A Three Months Yoga Program on Cognitive Variables of Dementia Risk Participants: A Pilot Study

Background: Dementia refers to symptoms that affect memory, thinking, orientation, judgment, speech, and social abilities significantly enough to interfere with daily activities. Dementia is the second most prevalent disease worldwide. Materials & Methods: A total of thirty individuals, with an average age of 52.4 years (± 7.68 years), were enrolled and then assigned at random to either the yoga group (average age 50.9 years ± 7.23 years) or the control group (average age 52.2 years ± 7.73 years). For a duration of three months, the control group participated in brisk walking sessions lasting thirty minutes five days a week, whereas the yoga group endured sixty-minute yoga sessions five days a week. Before and after the three-month intervention period for both groups, working memory was evaluated using the N back task, and executive function was examined using the Trail Making Test (TMT). Results: A significant difference was observed in all four parameters of N back test in yoga group as compared to the control group (P < 0.05) after 12 weeks [ H1( P = 0.01), E1( P = 0.009), H2 (P = 0.0007), E2 ( P = 0.006 ]. There was improvement in the Trail Making Test, but did not observe the significant difference in the yoga group as compared to the control group ( P > 0.05), [ A ( P = 0.096), B ( P = 0.569)]. Conclusion: The result of this pilot study suggests that yoga practices for dementia risk participants improves the Hit score of the N back test and reduces errors, similarly this improves the executive functions of the brain. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.