Can Kundalini Yoga Alter Alzheimer’s Risk?

A recent Journal of Alzheimer‘s Disease study explores Kundalini yoga’s potential influence on brain connectivity in older women at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. This form of yoga, coupled with memory training, seems to trigger distinctive patterns of brain connectivity changes.

Alzheimer’s disease, marked by cognitive decline and memory loss, has some non-modifiable risk factors, but cardiovascular ones like obesity and high blood pressure can contribute. Kundalini yoga positively impacts heart health, potentially delaying cognitive decline.

Kundalini yoga combines movement, meditation, and breathing, well-suited for older adults. Studies also suggest yoga’s brain-protective effects, particularly on the hippocampus linked to memory.

Comparing Kundalini yoga to memory training, this study focused on women at risk for Alzheimer’s. Yoga led to enhanced connectivity in the anterior hippocampal subregion, linked to introspection. It also improved connections in the posterior hippocampal subregion.

Memory training, on the other hand, boosted connectivity in sensory-based networks linked to memory and cognitive control.

According to author Helen Lavretsky, yoga and memory training can both aid brain health and cognition, but they work via different pathways.

Though the study suggests yoga’s potential benefits, larger trials with more robust designs are needed. Lavretsky emphasizes that starting preventive measures early and following up over time could demonstrate delayed onset or prevention of dementia. She adds that yoga, as a stress-reducing life skill, can be practiced at any age for its anti-inflammatory and brain fitness effects.

Re-reported from the article originally published in PsyPost