Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: August | Volume: 9 | Issue: 8 | Pages: 10-14
Effect of Integrated Yoga on Psychological Variables- A Comparative Study
Sumitra Sudharkodhy1, Balan K2, N J Patil3
1Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology,
2Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Karpaga Vinayaga Institute and Research Centre, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu,
3Associate Professor & HOD, Dept. of Integrative Medicine, Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of higher education and Research, Kolar, Karnataka, India
Corresponding Author: Balan K
ABSTRACT
Anxiety and stress are most commonly experienced by medical students due to academic burden. Excessive stress affects their mental health causing deterioration of their psychological variables like attention, concentration and memory. Yoga is a form of exercise which shifts the autonomic system towards parasympathetic side and helps to improve cognition. The present study was conducted on 60 healthy medical students. The subjects belong to age group 18 to 25. Digit–Letter Substitution Task (DLST) and Six Letter Cancellation Test (SLCT) tasks were given. Then integrated yoga was practiced for four weeks by the students. Thereafter tasks were repeated again. The participants in yoga intervention showed significantly improved performance on all parameters in attention, concentration, and memory in comparison to that of the control group. In yoga group total score and net score improved significantly and wrong attempts reduced significantly. Thus integrated yoga improves cognitive functions in medical students.
Key words: Memory, Attention, Concentration, Medical students, integrated yoga, Six Letter Cancellation Test and Digit substitution test