title: Long-term Vihangam Yoga meditation and scores on tests of attention.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences, Kanke, Ranchi, India. drravi2121@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prakash
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.forename: Priyadarshee
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abhishek
authors.forename: Sanjeev Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Priyanka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rastogi
authors.forename: Shazia Veqar
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
mesh_terms: 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*