Journal
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES A-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND MEDICAL SCIENCES
Volume 69, Issue 9, Pages 1109-1116Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glu095
Keywords
Yoga intervention; Cognition; Older adults; Working memory
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Funding
- National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health [2R01 AG20118]
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Background. Few scientific studies have examined movement-based embodied contemplative practices such as yoga and their effects on cognition. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to examine the effects of an 8-week Hatha yoga intervention on executive function measures of task switching and working memory capacity. Methods. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 118; mean age = 62.0) were randomized to one of two groups: a Hatha yoga intervention or a stretching-strengthening control. Both groups participated in hour-long exercise classes 3x/week over the 8-week study period. All participants completed established tests of executive function including the task switching paradigm, n-back and running memory span at baseline and follow-up. Results. Analysis of covariances showed significantly shorter reaction times on the mixed and repeat task switching trials (partial eta(2) = .04, p < .05) for the Hatha yoga group. Higher accuracy was recorded on the single trials (partial eta(2) = .05, p < .05), the 2-back condition of the n-back (partial eta(2) = .08, p < .001), and partial recall scores (partial eta(2) = .06, p < .01) of running span task. Conclusions. Following 8 weeks of yoga practice, participants in the yoga intervention group showed significantly improved performance on the executive function measures of working memory capacity and efficiency of mental set shifting and flexibility compared with their stretching-strengthening counterparts. Although the underlying mechanisms need to be investigated, these results demand larger systematic trials to thoroughly examine effects of yoga on executive function as well as across other domains of cognition, and its potential to maintain or improve cognitive functioning in the aging process.
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