1 1728 89 PERFORMANCE ON PSYCHOMOTOR TASKS FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. PREVIOUSLY CYCLIC MEDITATION AND SUPINE REST HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN A LETTER CANCELLATION TASK REQUIRING ATTENTION, VISUAL SCANNING, AND MOTOR SPEED. THE PRESENT STUDY ASSESSED THE PERFORMANCE IN 57 VOLUNTEERS (ALL MALE, M AGE = 26.5 YR., SD = 4.6) IN THREE TASKS, VIZ., A DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK (DLST), A LETTER-COPYING TASK, AND A CIRCLE-DOTTING TASK. THE DLST ASSESSED ATTENTION AND SPEED OF INFORMATION PROCESSING, WHILE THE OTHER 2 TESTS ASSESSED MOTOR SPEED. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THREE TYPES OF SESSIONS: CYCLIC MEDITATION, SUPINE REST, AND CONTROL (NO INTERVENTION). DLST SCORES AND SCORES FOR LETTER-COPYING AND CIRCLE-DOTTING TASKS IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION; THE SAME SCORES ALSO IMPROVED AFTER SUPINE REST. THERE WAS NO CHANGE AFTER THE NO-INTERVENTION/CONTROL SESSION. FROM THE RESULTS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO CONCLUDE WHETHER IMPROVED DLST SCORES AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION WERE DUE TO BETTER INFORMATION PROCESSING SPEED OR IMPROVED MOTOR SPEED. 2009 2 1357 40 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE IN A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK. THE PERFORMANCE IN A SIX-LETTER CANCELLATION TASK WAS ASSESSED WITH 69 MALE VOLUNTEERS, AGES 18 TO 48 YEARS, IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES AND A CONTROL SESSION OF EQUAL DURATION. THE TECHNIQUES WERE CYCLIC MEDITATION AND SUPINE REST. CYCLIC MEDITATION CONSISTS OF ALTERNATING CYCLES OF YOGA POSTURES AND SUPINE REST. AFTER BOTH PRACTICES, THE NET SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER, ALTHOUGH THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE WAS MORE AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION THAN AFTER SUPINE REST (24.9% VERSUS 13.6%). THERE WAS REDUCTION IN SCORES FOR WRONG CANCELLATIONS AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION AND NOT AFTER SUPINE REST. THE CONTROL GROUP SHOWED NO CHANGE. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT CYCLIC MEDITATION BRINGS ABOUT A GREATER IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE IN THIS TASK, WHICH REQUIRES SELECTIVE ATTENTION, CONCENTRATION, VISUAL SCANNING ABILITIES, AND A REPETITIVE MOTOR RESPONSE. 2007 3 1354 28 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THREE YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE ON A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK. THE EFFECTS OF THREE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES WERE EVALUATED ON PERFORMANCE ON A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK WHICH IS A LEFT-HEMISPHERE DOMINANT TASK. THE THREE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES (RIGHT, LEFT, AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING) WERE SELECTED BECAUSE UNILATERAL FORCED NOSTRIL BREATHING STIMULATES THE CONTRALATERAL HEMISPHERE. THERE WERE 20 MALE VOLUNTEERS WHOSE AGES RANGED FROM 20 TO 45 YEARS (M AGE=28.4 YR., SD=5.7). ALL SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER FOUR SESSIONS, I.E., RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, LEFT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, AND BREATH AWARENESS AS A CONTROL. THE LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED, I.E., THERE WERE FEWER ERRORS FOLLOWING RIGHT AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (WILCOXON PAIRED SIGNED-RANKS TEST). THE IMPROVED PERFORMANCE MAY BE RELATED TO THE ENHANCEMENT OF CONTRALATERAL HEMISPHERE FUNCTION FOUND WITH SELECTIVE NOSTRIL BREATHING. 2007 4 2510 30 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 5 2511 36 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 6 1726 40 PERFORMANCE IN A CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK FOLLOWING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING OR BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES HAVE IMPROVED SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES. THERE HAS BEEN NO ASSESSMENT ON THE EFFECT OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) ON WORKING MEMORY AND SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES USING THE CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK (CBTT). OBJECTIVES: THE PRESENT STUDY WAS PLANNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) COMPARED TO A CONTROL SESSION ON PERFORMANCE IN A CBTT. METHODS: FIFTEEN PARTICIPANTS OF BOTH SEXES WITH AGES BETWEEN 18 AND 24 YEARS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 20.0 +/- 1.6 YEARS; 10 FEMALES) WERE RECRUITED FOR THE TRIAL FROM A UNIVERSITY IN NORTH INDIA. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN THREE SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THE THREE SESSIONS WERE (I) HFYB, (II) BAW, AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS). THE DURATION OF THE INTERVENTION WAS 18 MIN. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. REPEATED-MEASURES-ANALYSES OF VARIANCE FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. RESULTS: BAW RESULTED IN AN IMPROVEMENT IN BACKWARD TOTAL SCORES (P < 0.05) AND THE BACKWARD CORSI SPAN (P < 0.05; ONE TAILED). CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT BAW IMPROVES PRIMARY WORKING MEMORY, SPATIAL MEMORY, AND SPATIAL ATTENTION. HFYB DID NOT CAUSE ANY CHANGE. 2019 7 1355 33 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON ATTENTION IN CHILDREN. AIMS: TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES, NAMELY, CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) AND SUPINE REST (SR), USING THE SIX LETTER CANCELLATION TASK (SLCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE SUBJECTS CONSISTED OF 208 SCHOOL STUDENTS, (132 BOYS, 76 GIRLS) IN THE AGE RANGE OF 13 - 16 YEARS. THE SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED ON SLCT BEFORE AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER BOTH YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. RESULTS: AFTER BOTH PRACTICES, THE TOTAL AND NET SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED, ALTHOUGH THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE WAS MORE AFTER CM THAN AFTER SR IN THE NET SCORES (14.5 VERSUS 11.31%). THE NET SCORE CHANGE IN THE CM SESSION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER THAN THE CHANGE IN THE SR, WHEREAS, THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE WRONG CANCELLATION SCORE. AFTER EITHER PRACTICE, THE TOTAL AND NET SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED, IRRESPECTIVE OF GENDER AND AGE. CONCLUSIONS: BOTH CM AND SR LED TO IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE, AS ASSESSED BY SLCT, BUT THE CHANGE CAUSED BY CM WAS LARGER THAN SR. 2010 8 463 38 CHANGES IN SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY AFTER ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS IN ONE SESSION EACH. BACKGROUND YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES LIKE HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK. A PUBMED SEARCH OF THE LITERATURE REVEALED THAT ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL BREATHING HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTION TASKS, BUT THE EFFECT ON TACTILE PERCEPTION HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED. HENCE, THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS ON SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY. MATERIAL AND METHODS FIFTY HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS AGES 20-50 YEARS (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 28.4+/-8.2 YEARS) WERE RECRUITED. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN 3 SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY. THE 3 SESSIONS WERE (I) ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB), (II) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS), AND THE SEQUENCE OF THE SESSIONS WAS RANDOMLY ALLOCATED. THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK AND STATE ANXIETY WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS. REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (RM-ANOVA) FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS FOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS, WHICH WERE BONFERRONI-ADJUSTED, WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS USING SPSS VERSION 18.0. RESULTS THE ERRORS SCORES IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION AFTER THE ANYB SESSION (P<0.001). A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION WAS FOUND IN THE LEVEL OF STATE ANXIETY AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P<0.05) AND QUIET SITTING SESSIONS (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS THE PRESENT RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ANYB: (I) IMPROVES PERFORMANCE IN A TASK WHICH REQUIRES PERCEPTUAL SENSITIVITY AND FOCUSED ATTENTION, BUT (II) DOES NOT REDUCE STATE ANXIETY FOLLOWING THIS TASK. 2019 9 1261 34 FINGER DEXTERITY AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION FOLLOWING TWO YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. BACKGROUND: PRACTICING YOGA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE MOTOR FUNCTIONS AND ATTENTION. THOUGH ATTENTION IS REQUIRED FOR FINE MOTOR AND DISCRIMINATION TASKS, THE EFFECT OF YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION HAS NOT BEEN ASSESSED. AIM: TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON FINGER DEXTERITY AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE PRESENT STUDY CONSISTED OF ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SUBJECTS WHO HAD ENROLLED FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT. THEY WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS, ONE GROUP PRACTICED HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING WHILE THE OTHER GROUP PRACTICED BREATH AWARENESS. HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (KAPALABHATI, BREATH RATE 1.0 HZ) AND BREATH AWARENESS ARE TWO YOGA PRACTICES WHICH IMPROVE ATTENTION. THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS (I) WERE ASSESSED ON THE PERFORMANCE ON THE O'CONNOR FINGER DEXTERITY TASK AND (II) (IN) A SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK. RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE FINGER DEXTERITY TASK BY 19% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 9% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P<0.001 IN BOTH CASES, REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA AND POST-HOC ANALYSES). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION (P<0.001) IN ERROR (41% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 21% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS) AS WELL AS TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TEST (15% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 15% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS; P<0.001) WAS ALSO OBSERVED. CONCLUSION: BOTH KAPALABAHATI AND BREATH AWARENESS CAN IMPROVE FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION, WITH A GREATER MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE AFTER KAPALABHATI. 2012 10 98 28 A NONRANDOMIZED NON-NAIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF KAPALABHATI AND BREATH AWARENESS ON EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS IN TRAINED YOGA PRACTITIONERS. OBJECTIVES: THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO COMPARE THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS RECORDED BEFORE AND AFTER (1) HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND (2) BREATH AWARENESS. DESIGN: THE P300 WAS RECORDED IN PARTICIPANTS OF TWO GROUPS BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION SESSION (1 MINUTE IN DURATION). SETTINGS AND LOCATION: ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE RECEIVING YOGA TRAINING IN A RESIDENTIAL YOGA CENTER, SWAMI VIVEKANADA YOGA RESEARCH FOUNDATION IN BANGALORE, INDIA. SUBJECTS: THIRTY (30) MALE PARTICIPANTS FORMED TWO GROUPS (N = 15 EACH) WITH COMPARABLE AGES (WITHIN AN AGE RANGE OF 20-35 YEARS) AND COMPARABLE EXPERIENCE OF THE TWO TECHNIQUES, THE MINIMUM EXPERIENCE BEING 3 MONTHS. INTERVENTIONS: THE TWO GROUPS WERE EACH GIVEN A SEPARATE INTERVENTION. ONE GROUP PRACTICED A HFYB AT A FREQUENCY OF APPROXIMATELY 2.0 HZ, CALLED KAPALABHATI. THE OTHER GROUP PRACTICED BREATH AWARENESS DURING WHICH PARTICIPANTS WERE AWARE OF THEIR BREATH WHILE SEATED, RELAXED. OUTCOME MEASURES: THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL, WHICH IS GENERATED WHEN ATTENDING TO AND DISCRIMINATING BETWEEN AUDITORY STIMULI, WAS RECORDED BEFORE AND AFTER BOTH TECHNIQUES. RESULTS: THE P300 PEAK LATENCY DECREASED AFTER HFYB AND THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE INCREASED AFTER BREATH AWARENESS. CONCLUSIONS: BOTH PRACTICES (HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS), THOUGH VERY DIFFERENT, INFLUENCED THE P300. HFYB REDUCED THE PEAK LATENCY, SUGGESTING A DECREASE IN TIME NEEDED FOR THIS TASK, WHICH REQUIRES SELECTIVE ATTENTION. BREATH AWARENESS INCREASED THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE, SUGGESTING AN INCREASE IN THE NEURAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR THE TASK. 2009 11 1599 35 MEDITATIVE STATES BASED ON YOGA TEXTS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON PERFORMANCE OF A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK. PERFORMANCE IN A SIX-LETTER CANCELLATION TASK WAS STUDIED IN 35 MALE EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS WITH EXPERIENCE RANGING FROM 6 TO 12 MONTHS. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS STUDIED IN FOUR SESSIONS, TWO MEDITATION AND TWO CONTROL SESSIONS. THE CONTROL SESSIONS WERE (I) CANCALATA OR NONTARGETED THINKING AND (II) EKAGRATA OR FOCUSING ON A SINGLE TOPIC, IN THIS CASE, MEDITATION. THE MEDITATION SESSIONS WERE (I) DHARANA OR FOCUSING ON THE SYMBOL "OM" AND (II) DHYANA OR AN EFFORTLESS SINGLE-THOUGHT (OF OM) STATE. EKAGRATA AND DHARANA DIFFER IN THAT THE FORMER INVOLVES FOCUSING WITH MULTIPLE THOUGHTS WHEREAS THE LATTER INVOLVES FOCUSING WITH A SINGLE THOUGHT, I.E., THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OM. THE NET SCORES ON THE SIX-LETTER CANCELLATION TASK WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AFTER A SESSION OF DHARANA AND LOWER AFTER THE CANCALATA SESSION, WHILE THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE AFTER EKAGRATA AND DHYANA SESSIONS. FOCUSING ON THE SYMBOL OM IN DHARANA MAY FAVORABLY INFLUENCE SELECTIVE ATTENTION, CONCENTRATION, VISUAL SCANNING ABILITIES, AND A REPETITIVE MOTOR RESPONSE COMPARED TO OTHER SESSIONS. 2009 12 1727 34 PERFORMANCE IN A SUBSTITUTION TASK AND STATE ANXIETY FOLLOWING YOGA IN ARMY RECRUITS. 140 MEN (M AGE = 30.3 YR., SD = 5.7) FROM THE INDIAN ARMY IN NORTH INDIA PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. THEY WERE NAIVE TO YOGA AND WERE ASSIGNED TO YOGA AND BREATH AWARENESS GROUPS RANDOMLY, WITH 70 IN EACH GROUP. 20 HEALTHY MALES OF COMPARABLE AGE (M AGE = 33.7 YR., SD = 7.0) FORMED A COMPARISON GROUP. THEIR PERFORMANCE IN A DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK AND A STATE ANXIETY SUBSCALE WAS ASSESSED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER TWO 45-MIN. SESSIONS. THE TWO GROUPS OF SOLDIERS PRACTICED EITHER YOGA OR BREATH AWARENESS. THE COMPARISON GROUP LISTENED TO MEDITATION MUSIC. DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION SCORES INCREASED IN BOTH GROUPS OF ARMY PERSONNEL AND IN THE COMPARISON GROUP. STATE ANXIETY DECREASED AFTER YOGA AND LISTENING TO MEDITATION MUSIC, BUT NOT AFTER BREATH AWARENESS. THIS SUGGESTS THAT EVEN IN ARMY PERSONNEL NAIVE TO YOGA, A YOGA-BASED INTERVENTION OR LISTENING TO MEDITATION MUSIC COULD REDUCE ANXIETY WHILE INCREASING PERFORMANCE ON AN ATTENTION TASK. 2012 13 1695 28 P300 FOLLOWING FOUR VOLUNTARILY REGULATED YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES AND BREATH AWARENESS. ATTENTION WAS INFLUENCED BY YOGA BREATHING IN PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED RESEARCH. EACH YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE UNIQUELY MODIFIES SPECIFIC BREATH CHARACTERISTICS. DIFFERENCES IN THE STUDY DESIGNS, ASSESSMENT METHODS AND INTERVENTIONS RESULTED IN DIFFICULTY IN COMPARING EFFECTS BETWEEN YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. THIS STUDY AIMED (I) TO COMPARE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES ON ATTENTION USING AN AUDITORY ODDBALL TASK AND (II) TO DETERMINE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENTION USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY. P300 EVENT RELATED POTENTIAL WAS RECORDED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH HEART RATE VARIABILITY BEFORE AND AFTER 18-MINUTE PERIODS EACH OF (I) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (WITH INCREASED BREATH FREQUENCY), (II) BELLOWS YOGA BREATHING (WITH INCREASED DEPTH OF RESPIRATION), (III) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (WITH ALTERNATE NOSTRIL PATENCY), (IV) BUMBLEBEE YOGA BREATHING (WITH PROLONGED EXHALE), (V) BREATH AWARENESS (WITH ATTENTION TO THE BREATH) AND (VI) QUIET SEATED REST AS CONTROL IN 38 YOGA EXPERIENCED MALES (AVERAGE AGE +/- SD; 24.08 +/- 4.01 YEARS). THE SIX SESSIONS WERE ON SEPARATE, RANDOMLY ALLOCATED DAYS. THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDE RECORDED AT PZ WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AFTER FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES (BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST-HOC TESTS, REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA). NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE NOTED IN HEART RATE VARIABILITY FOLLOWING YOGA BREATHING OR CONTROL SESSIONS. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT THE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES INCREASE THE ATTENTIONAL NEURAL RESOURCES ENGAGED FOR THIS AUDITORY ODDBALL TASK, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE CHARACTERISTIC OF BREATH UNIQUELY REGULATED IN THE FOUR YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. 2022 14 1986 31 SPATIAL AND VERBAL MEMORY TEST SCORES FOLLOWING YOGA AND FINE ARTS CAMPS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN. THE PERFORMANCE SCORES OF CHILDREN (AGED 11 TO 16 YEARS) IN VERBAL AND SPATIAL MEMORY TESTS WERE COMPARED FOR TWO GROUPS (N = 30, EACH), ONE ATTENDING A YOGA CAMP AND THE OTHER A FINE ARTS CAMP. BOTH GROUPS WERE ASSESSED ON THE MEMORY TASKS INITIALLY AND AFTER TEN DAYS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE INTERVENTIONS. A CONTROL GROUP (N = 30) WAS SIMILARLY STUDIED TO ASSESS THE TEST-RETEST EFFECT. AT THE FINAL ASSESSMENT THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE OF 43% IN SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES (MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS, TUKEY TEST), WHILE THE FINE ARTS AND CONTROL GROUPS SHOWED NO CHANGE. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA PRACTICE, INCLUDING PHYSICAL POSTURES, YOGA BREATHING, MEDITATION AND GUIDED RELAXATION IMPROVED DELAYED RECALL OF SPATIAL INFORMATION. 2004 15 868 37 EFFECT OF YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE OF DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK BY TEENAGERS. BACKGROUND/AIMS: MEMORY AND SELECTIVE ATTENTION ARE IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE. TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THESE SKILLS ARE NOT TAUGHT EITHER IN EDUCATION OR COMPANY TRAINING COURSES. ANY SYSTEM WHICH CAN SYSTEMATICALLY IMPROVE THESE SKILLS WILL BE OF VALUE IN SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, AND WORKPLACES. AIMS: TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS IN MEMORY AND SELECTIVE ATTENTION, AS MEASURED BY THE DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK (DLST), DUE TO PRACTICE OF CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM), A YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUE, AS COMPARED TO SUPINE REST (SR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: SUBJECTS CONSISTED OF 253 SCHOOL STUDENTS, 156 BOYS, 97 GIRLS, IN THE AGE RANGE 13-16 YEARS, WHO WERE ATTENDING A 10-DAY YOGA TRAINING COURSE DURING SUMMER VACATION. THE SELECTED SUBJECTS HAD ENGLISH AS THEIR MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOL AND THEY ACTED AS THEIR OWN CONTROLS. THEY WERE ALLOCATED TO TWO GROUPS, AND TESTED ON THE DLST, IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER 22.5 MINUTES PRACTICE OF CM ON ONE DAY, AND IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER AN EQUAL PERIOD OF SR ON THE OTHER DAY. THE FIRST GROUP PERFORMED CM ON DAY 9 AND SR ON DAY 10. FOR THE SECOND GROUP, THE ORDER WAS REVERSED. RESULTS: WITHIN EACH GROUP PRE-POST TEST DIFFERENCES WERE SIGNIFICANT FOR BOTH THE RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. THE MAGNITUDE OF NET SCORE IMPROVEMENT WAS GREATER AFTER SR (7.85%) COMPARED TO CM (3.95%). SIGNIFICANCE LEVELS WERE P < 0.4 X 10(-9)FOR SR AND P < 0.1 X 10(-3) FOR CM. THE NUMBER OF WRONG ATTEMPTS ALSO INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY ON BOTH INTERVENTIONS, EVEN AFTER REMOVING TWO OUTLIER DATA POINTS ON DAY 1 IN THE SR GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: BOTH CM AND SR LEAD TO IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE ON THE DLST. HOWEVER, THESE RELAXATION TECHNIQUES LEAD TO MORE WRONG CANCELLATION ERRORS. 2009 16 457 24 CHANGES IN P300 FOLLOWING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECT OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (NADISUDDHI PRANAYAMA) ON P300 AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS COMPARED TO A SESSION OF BREATH AWARENESS OF EQUAL DURATION, IN 20 MALE ADULT VOLUNTEERS WHO HAD AN EXPERIENCE OF YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES FOR MORE THAN THREE MONTHS. PEAK AMPLITUDES AND PEAK LATENCIES OF THE P300 WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE RESPECTIVE SESSIONS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDES AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ AND A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE PEAK LATENCY AT FZ ALONE FOLLOWING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. FOLLOWING BREATH AWARENESS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE OF P300 AT CZ. THIS SUGGESTS THAT ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING POSITIVELY INFLUENCES COGNITIVE PROCESSES WHICH ARE REQUIRED FOR SUSTAINED ATTENTION AT DIFFERENT SCALP SITES (FRONTAL, VERTEX AND PARIETAL), WHEREAS BREATH AWARENESS BRINGS ABOUT CHANGES AT THE VERTEX ALONE. 2013 17 1351 30 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF A YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE ON ATTENTION AND ANXIETY IN PRE-TEEN CHILDREN. PRE-TEEN CHILDREN FACE STRESSORS RELATED TO THEIR TRANSITION FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE, WITH A SIMULTANEOUS INCREASE IN ACADEMIC PRESSURE. THE PRESENT STUDY COMPARED THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF 18 MIN OF (I) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING WITH (II) YOGA-BASED BREATH AWARENESS AND (III) SITTING QUIETLY, ON (A) ATTENTION AND (B) ANXIETY, IN 61 PRE-TEEN CHILDREN (AGED BETWEEN 11 AND 12 YEARS; 25 GIRLS). ATTENTION WAS ASSESSED USING A SIX LETTER CANCELLATION TASK AND SPIELBERGER'S STATE TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY STAI-S WAS USED TO MEASURE ANXIETY BEFORE AND AFTER THE THREE PRACTICES, PRACTICED ON SEPARATE DAYS. REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, FOLLOWED BY BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST-HOC ANALYSES SHOWED AN INCREASE IN TOTAL ATTEMPTS AND NET SCORES AFTER HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (P < 0.05), WHILE WRONG ATTEMPTS INCREASED AFTER YOGA BASED BREATH AWARENESS (P < 0.05). ANXIETY DECREASED COMPARABLY AFTER ALL THREE INTERVENTIONS. THE 25 GIRLS IN THE GROUP HAD THE SAME TREND OF RESULTS AS THE WHOLE GROUP WITH RESPECT TO THE ATTENTION-BASED CANCELLATION TASK, WHILE BOYS SHOWED NO, HOW SINCE CHANGE. FOR BOTH GIRLS AND BOYS, ANXIETY DECREASED AFTER ALL THREE 18MIN INTERVENTIONS. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING COULD BE A SHORT, USEFUL SCHOOL BASED PRACTICE TO IMPROVE ATTENTION AND REDUCE ANXIETY. 2019 18 768 41 EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON MEMORY SCORES AND STATE ANXIETY. BACKGROUND: A YOGA PRACTICE INVOLVING CYCLES OF YOGA POSTURES AND SUPINE REST (CALLED CYCLIC MEDITATION) WAS PREVIOUSLY SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTION TASKS MORE THAN RELAXATION IN THE CORPSE POSTURE (SHAVASANA). THIS WAS ASCRIBED TO REDUCED ANXIETY, THOUGH THIS WAS NOT ASSESSED. METHODS: IN FIFTY-SEVEN MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP AVERAGE AGE +/- S.D., 26.6 +/- 4.5 YEARS) THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUES WAS STUDIED ON MEMORY AND STATE ANXIETY. ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER (I) CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) PRACTICED FOR 22:30 MINUTES ON ONE DAY AND (II) AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST (SR) OR THE CORPSE POSTURE (SHAVASANA), ON ANOTHER DAY. SECTIONS OF THE WECHSLER MEMORY SCALE (WMS) WERE USED TO ASSESS; (I) ATTENTION AND CONCENTRATION (DIGIT SPAN FORWARD AND BACKWARD), AND (II) ASSOCIATE LEARNING. STATE ANXIETY WAS ASSESSED USING SPIELBERGER'S STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY (STAI). RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE SCORES OF ALL SECTIONS OF THE WMS STUDIED AFTER BOTH CM AND SR, BUT, THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE WAS MORE AFTER CM COMPARED TO AFTER SR. THE STATE ANXIETY SCORES DECREASED AFTER BOTH CM AND SR, WITH A GREATER MAGNITUDE OF DECREASE AFTER CM. THERE WAS NO CORRELATION BETWEEN PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN MEMORY SCORES AND STATE ANXIETY FOR EITHER SESSION. CONCLUSION: A CYCLICAL COMBINATION OF YOGA POSTURES AND SUPINE REST IN CM IMPROVED MEMORY SCORES IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRACTICE AND DECREASED STATE ANXIETY MORE THAN REST IN A CLASSICAL YOGA RELAXATION POSTURE (SHAVASANA). 2009 19 454 36 CHANGES IN MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. PRACTICING MEDITATION WHILE FOCUSING ON A SOUND OR A SYMBOL INFLUENCED MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (MLAEPS). CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE COMBINING YOGA POSTURES WITH MEDITATION WHILE SUPINE, WHICH HAS INFLUENCED THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL. THE EFFECTS OF CM ON MLAEPS HAVE NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY STUDIED. THE MLAEPS WERE STUDIED BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF CM COMPARED TO AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST (SR) IN 47 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE 26.5 +/- 4.4 YEARS), RECORDED FROM THE VERTEX REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES. THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EACH SESSION. THE PA WAVE PEAK LATENCY AND NB WAVE PEAK LATENCY SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED FOLLOWING CM COMPARED TO BEFORE CM (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, POST-HOC ANALYSIS WITH LEAST SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE, P<0.05). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE OF THE NB WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE CM. POST SR THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK LATENCY OF THE NA WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE SR. IN CONCLUSION FOLLOWING CM THE LATENCIES OF NEURAL GENERATORS CORRESPONDING TO CORTICAL AREAS IS PROLONGED, WHEREAS FOLLOWING SR A SIMILAR CHANGE OCCURS AT MESENCEPHALIC-DIENCEPHALIC LEVELS. 2009 20 866 28 EFFECT OF YOGA PROGRAM ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS OF ADOLESCENTS DWELLING IN AN ORPHAN HOME: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY. EXECUTIVE FUNCTION (EF) IS IMPORTANT FOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT CHILDREN WITH POVERTY AND EARLY LIFE STRESS HAVE REDUCED EF. THE AIM OF THE STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PROGRAM ON THE EF OF ORPHAN ADOLESCENTS. SEVENTY TWO APPARENTLY HEALTHY ORPHAN ADOLESCENTS RANDOMIZED AND ALLOCATED INTO TWO GROUPS AS YOGA GROUP (N = 40; 14 GIRLS, AGE = 12.69 +/- 1.35 YRS) AND WAIT LIST CONTROL (WLC) GROUP (N = 32, 13 GIRLS, AGE = 12.58 +/- 1.52 YRS). YOGA GROUP UNDERWENT THREE MONTHS OF YOGA PROGRAM IN A SCHEDULE OF 90 MIN PER DAY, FOUR DAYS PER WEEK WHEREAS THE WLC GROUP FOLLOWED THE ROUTINE ACTIVITIES. THEY WERE ASSESSED BY STROOP COLOR-WORD TASK, DIGIT SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION TEST (DSST), DIGITS SPAN TEST AND TRIAL MAKING TEST (TMT) AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE PROGRAM. THE REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN TIME AND GROUP INTERACTIONS (P < 0.05) FOR ALL SUBTESTS OF STROOP COLOR-WORD TASK AND DIGIT SPAN TEST AND PART-A OF TMT WHEREAS THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE FOUND IN DSST AND TMT (PART-B). THE POST-HOC TEST WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT ALSO SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS (P < 0.001) WITHIN THE YOGA GROUP IN ALL TEST SCORES WHILE IN WRONG SCORE OF DSST DID NOT EXHIBIT SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION. WHEREAS THE WLC GROUP, SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT (P < 0.05) IN STROOP COLOR, COLOR-WORD SCORE, NET SCORE OF DSST, DIGIT SPAN FORWARD AND DIGIT SPAN TOTAL. THREE MONTHS YOGA PROGRAM WAS FOUND USEFUL FOR THE YOUNG ORPHAN ADOLESCENTS IN IMPROVING THEIR EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS. 2017