Efficacy of Yoga for sustained attention in university students.

Author: Sheela1, Nagendra HR2, Ganpat TS3.
Affiliation: 1M. Sc. Scholar, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Kempegowda Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. 2Chancellor, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Kempegowda Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. 3Assistant Professor, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana University, Kempegowda Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Conference/Journal: Ayu.
Date published: 2013 Jul
Other: Volume ID: 34 , Issue ID: 3 , Pages: 270-2 , Special Notes: doi: 10.4103/0974-8520.123117 , Word Count: 190



Sustained attention (SA) is a vital function mediated by the right frontal - parietal cortex. The digit vigilance test (DVT) measures SA. Assessment of SA in students for their academic excellence is considered to be an essential part of a neuropsychological evaluation. The objective of this study is to determine SA in students undergoing training of integrated Yoga module (IYM). A total of 66 university students aged between 18-37 years participated in this study with a single group pre-post design. The DVT data was collected before and after the IYM. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19 was used for data analysis. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test showed that the data were not normally distributed. The Wilcoxon's signed ranks test was used to compare means of data. The data analysis showed 11.66% decrease (P < 0.001) in total time taken for DVT and 31.90% decrease (P < 0.001) in error scores for DVT. The present study suggests that IYM can result in improvement of SA among students, thus paving the way for their academic excellence. Additional well-designed studies are needed before a strong recommendation can be made.
KEYWORDS:
Academic excellence, integrated Yoga module, sustained attention, university students

PMID: 24501521