Potential self-regulatory mechanisms of yoga for psychological health.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience January 1, 2014 Tim Gard, Jessica J Noggle, Crystal L Park et al.
A theoretical framework and systems-based network model proposes that yoga integrates top-down and bottom-up forms of self-regulation to improve psychological health. The model emphasizes how specific components of yoga practice affect cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and autonomic output under stress through interoception and bottom-up input, resulting in bidirectional feedback between high- and low-level brain networks and afferent input from interoceptive processes. From a predictive coding perspective, yoga shifts perceptual inference for stress modulation and optimal self-regulation. Over time and practice, self-regulatory processes become more automatized and efficient, requiring less effort to initiate and terminating more rapidly when no longer needed. The paper synthesizes evidence from behavior theory and cognitive neuroscience with emerging yoga and meditation research to guide future research on stress-mediated psychological disorders.