title: Performance on psychomotor tasks following two yoga-based relaxation techniques.
abstract: Previously cyclic meditation and supine rest have been shown to improve performance in a letter cancellation task requiring attention, visual scanning, and motor speed. The present study assessed the performance in 57 volunteers (all male, M age = 26.5 yr., SD = 4.6) in three tasks, viz., a digit-letter substitution task (DLST), a letter-copying task, and a circle-dotting task. The DLST assessed attention and speed of information processing, while the other 2 tests assessed motor speed. Each participant was assessed before and after three types of sessions: Cyclic Meditation, Supine Rest, and Control (no intervention). DLST scores and scores for letter-copying and circle-dotting tasks improved significantly after cyclic meditation; the same scores also improved after supine rest. There was no change after the no-intervention/Control session. From the results it was difficult to conclude whether improved DLST scores after cyclic meditation were due to better information processing speed or improved motor speed.
authors.affiliation: Indian Council of Medical Research, Centre for Advanced Research inYoga and Neurophysiology, SVYASA, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Pailoor
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Subramanya
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Telles
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D015013:Yoga