Effect of Prana vidya practices on cognitive abilities of adolescents: A randomized control trial

Abstract

Context: Prana vidya practices (PVPs) have been found to be effective in improving intelligence quotient and performance quotient previously. This article is the sequel to previous research and investigates the effect of PVPs on the selected cognitive abilities of adolescents. Aim: To study the effect of the PVPs (Prana Vidya Practices for Consciousness Enrichment [PVPCE]), a prana visualization-based technique, on the cognitive abilities associated with (i) Six-letter cancellation task (SLCT) and (ii) Corsi block-tapping task (CBTT). Subjects and Methods: The present study was a randomized control trial carried out to examine the effect of a 5-week Prana vidya intervention on the cognitive abilities of adolescents. As an intervention, the practices of the PVPCE technique were given every day for 35 min. A sample size of 36 adolescent participants (14 boys and 22 girls) was obtained for this study. Statistical Analysis: The descriptive statistics (average value, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean) were obtained. The paired t-test for performance comparison along with Cohen's d test and repeated-measure analysis of variance between pre- and post-situations were also performed. Results: The results of the study show that in the experimental group, total attempts (TA) and net attempts (NA) of SLCT were significantly increased (P < 0.05); however, there was no significant change in the wrong attempts. In the CBTT, total scores and Corsi span also significantly increased (P < 0.05) in both the forward and backward directions. The PVPCE practices are most effective for SLCT-TA, SLCT-NA, and forward total score. Conclusion: The results suggest that PVPs (PVPCE technique) improve cognitive abilities associated with letter cancelation and block tapping tasks.