Bio-electrical activity: As a valid variable in yoga research

Background: The claims of ancient yogic text indicate that yoga practice leads to enhanced body awareness; however, the present research tool, as seen in research reviews, to measure such psychophysiological phenomenon aspect of body awareness has not been proven so far. Therefore, this study is tak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Yoga-mimamsa 2016-01, Vol.48 (1), p.13-17
Main Authors: Dattatreya Devarao Kulkarni, Ranjeet Singh Bhogal, Anita Verma, Sanjay Uddhav Shete
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bio-electrical activity
human consciousness
human information processing
psychobiology
yoga
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Background: The claims of ancient yogic text indicate that yoga practice leads to enhanced body awareness; however, the present research tool, as seen in research reviews, to measure such psychophysiological phenomenon aspect of body awareness has not been proven so far. Therefore, this study is taken to propose bio-electrical activity as a suitable experimental variable to quantify the awareness phenomena of yoga practices. Objective: To explore conceptual plausibility for establishing a suitable cellular electrophysiological variable to quantify body awareness. Method: The separate reviews of past research literature on both whole-body bio-electrical activity and human information processing (HIP) aspect of body awareness in relation to yoga were explored. The studies which indicate improvement in energy storage, energy circulation, and energy expenditure at cellular and somato-cortical levels were included in this review. Furthermore, studies indicating enhancement in brain abilities such as perception, attention, learning, and motor functions demonstrating that profile of bio-electrical activity may be a suitable parameter common to both quantification of body awareness and whole-body bio-electrical activity were included. Results: The present study explores the bio-electrical energy dynamics of human consciousness. The bio-electrical response variables, such as impedance (Z), reactance (Xc), and relative arrival time of current (I), and voltage (V), measured as phase angle of the cell, have been proposed to be a valid tool to understand enhancing psychobiological basis of body awareness due to yogic practices. Conclusion: The bio-electrical measure of cell activity reflects HIP aspect of awareness from cellular level to whole-body level.
ISSN:0044-0507
2394-2487
DOI:10.4103/0044-0507.198704