Effect of pranayama & yoga-asana on cognitive brain functions in type 2 diabetes-P3 event related evoked potential (ERP).

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Electrophysiological evidence of delayed cognition as measured by P300, an evoked potential is observed in Diabetes mellitus. P300 (or P3) is a component of endogenous cerebral evoked response that assesses higher functions of the brain. Our study aims to see the role of pranayama and yoga-asana on P300 latency and amplitude in type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS Sixty patients of type 2 diabetes were recruited from diabetic clinic and divided into two groups - control group on only conventional medical therapy and yoga-group on conventional medical therapy along with pranayama and yoga-asana. Basal recordings of P300 and blood glucose were taken at the time of recruitment and second recordings repeated after forty five days for both the groups. P300 was recorded on Nihon Kohden Neuropack mu MEB 9100 using auditory "odd-ball paradigm". The data were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's test at 5 per cent level of significance. RESULTS Statistically significant improvement in the latency and the amplitude of N200, P300 was observed in the yoga group as compared to the control group. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION Our data suggest that yoga has a beneficial effect on P300 and thus can be incorporated along with the conventional medical therapy for improving cognitive brain functions in diabetes.