Doing yoga for a long time can change the structure of your brain and pro tect it against cognitive decline in old age, says new research. Researchers compared `yoginis' with another group of healthy women who had never practiced yoga, meditation or any other contemplative practices, but who were well-matched to the yoginis in terms of their age (all the participants were 60 or over) and levels of physical activity .
“We found greater thickness in the left prefrontal cortex in the yoginis, in brain regions associated with cognitive functions such as attention and memory,“ Rui Afonso, a researcher from a Brazilian hospital.
“In the same way as muscles, the brain develops through training. Like any contemplative practice, yoga has a cognitive component in which attention and concentration are important,“ explained one of the researchers, Elisa Kozasa.
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