Study of effects of yoga and pranayama on human reaction time and certain physiological parameters in normal and hypertensive subjects

Abstract

Background: Yoga is a process of gaining control over the mind, as defined by Patanjali. Stress has been implicated as one of the major causes of essential hypertension. Yoga works on every cell of the body. Yoga influences body as well as controls the stress in the individual. An index of the processing ability of central nervous system and a simple means of determining sensory-motor performance is referred to as reaction time (RT). It has been proclaimed that human performance including central neural processing is improved by yoga training. It improves cardiorespiratory performance, balances autonomic nervous system, decreases pulse, respiratory rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Aims and Objective: To show the effects of yoga and pranayam on auditory and visual RT and on certain physiological parameters such as weight, body mass index, pulse rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure in normal and hypertensive subjects. Materials and Methods: This comparative type of study included 70 normal and 70 hypertensive subjects. It was carried on subjects between 30 and 60 years of age. Auditory reaction time (ART) and visual reaction time (VRT) were studied in subjects with “Response Analyzer” reaction time apparatus. The physiological parameters such as weight, body mass index, pulse rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were measured. Parameters were measured in two sittings; on admission to yoga center and after 3 months. Statistical software STATA Version 10.0 was used for statistical analysis. Result: It was found that changes in the RT and physiological parameters were significant in hypertensive subjects when compared with normal individuals. Conclusion: Yoga is a helpful intervention in hypertensive subjects. Yoga and pranayam are more beneficial to hypertensive subjects. RT is an index of cortical arousal, and a decrease in it indicates an improved sensory-motor performance and an enhanced processing ability of the central nervous system.