Enhancement of the Cognitive Abilities in Visually Impaired Children Following a Yoga Based Intervention

Background: Perception and cognition in individuals are directly linked to the sensory organs. Yogic practices and meditation are known to calm the mind and enhance the cognitive abilities in an individual. Objective: In visually impaired children, academic performance is affected by their loss of vision. The present study is a pilot study to understand the improvement in verbal recall memory of children with visual impairment following the practice of a yogic module. Methods: The study was a pre-post single arm study of 113 children from a blind school in Surat who underwent a seven hour yoga and pranayama-based workshop. The intervention included three ancient techniques, viz. pranayama (breathing techniques), super brain yoga and yoga nidra (supine relaxation). Assessment of the verbal memory was done using Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Subjects were tested for verbal memory recall before and after the intervention. Results: Results indicated a significant improvement in the retention and recall memory of the participants post intervention (p value <0.001). Both genders demonstrated an equivalent performance after the intervention. Conclusion: The results indicate that such holistic techniques play a positive role in improving the academic performance of visually impaired children.