1 1766 89 POSTURAL CONTROL ADAPTATIONS IN YOGA SINGLE-LEG SUPPORT POSTURES: COMPARISON BETWEEN PRACTITIONERS AND NONPRACTITIONERS. THIS PAPER INVESTIGATES WHETHER A GROUP OF REGULAR YOGA PRACTITIONERS SHOWS POSTURAL CONTROL DIFFERENCES COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS WHILE PERFORMING SINGLE-LEG YOGA POSTURES. TEN YOGA PRACTITIONERS WERE COMPARED WITH A CONTROL GROUP OF 10 NONPRACTITIONERS PERFORMING TWO SINGLE-LEG SUPPORT YOGA POSTURES: VRKSASANA (TREE POSTURE) AND NATARAJASANA (DANCER POSTURE). RAMBLING AND TREMBLING DECOMPOSITION OF THE CENTER OF PRESSURE TRAJECTORIES WAS IMPLEMENTED USING A GENETIC ALGORITHM SPECTRAL OPTIMIZATION THAT AVOIDS USING HORIZONTAL FORCES AND WAS VALIDATED WITH BIPEDAL POSTURE DATA. ADDITIONALLY, THE CENTER OF MASS WAS ESTIMATED FROM BODY KINEMATICS USING OPENSIM AND COMPARED WITH THE RAMBLING OUTPUTS. DURING NATARAJASANA, NO POSTURAL CONTROL ADAPTATIONS WERE OBSERVED. FOR VRKSASANA, THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS SHOWED A LOWER CENTER OF PRESSURE ELLIPSE CONFIDENCE INTERVAL AREA, CENTER OF PRESSURE ANTEROPOSTERIOR SD, AND SMALLER RAMBLING SD IN THE MEDIOLATERAL DIRECTION, SUGGESTING POSSIBLE SUPRASPINAL FEED-FORWARD MOTOR ADAPTATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH YOGA TRAINING.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
2 2027 39 TAI CHI AND YOGA FOR IMPROVING BALANCE ON ONE LEG: A NEUROIMAGING AND BIOMECHANICS STUDY. THE ONE-LEG STANCE IS FREQUENTLY USED IN BALANCE TRAINING AND REHABILITATION PROGRAMS FOR VARIOUS BALANCE DISORDERS. THERE ARE SOME TYPICAL ONE-LEG STANCE POSTURES IN TAI CHI (TC) AND YOGA, WHICH ARE NORMALLY USED FOR IMPROVING BALANCE. HOWEVER, THE MECHANISM IS POORLY UNDERSTOOD. BESIDES, THE DIFFERENCES OF ONE-LEG STANCE POSTURES BETWEEN TC AND YOGA IN TRAINING BALANCE ARE STILL UNKNOWN. THEREFORE, THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE CORTICAL ACTIVATION AND RAMBLING AND TREMBLING TRAJECTORIES TO ELUCIDATE THE POSSIBLE MECHANISM OF IMPROVING ONE-LEG STANCE BALANCE, AND COMPARE THE POSTURAL DEMANDS DURING ONE-LEG STANCE POSTURES BETWEEN TC AND YOGA. THIRTY-TWO HEALTHY YOUNG INDIVIDUALS WERE RECRUITED TO PERFORM TWO TC ONE-LEG STANCE POSTURES, I.E., RIGHT HEEL KICK (RHK) AND LEFT LOWER BODY AND STAND ON ONE LEG (LSOL), TWO YOGA POSTURES, I.E., ONE-LEG BALANCE AND TREE, AND NORMAL ONE-LEG STANDING (OLS). BRAIN ACTIVATION IN THE PRIMARY MOTOR CORTEX, SUPPLEMENTARY MOTOR AREA (SMA), AND DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX (DLPFC) WAS MEASURED USING FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY. THE CENTER OF PRESSURE WAS SIMULTANEOUSLY RECORDED USING A FORCE PLATFORM AND DECOMPOSED INTO RAMBLING AND TREMBLING COMPONENTS. ONE-WAY REPEATED-MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE WAS USED FOR THE MAIN EFFECTS. THE RELATIVE CONCENTRATION CHANGES OF OXYGENATED HEMOGLOBIN (DELTAHBO) IN SMA WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER DURING RHK, LSOL, AND TREE THAN THAT DURING OLS (P < 0.001). RHK (P < 0.001), LSOL (P = 0.003), AND TREE (P = 0.006) ALL SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER ROOT MEAN SQUARE RAMBLING (RMRMS) THAN THAT DURING OLS IN THE MEDIAL-LATERAL DIRECTION. THE RIGHT DLPFC ACTIVATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER DURING THE RHK THAN THAT DURING THE TREE (P = 0.023), OLB (P < 0.001), AND OLS (P = 0.013) POSTURES. IN CONCLUSION, THE RHK, LSOL, AND TREE COULD BE USED AS TRAINING MOVEMENTS FOR PEOPLE WITH IMPAIRED BALANCE. FURTHERMORE, THE RHK IN TC MAY PROVIDE MORE COGNITIVE TRAINING IN POSTURAL CONTROL THAN TREE AND OLB IN YOGA. KNOWLEDGE FROM THIS STUDY COULD BE USED AND IMPLEMENTED IN TRAINING ONE-LEG STANCE BALANCE.	2021	

3 1439 22 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
4 1286 21 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
5   58 23 A COMPARISON OF EMG OUTPUT OF FOUR LOWER EXTREMITY MUSCLES DURING SELECTED YOGA POSTURES. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO USE SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY (EMG) ANALYSIS TO EXAMINE THE MUSCLE ACTIVATION OF THE ANTERIOR TIBIALIS (TA), GASTROCNEMIUS (GA), RECTUS FEMORIS (RF) AND BICEPS FEMORIS (BF) MUSCLES DURING SEVERAL YOGA POSES: TREE POSE (VRKSASHANA), HALF MOON POSE (ARDHA CHANDRASANA) AND WARRIOR III (VIRABADRASANA) WHEN COMPARED TO A REST POSE (MOUNTAIN POSE). TEN HEALTHY FEMALES WITH MORE THAN 3 MONTHS OF CONTINUOUS YOGA EXPERIENCE WHO PRACTICED AT LEAST 1.5H PER WEEK WERE RECRUITED. EMG ACTIVITY WAS RECORDED FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED MUSCLES DURING MOUNTAIN POSE ("REST") FOR 30S, THREE TIMES. SUBJECTS THEN PERFORMED THE FOLLOWING YOGA POSES IN A RANDOMIZED SEQUENCE WHILE SURFACE EMG ACTIVITY WAS RECORDED: TREE POSE, HALF-MOON, AND WARRIOR III. EACH POSE WAS HELD FOR 20S TO 30S AND PERFORMED THREE TIMES. EMG DATA WERE BAND PASS FILTERED AND THE ROOT MEAN SQUARE (RMS) WAS OBTAINED. THE PEAK RMS OF EACH OF THE RESTING TRIALS WAS OBTAINED AND AVERAGED TO PRODUCE AN AVERAGE PEAK RESTING RMS VALUE. THE STUDY REVEALED SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER EMG ACTIVITY IN TA AND GA IN ALL THREE POSES WHEN COMPARED TO BF AND RF. BF PRODUCED GREATER EMG ACTIVITY THAN RF IN WARRIOR III. IN CONCLUSION, SINGLE LIMB YOGA POSES REQUIRE INCREASED USE OF THE ANKLE MUSCULATURE WHEN COMPARED TO THIGH MUSCULATURE.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
6 1641 13 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
7 1897 16 RESTING STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT MEDITATION PRACTICES HAVE EFFECTS ON BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. HOWEVER, FEW STUDIES HAVE COMBINED INFORMATION ON THE EFFECTS ON STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN THE SAME SAMPLE. LONG-TERM DAILY MEDITATION PRACTICE PRODUCES REPEATED ACTIVITY OF SPECIFIC BRAIN NETWORKS OVER YEARS OF PRACTICE, WHICH MAY INDUCE LASTING STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY (FC) CHANGES WITHIN RELEVANT CIRCUITS. THE AIM OF OUR STUDY WAS THEREFORE TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENCES IN FC DURING THE RESTING STATE BETWEEN 23 SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION EXPERTS AND 23 HEALTHY PARTICIPANTS WITHOUT MEDITATION EXPERIENCE. SEED-BASED FC ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED DEPARTING FROM VOXELS THAT HAD SHOWN STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE SAME PARTICIPANTS. THE CONTRAST OF CONNECTIVITY MAPS YIELDED THAT MEDITATORS SHOWED INCREASED FC BETWEEN THE LEFT VENTROLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX AND THE RIGHT DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX BUT REDUCED FC BETWEEN THE LEFT INSULA AND THE BILATERAL MID-CINGULATE AS WELL AS BETWEEN THE RIGHT ANGULAR GYRUS AND THE BILATERAL PRECUNEUS/CUNEUS CORTICES. IT THUS APPEARS THAT LONG-TERM MEDITATION PRACTICE INCREASES DIRECT FC BETWEEN VENTRAL AND DORSAL FRONTAL REGIONS WITHIN BRAIN NETWORKS RELATED TO ATTENTION AND COGNITIVE CONTROL AND DECREASES FC BETWEEN REGIONS OF THESE NETWORKS AND AREAS OF THE DEFAULT MODE NETWORK.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
8 2095 21 THE EFFECT OF YOGA ASANA "VRKSASANA (TREE POSE)" ON BALANCE IN PATIENTS WITH POSTMENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. OBJECTIVE: IN THIS STUDY, THE EFFECT OF THE ADD-ON EFFECT OF THE TREE POSE (VRKSASANA) ON THE BALANCE OF PATIENTS WITH POSTMENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS WAS INVESTIGATED. DESIGN: THIRTY-TWO PATIENTS WITH POSTMENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO CONSERVATIVE EXERCISE GROUP (30 MINS/D FOR 12 WKS) OR TREE POSE-ADDED EXERCISE GROUP (30-MIN CONVENTIONAL EXERCISE + 2-MIN TREE POSE/D FOR 12 WKS) BY MICROSOFT EXCEL RANDOMIZATION OPTION. THE BALANCE OF THE PATIENTS WAS EVALUATED WITH BERG BALANCE SCALE, TIMED UP AND GO TEST, SINGLE-LEG STANDING TEST, TANDEM WALK TEST, TANDEM STANCE TEST, AND KOREBALANCE STATIC&DYNAMIC BALANCE TESTS AT BASELINE, SIXTH WEEK, AND THIRD MONTH OF THE EXERCISE PROGRAM. RESULTS: THERE WAS NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE ON BASELINE DATA BETWEEN GROUPS. THERE WAS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS IN THE SIXTH-WEEK MEASUREMENT OF SINGLE-LEG STANCE (P < 0.05). IN THE BERG BALANCE SCALE, STATIC BALANCE TEST, DYNAMIC BALANCE TEST, AND TANDEM WALK TEST, A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE WAS FOUND AMONG BASELINE, SIXTH-WEEK, AND 12TH WEEK MEASUREMENTS IN BOTH THE EXERCISE GROUP AND THE TREE POSE-ADDED EXERCISE GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: GAINS IN THE STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCE OF POSTMENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROTIC PATIENTS CAN BE OBTAINED BY ADDING "VRKSASANA" TO CONVENTIONAL EXERCISES.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
9  770 24 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	
                                                                                                      
10 1668 22 NEUROCOGNITIVE CORRELATES OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICE ON EMOTION AND COGNITION: A PILOT STUDY. MINDFULNESS MEDITATION INVOLVES ATTENDING TO EMOTIONS WITHOUT COGNITIVE FIXATION OF EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE. OVER TIME, THIS PRACTICE IS HELD TO PROMOTE ALTERATIONS IN TRAIT AFFECTIVITY AND ATTENTIONAL CONTROL WITH RESULTANT EFFECTS ON WELL-BEING AND COGNITION. HOWEVER, RELATIVELY LITTLE IS KNOWN REGARDING THE NEURAL SUBSTRATES OF MEDITATION EFFECTS ON EMOTION AND COGNITION. THE PRESENT STUDY INVESTIGATED THE NEUROCOGNITIVE CORRELATES OF EMOTION INTERFERENCE ON COGNITION IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND A MATCHED CONTROL GROUP (CG) UNDERWENT FMRI WHILE PERFORMING AN EVENT-RELATED AFFECTIVE STROOP TASK. THE TASK INCLUDES IMAGE VIEWING TRIALS AND STROOP TRIALS BRACKETED BY NEUTRAL OR NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL DISTRACTORS. DURING IMAGE VIEWING TRIALS, YOGA PRACTITIONERS EXHIBITED LESS REACTIVITY IN RIGHT DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX (DLPFC) TO NEGATIVE AS COMPARED TO NEUTRAL IMAGES; WHEREAS THE CG HAD THE OPPOSITE PATTERN. A MAIN EFFECT OF VALENCE (NEGATIVE > NEUTRAL) WAS OBSERVED IN LIMBIC REGIONS (E.G., AMYGDALA), OF WHICH THE MAGNITUDE WAS INVERSELY RELATED TO DLPFC ACTIVATION. EXPLORATORY ANALYSES REVEALED THAT THE MAGNITUDE OF AMYGDALA ACTIVATION PREDICTED DECREASED SELF-REPORTED POSITIVE AFFECT IN THE CG, BUT NOT AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS. DURING STROOP TRIALS, YOGA PRACTITIONERS HAD GREATER ACTIVATION IN VENTROLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX (VLPFC) DURING STROOP TRIALS WHEN NEGATIVE, COMPARED TO NEUTRAL, EMOTIONAL DISTRACTOR WERE PRESENTED; THE CG EXHIBITED THE OPPOSITE PATTERN. TAKEN TOGETHER, THESE DATA SUGGEST THAT THOUGH YOGA PRACTITIONERS EXHIBIT LIMBIC REACTIVITY TO NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL STIMULI, SUCH REACTIVITY DOES NOT HAVE DOWNSTREAM EFFECTS ON LATER MOOD STATE. THIS UNCOUPLING OF VIEWING NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL IMAGES AND AFFECT AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS MAY BE OCCASIONED BY THEIR SELECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF FRONTAL EXECUTIVE-DEPENDENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE EMOTIONAL INTERFERENCE DURING COMPETING COGNITIVE DEMANDS AND NOT DURING EMOTIONAL PROCESSING PER SE.	2012	
                                                                                                                            
11  510 22 COMPARATIVE IMPACTS OF TAI CHI, BALANCE TRAINING, AND A SPECIALLY-DESIGNED YOGA PROGRAM ON BALANCE IN OLDER FALLERS. OBJECTIVE: TO COMPARE THE EFFECT OF A CUSTOM-DESIGNED YOGA PROGRAM WITH 2 OTHER BALANCE TRAINING PROGRAMS. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. SETTING: RESEARCH LABORATORY. PARTICIPANTS: A GROUP OF OLDER ADULTS (N=39; MEAN AGE, 74.15 +/- 6.99 Y) WITH A HISTORY OF FALLING. INTERVENTIONS: THREE DIFFERENT EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS (TAI CHI, STANDARD BALANCE TRAINING, YOGA) WERE GIVEN FOR 12 WEEKS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: BALANCE PERFORMANCE WAS EXAMINED DURING PRE- AND POSTTEST USING FIELD TESTS, INCLUDING THE 8-FOOT UP-AND-GO TEST, 1-LEG STANCE, FUNCTIONAL REACH, AND USUAL AND MAXIMAL WALKING SPEED. THE STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCES WERE ALSO ASSESSED BY POSTURAL SWAY AND DYNAMIC POSTUROGRAPHY, RESPECTIVELY. RESULTS: TRAINING PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN ALL FIELD TESTS (P<.005), BUT GROUP DIFFERENCE AND TIME X GROUP INTERACTION WERE NOT DETECTED. FOR POSTURAL SWAY, SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN THE AREA OF THE CENTER OF PRESSURE WITH EYES OPEN (P=.001) AND EYES CLOSED (P=.002) WERE DETECTED AFTER TRAINING. FOR EYES OPEN, MAXIMUM MEDIAL-LATERAL VELOCITY SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED FOR THE SAMPLE (P=.013). FOR EYES CLOSED, MEDIAL-LATERAL DISPLACEMENT DECREASED FOR TAI CHI (P<.01). FOR DYNAMIC POSTUROGRAPHY, SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN OVERALL SCORE (P=.001), TIME ON THE TEST (P=.006), AND 2 LINEAR MEASURES IN LATERAL (P=.001) AND ANTERIOR-POSTERIOR (P<.001) DIRECTIONS WERE SEEN FOR THE SAMPLE. CONCLUSIONS: YOGA WAS AS EFFECTIVE AS TAI CHI AND STANDARD BALANCE TRAINING FOR IMPROVING POSTURAL STABILITY AND MAY OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE TO MORE TRADITIONAL PROGRAMS.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
12 1287 27 GREATER ANTEROPOSTERIOR DEFAULT MODE NETWORK FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN LONG-TERM ELDERLY YOGA PRACTITIONERS. LARGE-SCALE BRAIN NETWORKS EXHIBIT CHANGES IN FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY DURING THE AGING PROCESS. RECENT LITERATURE DATA SUGGESTS THAT YOGA AND OTHER CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES MAY REVERT, AT LEAST IN PART, SOME OF THE AGING EFFECTS IN BRAIN FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY, INCLUDING THE DEFAULT MODE NETWORK (DMN). THE AIM OF THIS CROSS-SECTIONAL INVESTIGATION WAS TO COMPARE RESTING-STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY OF THE MEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX (MPFC) AND POSTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX-PRECUNEUS (PCC-PRECUNEUS) IN LONG-TERM ELDERLY YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND HEALTHY PAIRED YOGA-NAIVE CONTROLS. TWO PAIRED GROUPS: YOGA (Y-20 WOMEN, HATHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS; PRACTICING A MINIMUM OF TWICE A WEEK WITH A FREQUENCY OF AT LEAST 8 YEARS) AND A CONTROL GROUP (C-20 WOMEN, YOGA-NAIVE, MATCHED BY AGE, YEARS OF FORMAL EDUCATION, AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY) WERE EVALUATED FOR: MINI MENTAL STATE EXAMINATION (MMSE), BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY (BDI), INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING (IADL), AND OPEN-EYES RESTING-STATE FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI)-SEED TO VOXEL CONNECTIVITY ANALYSIS (CONN TOOLBOX 17.F) WITH PRE-PROCESSING-REALIGNMENT AND UNWARPING, SLICE-TIMING CORRECTION, SEGMENTATION, NORMALIZATION, OUTLIER DETECTION, AND SPATIAL FILTERING. THE ANALYSIS INCLUDED A PRIORI REGIONS OF INTEREST (ROI) OF DMN MAIN NODES-MPFC AND PCC-PRECUNEUS. THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUPS IN TERMS OF: AGE, YEARS OF FORMAL EDUCATION, MMSE, BDI AND IADL. THE YOGA GROUP HAD A HIGHER CORRELATION BETWEEN MPFC AND THE RIGHT ANGULAR GYRUS (AGR), COMPARED TO THE CONTROLS. ELDERLY WOMEN WITH AT LEAST 8 YEARS OF YOGA PRACTICE PRESENTED GREATER INTRA-NETWORK ANTEROPOSTERIOR BRAIN FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY OF THE DMN. THIS FINDING MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE INFLUENCES OF PRACTICING YOGA FOR A HEALTHIER COGNITIVE AGING PROCESS.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
13 1670 14 NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA PRACTICE: AGE-, EXPERIENCE-, AND FREQUENCY-DEPENDENT PLASTICITY. YOGA COMBINES POSTURES, BREATHING, AND MEDITATION. DESPITE REPORTED HEALTH BENEFITS, YOGA'S EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN HAVE RECEIVED LITTLE STUDY. WE USED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING TO COMPARE AGE-RELATED GRAY MATTER (GM) DECLINE IN YOGIS AND CONTROLS. WE ALSO EXAMINED THE EFFECT OF INCREASING YOGA EXPERIENCE AND WEEKLY PRACTICE ON GM VOLUME AND ASSESSED WHICH ASPECTS OF WEEKLY PRACTICE CONTRIBUTED MOST TO BRAIN SIZE. CONTROLS DISPLAYED THE WELL DOCUMENTED AGE-RELATED GLOBAL BRAIN GM DECLINE WHILE YOGIS DID NOT, SUGGESTING THAT YOGA CONTRIBUTES TO PROTECT THE BRAIN AGAINST AGE-RELATED DECLINE. YEARS OF YOGA EXPERIENCE CORRELATED MOSTLY WITH GM VOLUME DIFFERENCES IN THE LEFT HEMISPHERE (INSULA, FRONTAL OPERCULUM, AND ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX) SUGGESTING THAT YOGA TUNES THE BRAIN TOWARD A PARASYMPATICALLY DRIVEN MODE AND POSITIVE STATES. THE NUMBER OF HOURS OF WEEKLY PRACTICE CORRELATED WITH GM VOLUME IN THE PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX/SUPERIOR PARIETAL LOBULE (S1/SPL), PRECUNEUS/POSTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX (PCC), HIPPOCAMPUS, AND PRIMARY VISUAL CORTEX (V1). COMMONALITY ANALYSES INDICATED THAT THE COMBINATION OF POSTURES AND MEDITATION CONTRIBUTED THE MOST TO THE SIZE OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS, PRECUNEUS/PCC, AND S1/SPL WHILE THE COMBINATION OF MEDITATION AND BREATHING EXERCISES CONTRIBUTED THE MOST TO V1 VOLUME. YOGA'S POTENTIAL NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS MAY PROVIDE A NEURAL BASIS FOR SOME OF ITS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
14 1545 24 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                       
15 2306 28 TRAINING BENEFITS AND INJURY RISKS OF STANDING YOGA APPLIED IN MUSCULOSKELETAL PROBLEMS: LOWER LIMB BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS. STANDING YOGA POSES STRENGTHEN A PERSON'S LEGS AND HELPS TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF MUSCULOSKELETAL REHABILITATION, BUT INADEQUATE EXERCISE PLANNING CAN CAUSE INJURIES. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED CHANGES IN THE ELECTROMYOGRAM AND JOINT MOMENTS OF FORCE (JMOFS) OF LOWER EXTREMITIES DURING COMMON STANDING YOGA POSES IN ORDER TO EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY AND POSSIBLE INJURY RISK IN DEALING WITH MUSCULOSKELETAL PROBLEMS. ELEVEN YOGA INSTRUCTORS WERE RECRUITED TO EXECUTE FIVE YOGA POSES (CHAIR, TREE, WARRIOR 1, 2, AND 3). THE RESULTS REVEALED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN HIP, KNEE, AND ANKLE JMOFS AND VARYING DEGREES OF MUSCLE ACTIVATION AMONG THE POSES. AMONG THESE POSES, RECTUS FEMORIS MUSCLE ACTIVATION DURING THE CHAIR POSE WAS THE HIGHEST, WARRIOR 2 PRODUCED THE HIGHEST MUSCLE ACTIVATION IN THE VASTUS LATERALIS OF THE FRONT LIMB, WHILE WARRIOR 1 HAD THE HIGHEST MUSCLE ACTIVATION IN THE VASTUS MEDIALIS OF THE BACK LIMB. THEREFORE, ALL THREE POSES CAN POSSIBLY BE SUGGESTED AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION FOR QUADRICEPS STRENGTHENING. WARRIOR 1 WAS POSSIBLY SUGGESTED AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION IN ORDER TO REDUCE EXCESSIVE LATERAL OVERLOAD OF THE PATELLA, BUT THE POSSIBLE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF WARRIOR 2 WITH THE HIGHEST KNEE ADDUCTOR JMOF IN THE BACK LIMB COULD RAISE JOINT REACTION FORCES ACROSS THE MEDIAL CONDYLES. IN SINGLE-LEG BALANCE POSTURES, WARRIOR 3 HAD UNIQUE TRAINING EFFECTS ON THE HAMSTRING, AND IS THEREFORE SUGGESTED AS A PART OF HAMSTRING REHABILITATION EXERCISES. THE TREE POSE INDUCED LOW LOWER-EXTREMITY JMOFS AND A LOW LEVEL OF THIGH MUSCLE ACTIVATIONS WHEN IT WAS PERFORMED BY SENIOR INSTRUCTORS WITH EXCELLENT BALANCE CONTROL; HOWEVER, FOR YOGA BEGINNERS WITH INSUFFICIENT STABILITY, IT WILL BE A USEFUL TRAINING MODE FOR STRENGTHENING THE MUSCLES THAT HELP TO KEEP ONE UPRIGHT. THIS STUDY QUANTIFIED THE PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF YOGA POSES USING BIOMECHANICAL DATA AND ELUCIDATED THE STRUCTURES AND PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING EACH YOGA MOVEMENT. THIS IS CRUCIAL FOR YOGA PRACTITIONERS.	2021	
                                                                                   
16  499 23 COMBINED YOGA AND TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION INCREASE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY AND SYNCHRONIZATION IN THE FRONTAL AREAS. TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION (TDCS) IS A NON-INVASIVE NEURO-STIMULATION TECHNIQUE THAT CAN MODULATE CORTICAL EXCITABILITY. SIMILARLY, YOGA IS SHOWN TO AFFECT THE BRAIN'S NEURAL ACTIVITY AND NETWORKS. HERE, WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF COMBINED YOGA AND TDCS ON BRAIN OSCILLATIONS AND NETWORKS USING RESTING-STATE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY RECORDINGS. IN A RANDOMIZED, CROSS-OVER, DOUBLE-BLIND DESIGN, TWENTY-TWO HEALTHY SUBJECTS PARTICIPATED IN A YOGA/ACTIVE TDCS SESSION (2 MA; 20 MIN; ANODE-F3, CATHODE F4) OR YOGA/SHAM TDCS ON 2 SEPARATE DAYS. RESTING-STATE EEG DATA WERE COLLECTED BEFORE AND AFTER EACH INTERVENTION. POWER SPECTRAL DENSITY (PSD) AND FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY, MEASURED BY A SYNCHRONIZATION MEASURE, PHASE-LOCKING VALUE, WERE COMPUTED FOR EACH CONDITION. THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN PSD VALUES AMONG THE TWO INTERVENTIONS. THE NETWORK-BASED STATISTIC METHOD WAS EMPLOYED FOR DETECTING FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOGA/ACTIVE AND YOGA/SHAM TDCS INTERVENTIONS. RESULTS SHOW THAT THE ADDITION OF ACTIVE TDCS TO YOGA IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY OF THE SCALP AND SOURCE EEG DATA IN THE FRONTAL AREA. THE CHANGES WERE WIDESPREAD, INTRA-HEMISPHERIC, AND INTER-HEMISPHERIC CONNECTIONS, WHICH WERE MAINLY BETWEEN THE FRONTAL AREA TO OTHER REGIONS. AT THE SOURCE LEVEL, MOST OF THE CONNECTIVITY CHANGES WERE FOUND IN THE FRONTO-PARIETAL NETWORK. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT COMBINING YOGA WITH TDCS MIGHT LEAD TO BRAIN NETWORK CHANGES RELATED TO THE EXECUTIVE AND ATTENTIONAL FUNCTIONS.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
17 1348 22 IDENTIFYING YOGA-BASED KNEE STRENGTHENING EXERCISES USING THE KNEE ADDUCTION MOMENT. BACKGROUND: THIS STUDY AIMED TO COMPARE MUSCLE ACTIVATIONS, CO-CONTRACTION INDICES, AND THE KNEE ADDUCTION MOMENT BETWEEN STATIC STANDING YOGA POSTURES TO IDENTIFY APPROPRIATE EXERCISES FOR KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS. METHODS: HEALTHY YOUNG WOMEN (24.4 (5.4) YEARS, 23.1 (3.7) KG/M(2)) PARTICIPATED. PRIMARY OUTCOME VARIABLES WERE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ACTIVATIONS OF THE VASTUS LATERALIS, RECTUS FEMORIS, VASTUS MEDIALIS, BICEPS FEMORIS, AND SEMITENDINOSUS; CO-CONTRACTION BETWEEN THE BICEPS FEMORIS AND RECTUS FEMORIS, AND VASTUS LATERALIS AND VASTUS MEDIALIS; AND KNEE ADDUCTION MOMENTS OF BOTH LEGS DURING SIX STATIC, STANDING YOGA POSTURES (TWO SQUATTING POSTURES, TWO LUNGING POSTURES, A HAMSTRING STRETCH, AND A SINGLE-LEG BALANCE POSTURE). A TWO-FACTOR REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE WAS USED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENCES IN MUSCLE AMPLITUDES, CO-CONTRACTIONS, AND KNEE ADDUCTION MOMENT BETWEEN POSTURES AND LEGS. FINDINGS: QUADRICEPS ACTIVATIONS WERE HIGHEST DURING SQUAT AND LUNGE POSTURES (P</=0.001). HAMSTRING ACTIVATIONS WERE HIGHEST DURING THE HAMSTRING STRETCH (P</=0.003). SQUAT AND LUNGE POSTURES PRODUCED HIGHER CO-CONTRACTION INDICES THAN OTHER POSTURES (P</=0.011). THE WIDE LEGGED SQUAT (GODDESS) AND LUNGE WITH TRUNK UPRIGHT (WARRIOR) PRODUCED THE LOWEST KNEE ADDUCTION MOMENTS (P</=0.006), WHILE THE SINGLE-LEG BALANCE POSTURE ELICITED A HIGHER KNEE ADDUCTION MOMENT THAN ALL OTHER POSTURES (P<0.05). INTERPRETATION: SQUATTING AND LUNGING POSTURES COULD IMPROVE LEG STRENGTH WHILE POTENTIALLY MINIMIZING EXPOSURE TO HIGH KNEE ADDUCTION MOMENTS. FUTURE WORK SHOULD EVALUATE WHETHER THESE EXERCISES ARE USEFUL IN PEOPLE WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
18  455 19 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	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
19 1565 14 LOW AND THEN HIGH FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS OF DISTINCT RIGHT CORTICAL NETWORKS ARE PROGRESSIVELY ENHANCED BY MEDIUM AND LONG TERM SATYANANDA YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICE. MEDITATION PROFICIENCY IS RELATED TO TRAIT-LIKE (LEARNED) EFFECTS ON BRAIN FUNCTION, DEVELOPED OVER TIME. PREVIOUS STUDIES SHOW INCREASES IN EEG POWER IN LOWER FREQUENCY BANDS (THETA, ALPHA) IN EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS IN BOTH MEDITATION STATES AND BASELINE CONDITIONS. HIGHER GAMMA BAND POWER HAS BEEN FOUND IN ADVANCED BUDDHIST MEDITATORS, YET IT IS NOT KNOWN IF THIS OCCURS IN YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICES. THIS STUDY USED ELORETA TO COMPARE DIFFERENCES IN CORTICAL SOURCE ACTIVITY UNDERLYING SCALP EEG FROM INTERMEDIATE (MEAN EXPERIENCE 4 YEARS) AND ADVANCED (MEAN EXPERIENCE 30 YEARS) AUSTRALIAN MEDITATORS FROM THE SATYANANDA YOGA TRADITION DURING A BODY-STEADINESS MEDITATION, MANTRA MEDITATION, AND NON-MEDITATION MENTAL CALCULATION CONDITION. INTERMEDIATE YOGA MEDITATORS SHOWED GREATER SOURCE ACTIVITY IN LOW FREQUENCIES (PARTICULARLY THETA AND ALPHA1) DURING MENTAL CALCULATION, BODY-STEADINESS AND MANTRA MEDITATION. A SIMILAR SPATIAL PATTERN OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WAS FOUND IN ALL CONDITIONS BUT THE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT VOXELS WAS DOUBLE DURING BODY-STEADINESS AND MANTRA MEDITATION THAN IN THE NON-MEDITATION (CALCULATION) CONDITION. THESE DIFFERENCES WERE GREATEST IN RIGHT (R) SUPERIOR FRONTAL AND R PRECENTRAL GYRI AND EXTENDED BACK TO INCLUDE THE R PARIETAL AND OCCIPITAL LOBES. ADVANCED YOGA MEDITATORS SHOWED GREATER ACTIVITY IN HIGH FREQUENCIES (BETA AND ESPECIALLY GAMMA) IN ALL CONDITIONS BUT GREATLY EXPANDED DURING MEDITATION PRACTICE. ACROSS ALL CONDITIONS (MEDITATION AND NON-MEDITATION) DIFFERENCES WERE GREATEST IN THE SAME REGIONS: R INSULA, R INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS AND R ANTERIOR TEMPORAL LOBE. DISTINCT R CORE NETWORKS WERE IDENTIFIED IN ALPHA1 (8-10 HZ) AND GAMMA (25-42 HZ) BANDS, RESPECTIVELY. THE VOXELS RECRUITED TO THESE NETWORKS GREATLY EXPANDED DURING MEDITATION PRACTICE TO INCLUDE HOMOLOGOUS REGIONS OF THE LEFT HEMISPHERE. FUNCTIONAL INTERPRETATION PARALLELS TRADITIONALLY DESCRIBED STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN YOGA PROFICIENCY.	2014	
                                                                        
20 1813 16 PROGRESSION OF GLAUCOMA ASSOCIATED WITH THE SIRSASANA (HEADSTAND) YOGA POSTURE. THIS ARTICLE REPORTS A CASE OF PROGRESSIVE GLAUCOMATOUS OPTIC NEUROPATHY AND VISUAL FIELD LOSS THAT OCCURRED IN A PATIENT WHO PRACTICED THE SIRSASANA (HEADSTAND) YOGA POSTURE ON A DAILY BASIS FOR MANY YEARS. VISUAL FIELD ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED THROUGH STANDARD AUTOMATED PERIMETRY. INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE (IOP) WAS MEASURED THROUGH PNEUMOTONOMETRY IN THE SITTING POSITION AND IN THE HEAD-DOWN POSITION. STEREO-OPTIC DISC PHOTOGRAPHS WERE OBTAINED. IOP INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE HEAD-DOWN POSITION. OPTIC DISC EVALUATION REVEALED A NEW DISC HEMORRHAGE IN THE LEFT EYE. VISUAL FIELD ANALYSIS OVER A PERIOD OF 2 Y SHOWED PROGRESSION OF A SUPERIOR ARCUATE DEFECT IN THE LEFT EYE. TRANSIENT INCREASES IN IOP ASSOCIATED WITH THE YOGA HEADSTAND POSTURE MAY LEAD TO PROGRESSIVE GLAUCOMATOUS OPTIC NERVE DAMAGE AND VISUAL FIELD LOSS.	2006