Immediate effects of right and left nostril breathing on verbal and spatial scores.
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2008-04-10
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Abstract
The immediate effect of two yoga breathing techniques was assessed on verbal and spatial memory tasks, considered hemisphere-specific. Forty-five participants (24 males; age range 20 to 45 years (mean age 27.1 +/- 8.1 years) were randomly allocated to three groups (n = 15 each) and were assessed immediately before and after 45 minutes of three breathing practices i.e., right nostril yoga breathing, left nostril yoga breathing, or breath awareness as a control intervention. Spatial memory scores increased after left nostril yoga breathing compared to before (by 16 percent, P = 0.03, paired t-test). Hence, breathing through the left nostril increased performance in a spatial cognitive task, corresponding to the cerebral hemisphere contralateral to the patent nostril.
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Joshi M, Telles S. Immediate effects of right and left nostril breathing on verbal and spatial scores. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 2008 Apr-Jun; 52(2): 197-200