Associations between attention, affect and cardiac activity in a single yoga session for female cancer survivors: an enactive neurophenomenology-based approach.
Michael J. Mackenzie, Linda E. Carlson, David M Paskevich, Panteleimon Ekkekakis, Amanda J Wurz, Kathryn Wytsma, Katie A Krenz, Edward Mcauley, S Nicole Culos-Reed
Consciousness and Cognition July 1, 2014 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.04.005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Mixed methods study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Female cancer survivors |
| Intervention | Yoga session |
| Duration | Single yoga session |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Affect Attention Cancer Exercise Heart rate variability Mixed methods Neurophenomenology Relaxation Yoga |
| Citations | 38 |
| Key points | Yoga practice was associated with a linear increase in associative attention and positive affective valence, and changes in attention and affect were predicted by concurrently assessed cardiac activity. |
Abstract
Yoga practice is reported to lead to improvements in quality of life, psychological functioning, and symptom indices in cancer survivors. Importantly, meditative states experienced within yoga practice are correlated to neurophysiological systems that moderate both focus of attention and affective valence. The current study used a mixed methods approach based in neurophenomenology to investigate associations between attention, affect, and cardiac activity during a single yoga session for female cancer survivors. Yoga practice was associated with a linear increase in associative attention and positive affective valence, while shifts in cardiac activity were related to the intensity of each yoga sequence. Changes in attention and affect were predicted by concurrently assessed cardiac activity. Awareness of breathing, physical movement, and increased relaxation were reported by participants as potential mechanisms for yoga's salutary effects. While yoga practice shares commonalities with exercise and relaxation training, yoga may serve primarily as a promising meditative attention-affect regulation training methodology.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory: The Convergence of Traditional Wisdom and Contemporary Neuroscience for Self-Regulation and Resilience Frontiers in Human Neuroscience February 27, 2018
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to Neurophenomenology - The Case of Studying Self Boundaries With Meditators. Frontiers in Psychology 2020
- Mindfulness and Affective Responses to Treadmill Walking in Individuals with Low Intrinsic Motivation to Exercise International journal of exercise science 2018
- The Effect of a Brief-Mindfulness Intervention on Psychophysiological Exertion and Flow-State Among Sedentary Adults. Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1, 2021
- Toward dimensional body consciousness impairments in post-traumatic stress disorder and its dissociative subtype: A predictive processing approach. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 1, 2026
and 2 more in the library
Cites 16
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
- Guiding the study of brain dynamics by using first-person data: Synchrony patterns correlate with ongoing conscious states during a simple visual task Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 22, 2002
- Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence Journal of Neuroscience October 21, 2009
and 11 more in the library