Effect of Single Pranayam Technique on Cardio Vascular Parameters and Mental Chronometry among Medical Students

Different types of Pranayam are known to improve autonomic function by changing sympathetic or parasympathetic activity. Reaction time (RT) is an index of cortical arousal involving central neural mechanisms. It is an indirect index of processing ability of the CNS and a simple means of determining sensory motor associations and performance. In this study, we assessed the effect of slow pranayam on Auditory and Visual Reaction time.

60 volunteers were recruited and informed consent was obtained from them. They were divided into two groups: control (n=30), Savitri (n=30). At the beginning of the study period RT was recorded after 10 min rest. Savitri group were practiced slow yogic breathing for three months, after which RT was recorded again during the same experimental conditions. Paired’ test was done to compare the values within group and unpaired’ test was done to compare the values between male and female subjects.

In the control group, all the parameters were not significant at the end of study period. In pranayam group, BMI was significantly lower in males and females respectively. VRT was significantly lower in males of pranayam group after the study period. Both ART and VRT were lower in males as compared to females after training of savitri pranayam.

Our study reported that slow pranayam are known to enhance parasympathetic tone, produce a highly significant decrease in oxygen consumption and psychosomatic relaxation. This is of applied value in situations requiring faster reactivity such as sports, machine operation, race driving and specialized surgery.