UNIIATERAL FORCED NOSTRIL BREATHING: Basic Science, Clinical Trials, and Selected Advanced Techniques

This arricle reviews the published basic science and clinical studies on unilateral forced nostril breatbing (UFNB), a subset of yogic breathing (ptanayam) techniques that were discovered/devised more than 5000 years ago. The relationship of UFNB to the ultradian physiological phenomenon called the nasal cycle, a marker of mind-body states is also reviewed. Basic science studies show how UFNB can affect the autonomic nervous system, central nervous system (including cognition), and general metabolic activities. Clinical trials on the application to angina pectoris and obsessive compulsive disorder are described, In addition, three selected advanced UFNB techniques are described; one for stimulating the immune system; one for developing a comprehensive, comparative, and intuitive mind; and a third for developing an enlightened-transcendent mind. These three techniques are part of the ancient science of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan

The time scales of irreversibility in spontaneous brain activity are altered in obsessive compulsive disorder

We study how obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects the complexity and time-reversal symmetry-breaking (irreversibility) of the brain resting-state activity as measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG). Comparing MEG recordings from OCD patients and age/sex matched control subjects, we find that irreversibility is more concentrated at faster time scales and more uniformly distributed across different channels of the same hemisphere in OCD patients than in control subjects. Furthermore, the interhemispheric asymmetry between homologous areas of OCD patients and controls is also markedly different. Some of these differences were reduced by 1-year of Kundalini Yoga meditation treatment. Taken together, these results suggest that OCD alters the dynamic attractor of the brain's resting state and hint at a possible novel neurophysiological characterization of this psychiatric disorder and how this therapy can possibly modulate brain function

Editorial: Advances in brain dynamics in the healthy and psychiatric disorders

Psychiatry aims at diagnosing and treating psychological disorders and other mental health conditions affecting how subjects behave, think, or feel. Psychiatrists resort to a variety of diagnostic techniques, ranging from standard semiotics to physiological testing, and imaging or stimulation techniques, and treatment strategies may be behavioral, pharmacological, or instrumental. However, knowledge of how neural activity translates into behavior is often insufficient to define precise nosological categories and to interact with the brain in a language it can understand. Improvements in both modeling and treatment require a better understanding of the underlying neural processes and finding new meaningful variables to characterize both healthy brain activity and its pathology

An evaluation of treatment response and remission definitions in adult obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review and individual-patient data meta-analysis

International audienceIntroductionExpert consensus operationalized treatment response and remission in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as a Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) reduction ≥35% and score ≤12 with ≤2 on Clinical Global Impressions Improvement (CGI-I) and Severity (CGI-S) scales, respectively. However, there has been scant empirical evidence supporting these definitions.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and an individual participant data meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) in adults with OCD to determine optimal Y-BOCS thresholds for response and remission. We estimated pooled sensitivity/specificity for each percent reduction threshold (response) or posttreatment score (remission) to determine response and remission defined by a CGI-I and CGI-S ≤ 2, respectively.ResultsIndividual participant data from 25 of 94 eligible RCTs (1235 participants) were included. The optimal threshold for response was ≥30% Y-BOCS reduction and for remission was ≤15 posttreatment Y-BOCS. However, differences in sensitivity and specificity between the optimal and nearby thresholds for response and remission were small with some uncertainty demonstrated by the confidence ellipses.ConclusionWhile the empirically derived Y-BOCS thresholds in our meta-analysis differ from expert consensus, given the predominance of data from more recent trials of OCD, which involved more refractory participants and novel treatment modalities as opposed to first-line therapies, we recommend the continued use of the consensus definitions