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Sharma, Vivek K.
- A Study of Effects of Yoga Versus Physical Exercise on Psychological Parameters, Hand Grip Strength and Reaction Time during Examination Stress in Young Female Medical Students
Authors
1 Dept of Physiology, JIPMER, Puducherry, IN
2 Dept of Physiology, ESIC Dental College, New Delhi, IN
3 Dept of Physiology, JIPMER, Puduchery, IN
4 Dept of Physiology, IMS, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P, IN
Source
International Journal of Physiology, Vol 2, No 1 (2014), Pagination: 140-145Abstract
Present study was carried out on 60 first-year MBBS students who were assigned into two groupsyoga group (Group 1) and physical exercise group (Group 2) (30 each). Group 1 underwent yoga practices and Group 2 underwent exercise on bicycle ergometer for 40 minutes daily for twelve weeks. Formative examinations were conducted at 6 weeks (stressor 1) and 12 weeks (stressor 2). Following recordings were taken at baseline, stressor 1 and 2: Auditory (ART)&Visual reaction time (VRT), Handgrip strength endurance (HGE), Speilberger's State anxiety inventory for adults (STAIA) and inventories developed by Defense Institute for Physiology&Applied Sciences (DIPAS). In our study, it was observed that there was significant decrease in STAI-A scores in Group 1 subjects at both stressors (p < 0.001) with no change seen in Group 2 subjects. There was significant decrease in trait anxiety and depression scores at both stressors in both the groups. However, significant reduction in depression from stressor 1 to 2 occurred in only group 1 subjects. There was significant improvement in sense of wellbeing at both stressors 1 and 2 (p < 0.001) in Group 1 subjects whereas significant improvement occurred in Group 2 subjects only at stressor 2 (p<0.01). There was improvement in HGE in both groups at both stressors with more improvement from stressor 1 to 2 in Group 2 subjects. Also, there was significant reduction in ART in only Group 1 subjects (p <0.05) at stressor 2 with no change in Group 2 subjects. Our study demonstrates that both forms of intervention i.e. yoga training and physical exercises are beneficial for the subjects in reducing the effect of examination stress but the effect of effect of yoga is immediate and more pronounced on all parameters except HGE.Keywords
Yoga, Exercise, Psychological Parameters, Hand Grip Strength, Reaction Time, Stress
- Comparison of Effects of Sahaj Yoga Meditation on Cognitive Functions in Practising and Non-practising Healthy Subjects
Authors
1 Dept of Physiology, JIPMER, Puducherry, IN
2 Dept of Physiology, IMS, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P, IN
3 Dept of Physiology, V.M.M.C.& S.J. Hospital, New Delhi, IN
4 Dept of Physiology, Lady Harding Medical College, Delhi, IN
5 Dept of Psychiatry, L.H.M. College, Delhi, IN
6 Dept of Physiology, JIPMER, Puduchery, IN
Source
International Journal of Physiology, Vol 2, No 1 (2014), Pagination: 146-151Abstract
Sahaj yoga meditation practice is already known to reduce stress, enhance parasympatho-dominance, alpha rhythm in the brain and change biochemical parameters favourably in healthy subjects and is also beneficial as an adjunct in psycho-somatic disorders. The presented randomized control study was carried out on 30 healthy subjects (19 Males and 11 females) in the age group of 18 to 45 years. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1: (9 Males&6 Females) Healthy subjects who practised Sahaj Yoga meditation. Group 2: (10 Males&5 Females) Healthy subjects who did not practise Sahaj Yoga. Training of Sahaj yoga was conducted under the supervision of trained Sahaj Yogi for the period of 8 weeks. Cognitive test battery was administered to all the subjects both before and after the study period.
The observed data was statistically analyzed using Student's t test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, Mann- Whitney U test. The results after 8 weeks showed that Group 1 subjects showed marked improvement only in the Letter cancellation test (time) (p< 0.01), number of Omissions (p<0.01) and Trail making test 'A' (p< 0.01) while no appreciable change was observed in Group 2. There was no significant improvement on rest of the tested parameters in subjects of group 1 and 2.The present study demonstrated that Sahaj Yoga practice by healthy subjects leads to improvement in attention span, concentration, visuo-motor speed but with no improvement in executive functions.