Four 18-minute yoga breathing practices significantly increased P300 peak amplitude at Pz compared to quiet seated rest, with no significant changes in heart rate variability.
RCT (n=38)
Randomly allocated days
Do 18-minute periods of specific yoga breathing practices improve attention (P300) and alter heart rate variability in yoga-experienced males?
Four different yoga breathing practices increased attentional neural resources during an auditory oddball task without significantly altering heart rate variability.
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.
Kala et al. (Wed,) reported a rct. Four yoga breathing practices and breath awareness vs. Quiet seated rest was evaluated on P300 peak amplitude at Pz and heart rate variability. Four 18-minute yoga breathing practices significantly increased P300 peak amplitude at Pz compared to quiet seated rest, with no significant changes in heart rate variability.