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| REVIEW ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 54
| Issue : 2 | Page : 128-132 |
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Yoga and attention: A systematic review
Kanchan Yadav, Arti Yadav, Sandeep Singh
Department of Yoga Science, University of Patanjali, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India
| Date of Submission | 02-Jun-2022 |
| Date of Decision | 01-Sep-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 14-Sep-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 15-Dec-2022 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Sandeep Singh
Department of Yoga Science, University of Patanjali, Haridwar - 249 405, Uttarakhand
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ym.ym_66_22
In modern times, people are suffering from numerous types of difficulties. Stress and mental problems have become part of one's life. Excessive use of mobile phones, other electronic devices, and drug intake has caused many cognitive and mental problems. Attention, memory, and cognitive functions are affected by electronic and digital devices. Previous studies have shown that yoga can reduce stress and anxiety and improve cognitive functions such as attention and memory. The patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome search strategy was used to identify the keywords. Using the key words “yoga and attention,” 285 studies were identified from three databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct) and a search engine (Google Scholar). For discussion, 18 studies were included in the review. There was a wide range of age groups where the effectiveness of yoga on attention had been researched. This systematic review also revealed that attention in children also depends on memory development and anxiety. The particular study on the systematic reviews showed the high effectiveness of yoga, yogic exercises, mindfulness, and other yogic techniques on the level of attention among children. The study also revealed the coexistence of attention with memory development.
Keywords: Attention, children, memory, yoga
How to cite this article:
Yadav K, Yadav A, Singh S. Yoga and attention: A systematic review. Yoga Mimamsa 2022;54:128-32 |
| Introduction | |  |
The practice of yoga has been regarded as a spiritual discipline since ancient times. Modern scientific researchers have shown its efficacy for the benefit of humankind at a different level of persona, mainly attention. Modern cognitive psychologists believe that attention is the constant process of filtering out information from one's perceived surroundings and focusing on specific elements.[1],[2] In a study, meditation practice is associated with changes in the physical structure of the brain and positively impacts attention in an individual. Compared to controls, meditation participants had thicker brain areas involved with attention and sensory processing than matched controls.[3] Another study discovered that regular meditation practice is linked to a significant increase in attention ability.[4] The elucidation of the neurological basis of conscious experience requires a mechanical understanding of attention. Working memory, top–down sensitivity control, competitive selection, and automatic bottom-up filtering for salient stimuli are the four processes that makeup attention. Each process contributes to attention in a vital and essential way.[5] Attention is a required element of cognition and has been characterized in two ways, namely, (i) either as a capacity or (ii) as a skill of resource implementation. Attention is the ability to attend to a task for the needed time.[6] Some other causes affecting attention are found to be drug abuse. Attention is negatively affected using marijuana and positively affected using nicotine.[7],[8] The substantial use of alcohol affects the cognition and attention of college students.[7] A study has shown that 20%–30% of the diagnosed population suffered primarily from attention deficit.[9] Several studies investigated the effects of yoga on cognitive functions and found that it had effects on attention. Meditation has shown a positive impact on attention.[10] A study found that yoga practice had improved attention and memory in children.[11] Another study found that the practice of yoga and meditation improves cognitive skills, sustained and divided attention, concentration, short-term memory, visual information processing, working memory, complex cognitive speed, and flexibility of students.[12] To our knowledge, there is no systematic review assessing the effects of yoga on attention. Hence, this systematic review aimed to assess the effects of yoga on attention.
| Materials and Methods | | |
Search strategies
The present review used electronic database searches with PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct, supplemented with Google Scholar search. From January 2015 to December 2020, published scientific studies (randomized control trial, case studies, and pilot studies) in English were reviewed. The search expression used for the search strategy was “yoga” and “Attention.” The present study primarily relied on electronic searches (online databases) as a part of this review.
Screening and selection
Article selection was determined through successive screening of the study design, titles, abstracts, and full-text articles based on the level of assessment required to ascertain eligibility.
Inclusion criteria
The current systematic review includes studies published in English under the titles “yoga” and “Attention” with full-text articles, with participants of all ages and suffering from any disease.
Exclusion criteria
Conference abstracts, books, review articles, theses, and dissertations were not included in the present systematic review. Articles other than English language articles were excluded from the study.
Data extraction
The studies that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were assessed in detail. Information that was extracted from the records included the author, year of the study, sample size, study design, and age group of samples. Clarifications and doubts, if any, were sorted out by brainstorming and mutual discussion.
| Results | | |
A total of 18 studies were included in the review [Figure 1]. After searching databases, 285 articles were identified (Cochrane Library = 83, PubMed = 69, Science Direct = 87, and Google Scholar = 46). Two hundred and sixty-seven studies were excluded from the study. Two hundred and thirty-four studies were excluded because they did not have “yoga” or “Attention” in their titles. Twelve studies were excluded due to duplication. Nine studies were excluded because they were not in the English language. Six studies were excluded because they were theses, dissertations, or books. Three studies were excluded because they were reviews. Three studies were not relevant to the objective of the study. The most common instrument used was the Trail Making Test , followed by other rating scales including the Letter Cancellation Task, Six-Letter Cancellation Test, Visual Attention Test, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Rating Scale-IV, d2-R, strengths and weaknesses of ADHD symptoms and normal behavior (symptoms and normal-behavior), Digit Cancellation Test, Attention Control Scale, Test/Digit Span Test and Stroop Color Test, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Response Inhibition Task, Number–Letter Task, Attention Network Task, Continuous Performance Test, Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CCPT), Second Edition CCPT, ADHD RS-IV Preschool Version, Visual Pursuit Test, and Determination Test. The sample size of the studies varied from 20 to 802, from the age group of 3 to 35+ years.
| Discussion | | |
The systematic literature reviews using the patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome strategy show that yogic practices and allied interventional approaches significantly affect the cognitive functions, particularly attention and anxiety, in samples of different age groups. The reviews had a wide range of studies with different age groups [Table 1]. All the studies included in systematic reviews have been classified into five different age groups. | Table 1: Number of literature reviews article with the sample's age group
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Out of 285 papers screened, 18 research papers included for the discussion [Table 2] shows a significant impact on attention. The research articles also reveal some additional information and its effects. Primary school children and adults having attention problems with the age groups between 7 and 14 years and 17 and 35 years simultaneously discussed. The six studies between the age group 7 and 14 years included showed high significance in improvements in memory and performance of the samples. The studies included suggest an improvement in attention for the 17–35 year age group with yoga as an independent variable. The five studies in the age groups 0–7 and 14–17 also show a significant effect on attention and concentration among children.
The high school children's age group between 14 and 17 years was discussed secondarily, with three studies out of 18 studies included for systematic reviews. Concludes that most of the studies are done on primary school children and adults between the ages of 17 and 35 years.
The group of researchers researched that yoga practices such as postures (asanas), breathing techniques (Pranayamas), and yogic games for 6–12 weeks improve attention among 3–5 years of children. They also proved that indices such as visual motor precision, the parent's rating scale of attention, decreased omission errors on some attention tasks and the behavior of inattention, and hyperactivity at the age of 3–5 years can also be affected substantially. The results showed that practices vary from Hatha Yoga, mindfulness training, and yogic practices such as Surya Namaskar, deep relaxation techniques (DRTs), raj yoga, and mind–body training, which are also known as super brain yoga.[13],[14] According to a study, high-frequency yoga breathing and yoga-based breath awareness combined with quiet sitting can significantly improve attention and reduce anxiety.[15] A pretest–posttest study on 91 sample sizes with an age group of 10–12 years showed that super brain yoga improves short-term memory and selective attention of the students.[16] In a cross-sectional, single-center study with 40 sample sizes, that 30 min of yoga package, which included chanting, postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation for 12 months, improved memory, reduced anxiety, increased self-confidence, and changed students' perceptions.[17]
The randomized control trial with a sample size of 113 with an age group of 7–14 years has justified that yoga practices such as Hatha Yoga, deep breathing, stretching, meditation, relaxation, breath awareness, body awareness, and rhythmic movements for 40–45 min for 8 weeks can significantly improve attention, memory, performance on task and lower impulsivity in children with cerebral palsy and reduce attention problems and inhibition problems in children suffering with ADHD.[18],[19],[20] In a study with a sample size of 60, a group of yogic physical activities such as Surya Namaskar, asanas, pranayama, and DRTs can significantly improve attention, concentration, and cardiovascular endurance after weeks of practice.[21] A study showed that 6–8 weeks of yoga practice such as traditional ashtanga vinyasa yoga, ujjayi, and raja yoga meditation significantly improved perceived stress, salivary cortisol, and improved perception and attention in the age group of 18–35 years.[22] A research on 100 samples showed that yoga for 12 weeks regularly for 30 min, 5 days a week significantly improved attention, concentration, and memory in healthy medical students.[23] In other research, 180 university students participated in a study where they were randomly assigned to mindfulness training (experimental groups), awareness exercises (active control group), or no training (passive control group). Two mindfulness-based interventions, one of which included yoga and the other of which did not, were used to teach mindfulness. In regards to the aspect of attention regulation, the study found that seven biweekly mindfulness training sessions did not reveal any different advantages from mindfulness training with or without yoga.[24] Through a research intervention, where 20 participants were given elective yoga lectures and philosophical instructions for 6 weeks, it was suggested that after the yoga course, depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems were reduced with improved attention control.[25],[26] An experimental control study with a sample size of 60, it was revealed that an hour of raj yoga practice for 8 weeks can significantly improve the perception and attention of individuals aged 21–23 years.[27] The pre- and postexperimental control study showed that 25-min sessions of Hatha Yoga and meditation for 12 weeks can considerably improve attention and hyperactivity in high school students.[28] A randomized controlled trial on 802 samples showed that 1 h of yoga training or physical exercises for 2 months daily can improve executive functions, attention, and working memory in adolescent school children.[29] A research reported that asanas such as warrior pose, easy lotus pose, sun salutation, deep breathing exercises, meditative exercises, and mantra repetition can significantly improve the attention and information processing abilities in older adults.[30]
| Conclusion | | |
The review suggests that yoga, yogic exercises, mindfulness, and other yogic techniques had significant improvements in attention among children. The study also revealed the coexistence of attention with memory development. The review also suggests that yoga can have a substantial effect on memory development and attention in all age groups. A few studies included in this review have also revealed that yoga helps in reducing anxiety and depressive behavior in a targeted population. This systematic review advocates the need for yoga intervention in school settings by assessing its efficacy in the management of psychological disorders in the targeted population. Hence, yoga and other techniques are indeed effective in increasing people's attention levels. Therefore, it needs to be the primary intervention strategy for future studies.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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[Figure 1]
[Table 1], [Table 2]
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