Long-term Vihangam Yoga meditation and scores on tests of attention.
Although the literature indicates that meditation has beneficial effects on several aspects of human functioning, few studies have specifically investigated the effects of meditation on various domains of attention. This study was conducted to examine the differences in various domains of attention between long-term concentrative meditators versus matched controls. 15 practitioners of Vihangam Yoga (> 10 yr. experience) were enrolled in the study. Controls matched on age, sex, and years of education were recruited. Both groups were administered the Stroop, Trail-Making, and Digit Symbol Substitution tests as well as the Digit Forward and Digit Backward tests. The group of Vihangam Yogis had significantly better mean performance on all tests of attention. Long-term Vihangam Yoga meditation improves attention span, processing speed, attention alternation ability, and performance in interference tests.
Prakash
Ravi
R
Department of Psychiatry, Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences, Kanke, Ranchi, India. drravi2121@gmail.com
Dubey
Indu
I
Abhishek
Priyadarshee
P
Gupta
Sanjeev Kumar
SK
Rastogi
Priyanka
P
Siddiqui
Shazia Veqar
SV
D001288:Attention; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012016:Reference Values; D057190:Stroop Test; D015013:Yoga / Q000523:psychology*