The effect of eight weeks of Yoga exercise on sustained attention and memory performance in people with Schizophrenia

Cognitive impairment is one of the most important symptoms of schizophrenia. Although drug therapy is beneficial for the improvement of schizophrenia symptoms, about 30% of patients are resistant to treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of Yoga exercises on the sustained attention and memory performance of schizophrenic patients. In this semi-experimental study, 24 schizophrenia patients were selected and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups in terms of Intelligence quotient, duration of illness, medication and alcohol and narcotics consumption. Participants performed a sustained attention and memory performance test before starting Yoga exercises. The sustained attention and memory performance tests were repeated after eight weeks of Yoga exercises, three sessions per week. The results showed that Yoga exercises had a significant effect on sustained attention subscales (p<0.05). However, there was no change in the commission error after the Yoga exercises. Furthermore, in memory performance, the effect of Yoga exercises on general memory, mental control, associative learning, and visual memory subscales were significant (p<0.05). But these changes were not significant in other subscales. The present study shows that eight weeks of Yoga exercises have changed the subscales of sustained attention and memory performance, which is effective on the cognitive function of schizophrenic patients. It is suggested that Yoga exercises be used to improve the sustained attention and memory performance of schizophrenic patients.