Neural correlates of breath work, mental imagery of yoga postures, and meditation in yoga practitioners: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Long-term yoga practitioners show distinct brain activation patterns compared to short-term practitioners during three core yoga components: breath work, postures, and meditation. During breath work, long-term practitioners had higher blood oxygen levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In mental imagery of yoga postures, they reported better mastery and showed lower activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. During mindfulness meditation, they exhibited higher blood oxygen levels in the orbitofrontal cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that long-term practice of each yoga component leads to neural benefits involving efficient prefrontal cortex activation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

ObjectivePrevious research has shown numerous health benefits of yoga, a multicomponent physical and mental activity. The three important aspects of both traditional and modern yoga are breath work, postures, and meditation. However, the neural mechanisms associated with these three aspects of yoga remain largely unknown. The present study investigated the neural underpinnings associated with each of these three yoga components in long- and short-term yoga practitioners to clarify the neural advantages of yoga experience, aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of yoga’s health-promoting effects.MethodsParticipants were 40 Chinese women, 20 with a long-term yoga practice and 20 with a short-term yoga practice. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was conducted while participants performed abdominal breathing, mental imagery of yoga postures, and mindfulness meditation. The oxygenated hemoglobin concentrations activated in the brain during these three tasks were used to assess the neural responses to the different aspects of yoga practice. The self-reported mastery of each yoga posture was used to assess the advantages of practicing yoga postures.ResultsBlood oxygen levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during breath work were significantly higher in long-term yoga practitioners than in short-term yoga practitioners. In the mental imagery of yoga postures task, self-reported data showed that long-term yoga practitioners had better mastery than short-term practitioners. Long-term yoga practitioners demonstrated lower activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, with lower blood oxygen levels associated with performing this task, than short-term yoga practitioners. In the mindfulness meditation task, blood oxygen levels in the orbitofrontal cortex and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were significantly higher in long-term yoga practitioners than in short-term yoga practitioners.ConclusionThe three core yoga components, namely, yogic breathing, postures, and meditation, showed differences and similarities in the activation levels of the prefrontal cortex. Long-term practice of each component led to the neural benefits of efficient activation in the prefrontal cortex, especially in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.