1 1439 94 INCREASED GREY MATTER ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION: A VOXEL-BASED MORPHOMETRY STUDY. OBJECTIVES: TO INVESTIGATE REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN GREY MATTER VOLUME ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRACTICE OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. DESIGN: TWENTY THREE EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONERS OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION AND TWENTY THREE NON-MEDITATORS MATCHED ON AGE, GENDER AND EDUCATION LEVEL, WERE SCANNED USING STRUCTURAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING AND THEIR GREY MATTER VOLUME WERE COMPARED USING VOXEL-BASED MORPHOMETRY. RESULTS: GREY MATTER VOLUME WAS LARGER IN MEDITATORS RELATIVE TO NON-MEDITATORS ACROSS THE WHOLE BRAIN. IN ADDITION, GREY MATTER VOLUME WAS LARGER IN SEVERAL PREDOMINANTLY RIGHT HEMISPHERIC REGIONS: IN INSULA, VENTROMEDIAL ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX, INFERIOR TEMPORAL AND PARIETAL CORTICES AS WELL AS IN LEFT VENTROLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX AND LEFT INSULA. NO AREAS WITH LARGER GREY MATTER VOLUME WERE FOUND IN NON-MEDITATORS RELATIVE TO MEDITATORS. CONCLUSIONS: THE STUDY SHOWS THAT LONG-TERM PRACTICE OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH LARGER GREY MATTER VOLUME OVERALL, AND WITH REGIONAL ENLARGEMENT IN SEVERAL RIGHT HEMISPHERIC CORTICAL AND SUBCORTICAL BRAIN REGIONS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SUSTAINED ATTENTION, SELF-CONTROL, COMPASSION AND INTEROCEPTIVE PERCEPTION. THE INCREASED GREY MATTER VOLUME IN THESE ATTENTION AND SELF-CONTROL MEDIATING REGIONS SUGGESTS USE-DEPENDENT ENLARGEMENT WITH REGULAR PRACTICE OF THIS MEDITATION. 2016 2 2907 18 [ON THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE ELUCIDATION OF MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THERAPEUTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF CIGUN, INDIAN AND TIBETAN YOGA THERAPY]. THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH IS PROPOSED ALLOWING TO OBJECTIVELY CHARACTERIZE NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THERAPEUTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF CIGUN, INDIAN AND TIBETAN YOGA THERAPY. EXECUTION OF EXERCISES STIPULATED IN THESE PROGRAMS IS INTERPRETED AS A CONSCIOUSNESS-INSPIRED SPECIFIC FORM OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR (ACTIVITY). STEP-BY-STEP ANALYSIS OF MENTALLY-ORGANIZED BODY'S FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS AS A NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF REALIZABLE BEHAVIOUR IS PRESENTED. OPERATIONAL INTERPRETATION OF INTERNAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE SYSTEM'S FUNCTIONING PERMITS TO EVALUATE THE STEREOTYPE BRAIN CONDITION ACTUALIZED BY SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS AND MOTIVATIONS THAT INITIATES SENSORY DEPRIVATION TO ENSURE PRIORITY REALIZATION OF INTERNAL GENETICALLY DETERMINED ACTIVITY OF THE HUMAN BODY. MOBILIZATION OF THIS INTERNAL ACTIVITY IS DESCRIBED AS A PROCESS OF SELECTIVE FORMATION OF MANY COMPLICATED INTERACTIONS BETWEEN VARIOUS STRUCTURES OF THE RETICULAR FORMATION, LIMBIC SYSTEM, SUBCORTICAL CENTRES, AND NEOCORTEX MAINTAINING PRIORITY FUNCTIONING OF HOMEOSTATIC MECHANISMS OF SELF-REGULATION AND INBORN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR. THESE MECHANISMS ARE BELIEVED TO UNDERLIE THE AUTORECONSTRUCTIVE POTENTIAL OF HUMAN ORGANISM BY ENSURING SYSTEMIC CORRECTION AND RESTORATION OF ITS FUNCTIONAL RESOURCES. 2010 3 1286 42 GRAY MATTER AND FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE DURING SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. SOME MEDITATION TECHNIQUES TEACH THE PRACTITIONER TO ACHIEVE THE STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE BRAIN REGIONS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR VOLUME AND FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY (FC) WITH THE DEPTH OF MENTAL SILENCE IN LONG-TERM PRACTITIONERS OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. TWENTY-THREE LONG-TERM PRACTITIONERS OF THIS MEDITATION WERE SCANNED USING MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING. IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY THE NEURAL CORRELATES OF THE DEPTH OF MENTAL SILENCE, WE TESTED WHICH GRAY MATTER VOLUMES (GMV) WERE CORRELATED WITH THE DEPTH OF MENTAL SILENCE AND WHICH REGIONS THESE AREAS WERE FUNCTIONALLY CONNECTED TO UNDER A MEDITATION CONDITION. GMV IN MEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX INCLUDING ROSTRAL ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX WERE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH THE SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION OF THE DEPTH OF MENTAL SILENCE INSIDE THE SCANNER. FURTHERMORE, THERE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED FC BETWEEN THIS AREA AND BILATERAL ANTERIOR INSULA/PUTAMEN DURING A MEDITATION-STATE SPECIFICALLY, WHILE DECREASED CONNECTIVITY WITH THE RIGHT THALAMUS/PARAHIPPOCAMPAL GYRUS WAS PRESENT DURING THE MEDITATION-STATE AND THE RESTING-STATE. THE CAPACITY OF LONG-TERM MEDITATORS TO ESTABLISH A DURABLE STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE INSIDE AN MRI SCANNER WAS ASSOCIATED WITH LARGER GRAY MATTER VOLUME IN A MEDIAL FRONTAL REGION THAT IS CRUCIAL FOR TOP-DOWN COGNITIVE, EMOTION AND ATTENTION CONTROL. THIS IS FURTHERMORE CORROBORATED BY INCREASED FC OF THIS REGION DURING THE MEDITATION-STATE WITH BILATERAL ANTERIOR INSULA/PUTAMEN, WHICH ARE IMPORTANT FOR INTEROCEPTION, EMOTION, AND ATTENTION REGULATION. THE FINDINGS HENCE SUGGEST THAT THE DEPTH OF MENTAL SILENCE IS ASSOCIATED WITH MEDIAL FRONTO-INSULAR-STRIATAL NETWORKS THAT ARE CRUCIAL FOR TOP-DOWN ATTENTION AND EMOTIONAL CONTROL. 2018 4 2289 11 THE YOGA OF RAG GTPASES: DYNAMIC STRUCTURAL POSES CONFER AMINO ACID SENSING BY MTORC1. HETERODIMERIC RAG GTPASES PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN RELAYING FLUCTUATING LEVELS OF CELLULAR AMINO ACIDS TO THE SENSOR MECHANISTIC TARGET OF RAPAMYCIN COMPLEX 1. IMPORTANT MECHANISTIC QUESTIONS REMAIN UNRESOLVED, HOWEVER, REGARDING HOW GUANINE NUCLEOTIDE BINDING ENABLES RAG GTPASES TO TRANSITION DYNAMICALLY BETWEEN DISTINCT YOGA-LIKE STRUCTURAL POSES THAT CONTROL ACTIVATION STATE. EGRI AND SHEN IDENTIFIED A CRITICAL INTERDOMAIN HYDROGEN BOND WITHIN RAGA AND RAGC THAT STABILIZES THEIR GDP-BOUND STATES. THEY DEMONSTRATE THAT THIS LONG-DISTANCE INTERACTION CONTROLS RAG STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION TO CONFER APPROPRIATE AMINO ACID SENSING BY MECHANISTIC TARGET OF RAPAMYCIN COMPLEX 1. 2021 5 1545 59 LARGER WHOLE BRAIN GREY MATTER ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION: A DETAILED AREA BY AREA COMPARISON. OBJECTIVES: OUR PREVIOUS STUDY SHOWED THAT LONG-TERM PRACTITIONERS OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION (SYM) HAD AROUND 7% LARGER GREY MATTER VOLUME (GMV) IN THE WHOLE BRAIN COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS; HOWEVER, WHEN TESTING INDIVIDUAL REGIONS, ONLY 5 SMALL BRAIN AREAS WERE STATISTICALLY DIFFERENT BETWEEN GROUPS. UNDER THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THOSE RESULTS WERE STATISTICALLY CONSERVATIVE, WITH THE SAME DATASET, WE INVESTIGATED IN MORE DETAIL THE REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN GMV ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRACTICE OF SYM, WITH A DIFFERENT STATISTICAL APPROACH. DESIGN: TWENTY-THREE EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONERS OF SYM AND 23 HEALTHY NON-MEDITATORS MATCHED ON AGE, SEX AND EDUCATION LEVEL, WERE SCANNED USING STRUCTURAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI). THEIR GMV WERE EXTRACTED AND COMPARED USING VOXEL-BASED MORPHOMETRY (VBM). USING A NOVEL AD-HOC GENERAL LINEAR MODEL, STATISTICAL COMPARISONS WERE MADE TO OBSERVE IF THE GMV DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEDITATORS AND CONTROLS WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. RESULTS: IN THE 16 LOBE AREA SUBDIVISIONS, GMV WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT IN 4 OUT OF 16 AREAS: IN RIGHT HEMISPHERIC TEMPORAL AND FRONTAL LOBES, LEFT FRONTAL LOBE AND BRAINSTEM. IN THE 116 AAL AREA SUBDIVISIONS, GMV DIFFERENCE WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IN 11 AREAS. THE GMV DIFFERENCES WERE STATISTICALLY MORE SIGNIFICANT IN RIGHT HEMISPHERIC BRAIN AREAS. CONCLUSIONS: THE STUDY SHOWS THAT LONG-TERM PRACTICE OF SYM IS ASSOCIATED WITH LARGER GMV OVERALL, AND WITH SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES MAINLY IN TEMPORAL AND FRONTAL AREAS OF THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE AND THE BRAINSTEM. THESE NEUROPLASTIC CHANGES MAY REFLECT EMOTIONAL AND ATTENTIONAL CONTROL MECHANISMS DEVELOPED WITH SYM. ON THE OTHER HAND, OUR STATISTICAL AD-HOC METHOD SHOWS THAT THERE WERE MORE BRAIN AREAS WITH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE COMPARED TO THE TRADITIONAL METHODOLOGY WHICH WE THINK IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO CONSERVATIVE TYPE II ERRORS. 2020 6 1656 14 MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES RELATED TO YOGA: IMAGING OBSERVATIONS. OBJECTIVE: THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO DESCRIBE THE IMAGING APPEARANCES OF MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES RELATED TO YOGA. WE PERFORMED AN AUTOMATED SEARCH IN THE DATABASE OF A LARGE TERTIARY CARE CENTER AND CONDUCTED A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE IMAGING FINDINGS IN 38 PATIENTS OVER A 9-YEAR PERIOD. CONCLUSION: THE MOST FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTERED MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES WERE TENDINOUS LESIONS, INCLUDING TEARS OF THE SUPRASPINATUS, ACHILLES, AND PERONEUS BREVIS TENDONS AND FIBROCARTILAGINOUS TEARS INVOLVING THE MEDIAL MENISCUS, ACETABULAR LABRUM, GLENOID LABRUM, AND LUMBAR DISK WITH EXTRUSION. 2012 7 1641 36 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 8 1955 9 SELF - REALIZATION THROUGH THROUGH VEDANTA AND YOGA. THE SEEKER OF ULTIMATE TRUTH NEEDS THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY, THE FIVE KOSHAS OR SHEATHS BEYOND WHICH THE ATMAN, THE SELF REMAINS. THROUGH VEDANTA AND YOGA ONE CAN TRANSCEND THESE LAYERS IN A SYSTEMATIC MANNER TO ATTAIN SELF REALIZATION - ULTIMATE REALITY. 1983 9 2912 28 [RECENT MEDICAL RESEARCH ON YOGA AND STATES OF CONCENTRATION]. TRADITIONAL ORIENTAL THINKING ATTRACTS THE GROWING SCIENTIFIC INTEREST OF OCCIDENTAL PRACTITIONERS. DR. PIERRE ETEVENON, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NEURO-PSYCHO-PHARMACOLOGY AT THE FRENCH INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH (INSERM), HELD SEVERAL CONVERSATIONS AND SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGES WITH THE AUTHOR, AND KINDLY PROVIDED COPIES OF SOME OF HIS WORKS. THEY ARE AT THE BASIS OF THE PRESENT PAPER. M. A. DESCAMPS (PARIS) FOUND THAT ASANAS--YOGA POSTURES-- ARE GENERATORS OF DYNAMIC ACTION WHEN THERE IS AN EXTENSION OF THE SPINAL COLUMN, WHILST THEY LEAD TO QUIET STATES WHEN THERE IS A FLEXION OF IT. CLAEYS AND GONES (BELGIUM) PROVED THAT OVERALL GLOBAL RELAXATION, AS WELL AS DIFFERENTIAL RELAXATION WERE FAR MORE EFFECTIVE AND DEEP WHEN OBTAINED BY YOGIS THAN THOSE ATTEMPTED BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MAJORING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION. LONSDORFER AND NUSSBAUM (FRANCE) STUDIED SEVERAL PARAMETERS CONCERNING HATHA-YOGA AND CONCLUDED THAT IT PROVIDES A REGULAR FUNCTIONING OF THE MAIN BODILY FUNCTIONS FOSTERING THUS A PSYCHO-PHYSICAL BALANCE. WALLACE AND BENSON (U.S.A.) PROVED THAT TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION INCREASES AEROBIC METABOLISM, COUNTERACTING ANAEROBIC METABOLISM WHICH IS RELATED TO MENTAL DISTRESS. ETEVENON (PARIS) INVESTIGATED NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF YOGA IN CONNECTION TO ANCIENT INDIAN CONCEPTS (UPANISHADS) ON SLEEPING, MEDITATION AND DEGREE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. DR. ETEVENON HAS STUDIED THE PHYLOGENETIC EVOLUTION OF WAKING-SLEEPING CYCLES, FOCUSING ON PHYLOGENETIC AND ONTONGENETIC APPEARANCES OF REM CYCLES (ACTIVATED SLEEP). A CORRELATION HAS BEEN MADE WITH EEG STUDIES DURING STATES OF CONCENTRATION (YOGA, TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION, ZEN). THESE STATES HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE SPECIFIC BRAIN ACTIVITIES, AND DIFFERENT FROM DEEP SLEEP, IN SPITE OF CERTAIN SIMILARITIES IN THE EEG. SEVERAL HYPOTHESIS ARE SET FORTH TO EXPLAIN BRAIN ACTIVITIES UNDERLYING SITES OF CONCENTRATION. THE POSSIBILITIES OF DEVELOPING A CONSCIOUS MASTERING OF DREAMS ARE ALSO UNDER RESEARCH, AND SPECIAL ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE WORKS OF SAINT DENYS (1867), AND HINDU TRADITION. THIS PAPER DISCUSSES ALSO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, THERAPEUTIC AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF RECENT DISCOVERIES IN THE FIELD. 1975 10 409 17 BLENDING MARTIAL ARTS AND YOGA FOR HEALTH: FROM THE LAST SAMURAI TO THE FIRST ODAKA YOGA WARRIOR. THIS PAPER INTRODUCES THE CASE STUDY OF ODAKA YOGA, AN INNOVATIVE STYLE OF POSTURAL YOGA BLENDED WITH MARTIAL ARTS ELEMENTS WHICH EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTITIONERS' HEALTH AND PROCESSES OF SELF-TRANSFORMATION AS PIVOTAL TO THE SCHOOL'S ETHOS. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE PAPER EXPLORES HOW ODAKA YOGA'S PHILOSOPHICAL BACKDROPS AND PRACTICAL REPERTOIRE, COMPOSED BY A MIXTURE OF "EXOTIC" RESOURCES SUCH AS BUSHIDO, ZEN, YOGA, AND A CONSTANT REFERENCE TO THE OCEAN WAVES AND BIOMECHANICS, CONSTITUTE A VERY SPECIFIC VISION OF HEALTH AT THE INTERSECTION OF WESTERN SCIENCE AND ESOTERIC KNOWLEDGE. THEORETICALLY, THE PAPER BORROWS FROM JENNINGS' THEORY OF MARTIAL CREATION AND ENRICHES IT WITH SOME OF THE CENTRAL ANALYTICAL TOOLS PROPOSED BY THEORISTS SUCH AS BOURDIEU AND FOUCAULT. METHODOLOGICALLY, IT RELIES ON A MULTIMODAL APPROACH INCLUDING DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SCHOOL'S PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS, INTERVIEWS WITH THE FOUNDERS AND OTHER KEY TEACHERS, AND OBSERVANT PARTICIPATION OF PRACTITIONERS' APPRENTICESHIP PROCESSES. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE BIRTH OF ODAKA YOGA AS OCCURRING AT THE INTERSECTION OF ASIAN MARTIAL ARTS AND YOGA, AS WELL AS THE FOUNDERS' BIOGRAPHICAL TRAJECTORIES FROM THE WORLD OF COMPETITIVE MARTIAL ARTS AND FITNESS, TO YOGA; IT THEN TURNS TO AN EXAMINATION OF ODAKA YOGA'S CONCEPTION OF HEALTH AS A MIXTURE OF THE WESTERN BIOMEDICAL MODEL AND THE SUBTLE BODY MODEL OF ASIAN TRADITIONS SUCH AS YOGA AND MARTIAL ARTS. IT ARGUES THAT THE CONCEPTION OF HEALTH PROMOTED BY THIS SCHOOL GIVES RISE TO THE ODAKA YOGA WARRIOR, THE IDEAL-TYPICAL PRACTITIONER WHOSE BODY IS SIMULTANEOUSLY EXPOSED TO THE MEDICAL GAZE AND ITS IMPERATIVES OF CONTROL, KNOWLEDGE, AND MANIPULATION; WHILE IT ALSO DEIFIES IT, AS IT IS ANIMATED BY THE ELUSIVE FLOWS OF ENERGY (QI OR PRANA) THAT PROLONGED PRACTICE AIMS TO MASTER. THE PAPER CONCLUDES WITH A REFLECTION ON HYBRID CONCEPTIONS OF HEALTH AND THE UBIQUITOUS ROLE OF HEALTH DISCOURSES AND NARRATIVES ACROSS SOCIOCULTURAL DOMAINS. 2020 11 1614 15 MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN YOGA - VEDANTA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH WESTERN PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS. STUDY OF MIND AND CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH ESTABLISHED SCIENTIFIC METHODS IS OFTEN DIFFICULT DUE TO THE OBSERVED-OBSERVER DICHOTOMY. CARTESIAN APPROACH OF DUALISM CONSIDERING THE MIND AND MATTER AS TWO DIVERSE AND UNCONNECTED ENTITIES HAS BEEN QUESTIONED BY ORIENTAL SCHOOLS OF YOGA AND VEDANTA AS WELL AS THE RECENT QUANTUM THEORIES OF MODERN PHYSICS. FREUDIAN AND NEO-FREUDIAN SCHOOLS BASED ON THE CARTESIAN MODEL HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED BY THE HUMANISTIC SCHOOLS WHICH COME MUCH CLOSER TO THE VEDANTIC APPROACH OF UNITARINESS. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE TWO APPROACHES IS DISCUSSED. 2013 12 2694 13 YOGA INDUCED ACUTE ULNAR NERVE COMPRESSION BY A GANGLION CYST IN GUYON'S CANAL. ACUTE ULNAR NEUROPATHY AT THE WRIST CAN BE DIFFICULT TO DIAGNOSE, AS IT IS AN UNCOMMON NEUROPATHY WITH VARIABLE CLINICAL PRESENTATIONS AND NUMEROUS ETIOLOGIES. WE PRESENT A CASE OF ACUTE ULNAR NEUROPATHY OF THE DEEP MOTOR BRANCH CAUSED BY A GANGLION CYST IN GUYON'S CANAL. INTERESTINGLY, THIS CASE OF ACUTE LOSS OF MOTOR FUNCTION OCCURRED AFTER THE PATIENT PARTICIPATED IN YOGA (SPECIFICALLY THE DOWNWARD DOG POSITION), AND RESOLVED SPONTANEOUSLY OVER TIME AFTER STOPPING YOGA, WITHOUT SURGICAL EXCISION OF THE GANGLION, SUGGESTING EXACERBATION OR PROTRUSION OF AN OCCULT GANGLION CYST DUE TO INCREASED ACTIVITY AND COMPRESSION OF THE HYPOTHENAR EMINENCE. 2013 13 84 12 A METAPHYSICS OF LIVING SYSTEMS: THE YOGA-VASISTHA VIEW. THE YOGA-VASISTHA IS A RICH AND COMPLEX PHILOSOPHICAL 'POEM' (KAVYA) OF EPIC LENGTH, WRITTEN IN CLASSICAL SANSKRIT BY AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR SOME TIME BETWEEN THE 6TH AND 13TH CENTURIES CE, PROBABLY AROUND THE 7TH CENTURY. IT IS NOTABLE FOR ITS ELOQUENT PRAISE OF SELF-EFFORT AND ENQUIRY OR ANALYSIS, AND FOR ITS SEVERE DISPARAGEMENT OF THE NOTION OF FATE. IT VIEWS CONSCIOUSNESS AS (A) CHARACTERIZING ALL LIVING FORMS (INCLUDING PLANT AND INSECT LIFE), (B) BEING ATOMIC, AND (C) ANALOGOUS TO THE EMERGENCE OF WAVES AND WHIRLPOOLS IN WATER; IT THEREFORE GRAPPLES WITH WHAT TODAY WOULD BE CALLED THE PROBLEMS OF REDUCTIONISM AND EMERGENTISM. NOTIONS OF THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, AND OF A DYNAMIC PROCESS OF CREATION AND LOSS, ARE EXPRESSED WITH CHARACTERISTIC FORCE. THE PAPER PRESENTS A SELECTION OF VERSES (IN AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION) SETTING FORTH THESE VIEWS, AND A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THEIR IMPLICATIONS. 2002 14 1775 13 PRACTICE OF YOGA MAY CAUSE DAMAGE OF BOTH SCIATIC NERVES: A CASE REPORT. SCIATIC NERVE TRAUMATIC DAMAGE VERY RARELY OCCURS BILATERALLY. WE DESCRIBE THE CASE OF A 67-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WHO REPORTED A BILATERAL TRAUMATIC LESION OF THE SCIATIC NERVE DURING PRACTICE OF YOGA. NERVE CONDUCTION STUDIES SHOWED A BILATERAL SCIATIC NERVE NEUROPATHY, MOSTLY AFFECTING THE PERONEAL COMPONENT. LUMBAR PLEXUS MRI DOCUMENTED REGULAR ANATOMICAL FEATURES OF THE MAIN PRINCIPAL NERVE ROOTS WITH BILATERAL T2 SIGNAL ALTERATION OF ROOTS L4, L5 AND S1 THAT EXTENDED INTO THE SCIATIC NERVES SHOWING BOTH INCREASE IN SIZE, PROBABLY RELATED TO CHRONIC INJURY OF NERVES, AND AN ALTERATION IN DIFFUSION SIGNAL THAT SUGGESTED A RECENT ACUTE OVERLAPPED PROCESS. 2013 15 1674 15 NURTURING THE FEMALE BODY: NOTIONS OF WELLBEING IN WOMB YOGA. ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES WHICH AIM TO ENHANCE WOMEN'S WELLBEING HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF CONTRIBUTING TO HEALTHIST AND POSTFEMINIST AGENDAS WHICH REST UPON A NEOLIBERAL LOGIC. I CRITICALLY ENGAGE WITH THIS ISSUE HERE THROUGH AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF WOMB YOGA, A WOMEN'S ALTERNATIVE THERAPY DEVELOPED IN THE UK. I ARGUE THAT WHILE BEING COMMERCIAL AND EMPHASIZING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, WOMB YOGA LARGELY WORKS AGAINST THE CURRENT NEOLIBERAL OPTIMIZATION IDEAL. WOMB YOGA PRACTITIONERS DISMISS GOAL-ORIENTED SELF-MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE, AND AVOID A SIMPLE REPRODUCTION OF GENDER STEREOTYPES BY DEFLECTING CARE AWAY FROM OTHER-DIRECTEDNESS AND OPENING THE INTERPRETATION OF FEMININITY TO THE IMAGINATIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL REALMS. 2021 16 1634 21 MODELING THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON THE PROGRESSION OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE IN A DISH. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD) ACCOUNTS FOR 80% OF ALL DEMENTIA CASES, MAKING IT THE MOST COMMON FORM OF DEMENTIA. AGING SERVES AS THE MAIN RISK FACTOR FOR AD, BUT EARLY ONSET AD CAN ALSO OCCUR IN INDIVIDUALS YOUNGER THAN 65 YEARS. AD RESULTS FROM PROGRESSIVE NEURODEGENERATION LEADING TO DYSFUNCTIONAL SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION IN THE BRAIN. THE CASCADE HYPOTHESIS OF AD STATES THAT AMYLOID PRECURSOR PROTEIN (APP) METABOLISM BECOMES IMPAIRED EITHER BY MUTATION OR AN INTERLEUKIN-MEDIATED STRESS RESPONSE TO INJURY, RESULTING IN THE SPLICING OF HARMFUL OLIGOMERIC FORMS OF AMYLOID BETA (ABETA). THESE OLIGOMERS DISRUPT EXTRACELLULAR RECEPTOR BINDING, INTRACELLULAR FUNCTION, AND CELLULAR MEMBRANE INTEGRITY. YOGA AND MEDITATIVE PRACTICES SLOW THE PROGRESSION OF THE COGNITIVE DECLINE ASSOCIATED WITH AD. HOWEVER, THE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THIS THERAPEUTIC EFFECT REMAIN ELUSIVE. HERE, WE INVESTIGATED THE ABILITY OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS RELEASED DURING YOGA AND MEDITATIVE PRACTICES TO RESCUE NEURONS FROM SYNAPTIC DYSFUNCTION IN AN IN VITRO ALZHEIMER'S MODEL CREATED BY CULTURING BASAL FOREBRAIN CHOLINERGIC NEURONS WITH PHYSIOLOGICALLY RELEVANT LEVELS OF THE I-42 ISOFORM OF OLIGOMERIC ABETA (OALPHABETAI-42). WE FOUND THAT THE NEUROTRANSMITTERS DOPAMINE AND HISTAMINE PRODUCE A COOPERATIVE ACTION WITH SEROTONIN TO REVERSE THE LOSS OF CHOLINE ACETYLTRANSFERASE (CHAT) BY OALPHABETAI-42. THE LOSS OF CHAT, THE ENZYME RESPONSIBLE FOR PROCESSING THE CHOLINERGIC NEUROTRANSMITTER ACETYLCHOLINE, CONTRIBUTES TO THE SYNAPTIC DYSFUNCTION EXPERIENCED DURING AD. THESE NEUROTRANSMITTERS INHIBIT NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHESIS CAUSED BY OALPHABETAI-42, PREVENTING OXIDATIVE AND NITROSATIVE STRESS. SEROTONIN ACTIVATES AN ALTERNATE CLEAVAGE OF APP TO PRODUCE A FRAGMENT WITH KNOWN NEUROTROPHIC EFFECTS, GIVING IT THE UNIQUE ABILITY TO INHIBIT THE OALPHABETAI-42 PRODUCTION CYCLE. WE HYPOTHESIZE HERE THAT THESE CONCERTED ACTIONS LEAD TO THE PROTECTION OF CHOLINERGIC SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION IN AD. 2018 17 1416 13 IMPORTANCE OF MANAS TATTVA: A SEARCHLIGHT IN YOGA DARSHANA. SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL 'MANAS' HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF CURIOSITY FOR SCHOLARS, SCIENTISTS AND PHILOSOPHERS. THE REASON BEHIND THIS CURIOSITY IS ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANKIND. HUMAN BEING IS SUPERIOR TO OTHER CREATURES IN THE SERIES OF DEVELOPMENT. THIS SUPREMACY OF MAN REMAINS IN HIS QUALITY TO WORK AFTER THINKING, WHICH IS THE FUNCTION OF 'MANAS'. NO OTHER ANIMAL IS CAPABLE TO THINK LOGICALLY. THIS IS THE ONLY REASON WHICH LEADS THE MANKIND TO THE CREST OF DEVELOPMENT IN EVERY ASPECT. TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONCEPT OF MANAS IN YOGA DARSHANA, INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM YOGA LITERATURES AND AYURVEDIC SAMHITAS. IN INDIAN CULTURE MIND HAS BEEN DESCRIBED FROM VARIOUS ANGLES. VEDIC, PHILOSOPHICAL AND AYURVEDIC LITERATURES HAVE A VAST AND EXCLUSIVE DESCRIPTION OF MANAS. PHILOSOPHERS EITHER ASTIKA OR NASTIKA HAVE DESCRIBED MANAS SIDDHANTA VIVIDLY. THOUGH MANY KINDS OF DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS ARE THERE, YOGA DARSHANA ACCEPT THE IMPORTANCE OF MIND IN THE PROCESS OF PERCEPTION AND EVEN FOR THE BIRTH OF ANY INDIVIDUAL. 2014 18 407 15 BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PIEZOELECTRICITY IN RELATION TO ACUPUNCTURE, HATHA YOGA, OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE AND ACTION OF AIR IONS. PIEZOELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES SUCH AS PROTEINS, NUCLEIC ACIDS AND MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES ARE REVIEWED IN THIS PAPER. IT IS INDICATED THAT THE STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS OF THE HUMAN BODY COMPOSED OF THESE PIEZOELECTRIC SUBSTANCES ARE CAPABLE OF TRANSDUCING A MECHANICAL ENERGY INTO AN ELECTRIC CURRENT. SUCH A TRANSDUCTION MAY BE BROUGHT ABOUT BY MOVEMENTS OF AN ACUPUNCTURE NEEDLE, OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATIONS; HATHA YOGA POSTURES OR ACTION OF NEGATIVELY CHARGED AIR IRONS. IT IS POSTULATED THAT ELECTRIC CURRENT INDUCED BY STIMULATION OF THE SPECIFIC SITES ON THE SURFACE OF HUMAN BODY FLOWS TOWARDS THE INTERNAL ORGANS ALONG THE SEMICONDUCTIVE CHANNELS OF BIOLOGIC MACROMOLECULES. ELECTRIC CURRENT INDUCED EITHER BY THE PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCTION OR DIRECTLY APPLIED FROM AN EXTERNAL SOURCE MAY IN TURN STIMULATE INDIVIDUAL CELLS IN THE TARGET ORGAN. INVOLVEMENT OF ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA IN REGULATORY MECHANISMS ON CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LEVELS IS DISCUSSED. 1977 19 2714 22 YOGA LESSONS FOR CONSCIOUSNESS RESEARCH: A PARALIMBIC NETWORK BALANCING BRAIN RESOURCE ALLOCATION. CONSCIOUSNESS HAS BEEN PROPOSED TO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN SHAPING FLEXIBLE LEARNING AND AS SUCH IS THOUGHT TO CONFER AN EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE. ATTENTION AND AWARENESS ARE THE PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT UNDERLYING PROCESSES, YET THEIR PRECISE RELATIONSHIP IS PRESENTLY UNCLEAR. BOTH OF THESE PROCESSES MUST, HOWEVER, SERVE THE EVOLUTIONARY IMPERATIVES OF SURVIVAL AND PROCREATION. THEY ARE THUS INTIMATELY BOUND BY REWARD AND EMOTION TO HELP TO PRIORITIZE EFFICIENT BRAIN RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN ORDER TO PREDICT AND OPTIMIZE BEHAVIOR. HERE WE SHOW HOW THIS PROCESS IS SERVED BY A PARALIMBIC NETWORK CONSISTING PRIMARILY OF REGIONS LOCATED ON THE MIDLINE OF THE HUMAN BRAIN. USING MANY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES, EXPERIMENTS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THIS NETWORK IS EFFECTIVE AND SPECIFIC FOR SELF-AWARENESS AND CONTRIBUTES TO THE SENSE OF UNITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS BY ACTING AS A COMMON NEURAL PATH FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCES. INTERESTINGLY, HEMODYNAMIC ACTIVITY IN THE NETWORK DECREASES WITH FOCUSING ON EXTERNAL STIMULI, WHICH HAS LED TO THE IDEA OF A DEFAULT MODE NETWORK. THIS NETWORK IS ONE OF MANY NETWORKS THAT WAX AND VANE AS RESOURCES ARE ALLOCATED TO ACCOMMODATE THE DIFFERENT CYCLICAL NEEDS OF THE ORGANISM PRIMARILY RELATED TO THE FUNDAMENTAL PLEASURES AFFORDED BY EVOLUTION: FOOD, SEX, AND CONSPECIFICS. HERE WE HYPOTHESIZE, HOWEVER, THAT THE PARALIMBIC NETWORK SERVES A CRUCIAL ROLE IN BALANCING AND REGULATING BRAIN RESOURCE ALLOCATION, AND DISCUSS HOW IT CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS A LINK BETWEEN CURRENT THEORIES OF SO-CALLED "DEFAULT MODE," "RESTING STATE NETWORKS," AND "GLOBAL WORKSPACE." WE SHOW HOW MAJOR DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS OF SELF-AWARENESS AND SELF-CONTROL CAN ARISE FROM PROBLEMS IN THE PARALIMBIC NETWORK AS DEMONSTRATED HERE BY THE EXAMPLE OF ASPERGER SYNDROME. WE CONCLUDE THAT ATTENTION, AWARENESS, AND EMOTION ARE INTEGRATED BY A PARALIMBIC NETWORK THAT HELPS TO EFFICIENTLY ALLOCATE BRAIN RESOURCES TO OPTIMIZE BEHAVIOR AND HELP SURVIVAL. 2011 20 2909 15 [PHYSIOPHILOSOPHICAL FUNDAMENTALS AND GENESIS OF TSIGUN, INDIAN, AND TIBETAN YOGA. PARAMOUNT EMPIRICAL EFFICACY]. THIS ARTICLE IS DEVOTED TO THE ANALYSIS OF PHYSIOPHILOSOPHICAL FUNDAMENTALS AND GENESIS OF TSIGUN, INDIAN, AND TIBETAN YOGA BASED ON THE OVERVIEW OF THE RELEVANT LITERATURE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE METHODOLOGY OF THESE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DISCIPLINES AND THEIR THERAPEUTIC AND HEALTH-GIVING EFFICACY. BASED ON THE COMBINATION OF PHYSIOPHILOSOPHICAL CATEGORIES AND MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE CONCEPT OF THE FIVE PRIMARY ELEMENTS, THE AUTHORS ILLUSTRATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEMIC APPROACH BY WHICH ANCIENT PHYSICIANS RELATED MAN TO NATURE IN ORDER TO DERIVE THE ADAPTATION PRINCIPLE REALIZED THROUGH HUMAN ACTIVITIES. TRADITIONAL AND MODERN ASPECTS OF THESE ACTIVITIES ARE CONSIDERED. IN THE TRADITIONAL CONTEXT, THE PERFORMANCE OF EXERCISES AS ASSIGNED BY TSIGUN, INDIAN, AND TIBETAN YOGA IS CONSIDERED AS THE PURPOSEFUL REALIZATION OF THE ENERGY OF CONSCIENCE FOR HEALTH IMPROVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AND IN THE MODERN CONTEXT AS THE REALIZATION OF A NOVEL FORM OF PSYCHIC CREATIVE CAPACITY TO THE SAME EFFECT BASED ON FRUITFUL BRAINWORK. 2011