Sharma V K, Das S, Mondal S, Goswami U, Gandhi A
Department of Physiology, Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College, New Delhi.
Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2006 Oct-Dec;50(4):375-83.
Cognitive functions are impaired in Major Depression. Studies on the effects of Yoga on cognitive functions have shown improvement in memory, vigilance and anxiety levels. 30 patients suffering from Major depression (age 18 to 45 years) were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1: (10 males and 5 Females) Patients who practised Sahaj Yoga meditation and also received conventional anti-depressant medication. Group 2: (9 males and 6 Females) Patients who only received conventional antidepressant medication. Group 1 patients were administered Sahaj Yoga practice for 8 weeks. Neuro-cognitive test battery consisting of Letter cancellation test (LCT), Trail making test 'A' (TTA), Trail making test 'B' (TTB), Ruff figural fluency test (RFFT), Forward digit span (FDS) & Reverse digit span test (RDS) was used to assess following cognitive domains: Attention span, visuo-motor speed, short-term memory, working memory and executive functions. After 8 weeks, both Group 1 and Group 2 subjects showed significant improvement in LCT, TTA & TTB but improvement in LCT was more marked in Group 1 subjects. Also, there was significant improvement in RDS scores in only Group 1 subjects (P < 0.05). The results thereby, demonstrate that Sahaj Yoga practice in addition to the improvement in various other cognitive domains seen with conventional anti-depressants, can lead to additional improvement in executive functions like manipulation of information in the verbal working memory and added improvement in attention span and visuo-motor speed of the depressives.
重度抑郁症患者存在认知功能障碍。关于瑜伽对认知功能影响的研究表明，在记忆、警觉性和焦虑水平方面有改善。30名重度抑郁症患者（年龄18至45岁）被随机分为两组：第1组：（10名男性和5名女性）练习霎哈嘉瑜伽冥想并同时接受传统抗抑郁药物治疗的患者。第2组：（9名男性和6名女性）仅接受传统抗抑郁药物治疗的患者。第1组患者进行了8周的霎哈嘉瑜伽练习。使用由字母划消测试（LCT）、连线测验“A”（TTA）、连线测验“B”（TTB）、拉夫图形流畅性测试（RFFT）、顺背数字广度（FDS）和倒背数字广度测试（RDS）组成的神经认知测试组合，来评估以下认知领域：注意力广度、视运动速度、短期记忆、工作记忆和执行功能。8周后，第1组和第2组受试者在LCT、TTA和TTB方面均有显著改善，但第1组受试者在LCT方面的改善更为明显。此外，仅第1组受试者的RDS分数有显著改善（P < 0.05）。因此，结果表明，除了与传统抗抑郁药一起出现的各种其他认知领域的改善外，霎哈嘉瑜伽练习还可以使执行功能（如言语工作记忆中的信息处理）得到额外改善，并使抑郁症患者的注意力广度和视运动速度得到进一步改善。
