Yoga breathing through a particular nostril is associated with contralateral event-related potential changes

BACKGROUND: In earlier studies uninostril yoga breathing was shown to influence the activity of the cerebral hemispheres differently, based on (i) auditory evoked potentials recorded from bilateral scalp sites, and (ii) performance in hemisphere-specific tasks. But change in P300 (event-related potential generated when subjects attend to and discriminate between stimuli) from bilateral scalp sites when subjects were practicing uni- and alternate-nostril breathing are yet to be explored. AIM: The present study was designed to determine whether or not immediately after uninostril or alternate nostril yoga breathing there would be a change in the ability to pay attention to a given stimulus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine healthy male volunteers, with ages between 20 and 45 years were randomly allocated to five sessions, viz., (i) right-, (ii) left-, (iii) alternate-nostril yoga breathing, (iv) breath awareness and (v) no intervention, each for 45 min on separate days. The P300 event related potential was recorded using an auditory oddball paradigm from sites on the left (C3) and right (C4), referenced to linked earlobes, before and after each session. RESULTS: Post-hoc analysis with Bonferroni adjustment showed that the P300 peak latency was significantly lower at C3 compared to that at C4, following right nostril yoga breathing (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that right nostril yoga breathing facilitates the activity of contralateral (left) hemisphere, in the performance of the P300 task.