‘Kirtan’ improves memory, helps fight Alzheimer’s
Washington, May 18
A three-month course in yoga and meditation, particularly age-old Indian practice of “kirtan”, may help boost memory and fight Alzheimer’s disease, American scientists have said.
A team of US neuroscientists from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) found that yoga and meditation helped minimise cognitive and emotional problems that often preceded Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
The researchers also found that it was even more effective than the memory enhancement exercises that have been considered the gold standard for managing cognitive impairment.
The study, funded by Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation, was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. “Memory training was comparable to yoga with meditation in terms of improving memory, but yoga provided a broader benefit than memory training because it also helped with mood, anxiety and coping skills,” said Helen Lavretsky, the study’s senior author and a professor in residence in UCLA’s department of psychiatry. The experiment was carried out on 25 participants, all aged over 55. “Clinical research has shown that practising kirtan kriya for just 12 minutes a day can improve cognition and activate parts of the brain that are central to memory,” Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation said. — PTI
