Effect of a ten day yoga based vacation program on short term and working memory in school children

Abstract

Background: Memory is an important component of cognition and good memory in school children helps them to perform better in school. Yoga is known to improve cognitive function in school children and this study examines if Yoga can improve memory in school children. Aim: To see the effect of ten day yoga based vacation program on short term and working memory in school children. Methodology: 60 school children ages 10-11 years, who attended yoga based training summer vacation program were enrolled in this study. All students underwent a 10 day intense yoga program consisting of Asana (physical postures), Pranayama (breathing practices), meditation, relaxation techniques & yogic games. Short term and working memory was assessed by the Digit forward-backward span test before and at the end of the training program. Results: A significant improvement in digit span score (p < 0.001) was observed at the end of the 10 day training program. Conclusion: The 10 day yoga program was found to significantly improve both short term and working memory in the school children who participated in the program. The improvement in working (23.24 %) more is more than short term memory (11.67 %).