AND GROUP IN CHOLINE-CONTAINING COMPOUNDS IN BILATERAL HIPPOCAMPUS, INDUCED BY SIGNIFICANT DECREASES AFTER THE MET INTERVENTION. THOUGH PRELIMINARY, OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT MEMORY TRAINING INDUCES STRUCTURAL AND NEUROCHEMICAL PLASTICITY IN SENIORS WITH MCI. FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE WHETHER MIND-BODY INTERVENTIONS LIKE YOGA YIELD SIMILAR NEUROPLASTIC CHANGES.	2016	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
16  455  36 CHANGES IN NEURAL CONNECTIVITY AND MEMORY FOLLOWING A YOGA INTERVENTION FOR OLDER ADULTS: A PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND: NO STUDY HAS EXPLORED THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON COGNITIVE DECLINE AND RESTING-STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY. OBJECTIVES: THIS STUDY EXPLORED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERFORMANCE ON MEMORY TESTS AND RESTING-STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY BEFORE AND AFTER A YOGA INTERVENTION VERSUS ACTIVE CONTROL FOR SUBJECTS WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (MCI). METHODS: PARTICIPANTS ( >/= 55 Y) WITH MCI WERE RANDOMIZED TO RECEIVE A YOGA INTERVENTION OR ACTIVE "GOLD-STANDARD" CONTROL (I.E., MEMORY ENHANCEMENT TRAINING (MET)) FOR 12 WEEKS. RESTING-STATE FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING WAS USED TO MAP CORRELATIONS BETWEEN BRAIN NETWORKS AND MEMORY PERFORMANCE CHANGES OVER TIME. DEFAULT MODE NETWORKS (DMN), LANGUAGE AND SUPERIOR PARIETAL NETWORKS WERE CHOSEN AS NETWORKS OF INTEREST TO ANALYZE THE ASSOCIATION WITH CHANGES IN VERBAL AND VISUOSPATIAL MEMORY PERFORMANCE. RESULTS: FOURTEEN YOGA AND 11 MET PARTICIPANTS COMPLETED THE STUDY. THE YOGA GROUP DEMONSTRATED A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN DEPRESSION AND VISUOSPATIAL MEMORY. WE OBSERVED IMPROVED VERBAL MEMORY PERFORMANCE CORRELATED WITH INCREASED CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE DMN AND FRONTAL MEDIAL CORTEX, PREGENUAL ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX, RIGHT MIDDLE FRONTAL CORTEX, POSTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX, AND LEFT LATERAL OCCIPITAL CORTEX. IMPROVED VERBAL MEMORY PERFORMANCE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH INCREASED CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE LANGUAGE PROCESSING NETWORK AND THE LEFT INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS. IMPROVED VISUOSPATIAL MEMORY PERFORMANCE CORRELATED INVERSELY WITH CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE SUPERIOR PARIETAL NETWORK AND THE MEDIAL PARIETAL CORTEX. CONCLUSION: YOGA MAY BE AS EFFECTIVE AS MET IN IMPROVING FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN RELATION TO VERBAL MEMORY PERFORMANCE. THESE FINDINGS SHOULD BE CONFIRMED IN LARGER PROSPECTIVE STUDIES.	2016	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
17 1321  34 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
18 2511  46 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
19 1610  49 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
20 1641  29 MONITORING THE NEURAL ACTIVITY OF THE STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE WHILE PRACTICING SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. OBJECTIVE: TO IDENTIFY THE NEURAL CORRELATES OF THE STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE AS EXPERIENCED THROUGH SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. DESIGN: NINETEEN EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS UNDERWENT FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING DURING THREE SHORT CONSECUTIVE MEDITATION PERIODS, CONTRASTED WITH A CONTROL RELAXATION CONDITION. RESULTS: RELATIVE TO BASELINE, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEDITATION SESSIONS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE OF ACTIVATION IN BILATERAL INFERIOR FRONTAL AND TEMPORAL REGIONS. ACTIVATION BECAME PROGRESSIVELY MORE REDUCED WITH DEEPER MEDITATION STAGES AND IN THE LAST MEDITATION SESSION IT BECAME LOCALIZED TO THE RIGHT INFERIOR FRONTAL CORTEX/ RIGHT INSULA AND RIGHT MIDDLE/SUPERIOR TEMPORAL CORTEX. FURTHERMORE, RIGHT INFERIOR FRONTAL ACTIVATION WAS DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUBJECTIVE DEPTH OF THE MENTAL SILENCE EXPERIENCE. CONCLUSIONS: MEDITATORS APPEAR TO PASS THROUGH AN INITIAL INTENSE NEURAL SELF-CONTROL PROCESS NECESSARY TO SILENCE THEIR MIND. AFTER THIS THEY EXPERIENCE RELATIVELY REDUCED BRAIN ACTIVATION CONCOMITANT WITH THE DEEPENING OF THE STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE OVER RIGHT INFERIOR FRONTAL CORTEX, PROBABLY REFLECTING AN EFFORTLESS PROCESS OF ATTENTIONAL CONTEMPLATION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STATE.	2015