Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults

Background : Attention and concentration are valuable skills for all fields of human activity. Training to improve these skills is described in ancient hatha yoga texts. Aims: To study the effect of 1-min Kapalabhati (KB1) and 5-min Kapalabhati (KB5) practice of the Yoga rapid breathing exercise, Ka...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Balaram Pradhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2013-01-01
Series:International Journal of Yoga
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ijoy.org.in/article.asp?issn=0973-6131;year=2013;volume=6;issue=2;spage=128;epage=130;aulast=Pradhan
_version_ 1818952777591685120
author Balaram Pradhan
author_facet Balaram Pradhan
author_sort Balaram Pradhan
collection DOAJ
description Background : Attention and concentration are valuable skills for all fields of human activity. Training to improve these skills is described in ancient hatha yoga texts. Aims: To study the effect of 1-min Kapalabhati (KB1) and 5-min Kapalabhati (KB5) practice of the Yoga rapid breathing exercise, Kapalabhati (KB), on psychomotor performance, as measured by the six-letter cancellation task (SLCT) and digit-letter substitution task (DLST). Materials and Methods: Thirty-six subjects, 21 male (mean age 25.71 years, SD 2.10), 15 female (mean age 24.13 years, SD 2.23) participated in the study. All were participating in a 3-month pranayama training program, part of residential degree courses at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Yoga University. The subjects were divided into two groups, and assessed on the SLCT and DLST, immediately before and after KB on two successive days. The first group did KB1 on day 1, and KB5 on day 2. For the second group, the order was reversed. Results: There were no significant differences on SLCT and DLST on Total and Net Scores between sessions for the same group, and between groups for the same session i.e. the effects of KB1 and KB5 were not distinguishable. However, both groups made more errors on DLST after the interventions, 525% after KB1 and 562.5% after KB5, P < 0.018 and P < 0.041, respectively (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test). In contrast, scores on SLCT remained completely unchanged. Conclusions: Both KB1 and KB5 found no change on both SLCT and DLST. But, this kind of breathing practices leads to increases error score.
first_indexed 2024-12-20T09:55:46Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f48e1397425f46c49bd02821ed7f6a8a
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0973-6131
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-20T09:55:46Z
publishDate 2013-01-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series International Journal of Yoga
spelling doaj.art-f48e1397425f46c49bd02821ed7f6a8a2022-12-21T19:44:27ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsInternational Journal of Yoga0973-61312013-01-016212813010.4103/0973-6131.113415Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adultsBalaram PradhanBackground : Attention and concentration are valuable skills for all fields of human activity. Training to improve these skills is described in ancient hatha yoga texts. Aims: To study the effect of 1-min Kapalabhati (KB1) and 5-min Kapalabhati (KB5) practice of the Yoga rapid breathing exercise, Kapalabhati (KB), on psychomotor performance, as measured by the six-letter cancellation task (SLCT) and digit-letter substitution task (DLST). Materials and Methods: Thirty-six subjects, 21 male (mean age 25.71 years, SD 2.10), 15 female (mean age 24.13 years, SD 2.23) participated in the study. All were participating in a 3-month pranayama training program, part of residential degree courses at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Yoga University. The subjects were divided into two groups, and assessed on the SLCT and DLST, immediately before and after KB on two successive days. The first group did KB1 on day 1, and KB5 on day 2. For the second group, the order was reversed. Results: There were no significant differences on SLCT and DLST on Total and Net Scores between sessions for the same group, and between groups for the same session i.e. the effects of KB1 and KB5 were not distinguishable. However, both groups made more errors on DLST after the interventions, 525% after KB1 and 562.5% after KB5, P < 0.018 and P < 0.041, respectively (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test). In contrast, scores on SLCT remained completely unchanged. Conclusions: Both KB1 and KB5 found no change on both SLCT and DLST. But, this kind of breathing practices leads to increases error score.http://www.ijoy.org.in/article.asp?issn=0973-6131;year=2013;volume=6;issue=2;spage=128;epage=130;aulast=PradhanDLST; high frequency yoga breathing; kapalabhati; pranayama; SLCT
spellingShingle Balaram Pradhan
Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults
International Journal of Yoga
DLST; high frequency yoga breathing; kapalabhati; pranayama; SLCT
title Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults
title_full Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults
title_fullStr Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults
title_full_unstemmed Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults
title_short Effect of kapalabhati on performance of six-letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults
title_sort effect of kapalabhati on performance of six letter cancellation and digit letter substitution task in adults
topic DLST; high frequency yoga breathing; kapalabhati; pranayama; SLCT
url http://www.ijoy.org.in/article.asp?issn=0973-6131;year=2013;volume=6;issue=2;spage=128;epage=130;aulast=Pradhan
work_keys_str_mv AT balarampradhan effectofkapalabhationperformanceofsixlettercancellationanddigitlettersubstitutiontaskinadults