Yoga Nidra practice helps in making you smarter and sleep better, reveals AFMC Pune research

A recent study done at Human Sleep Research Lab at the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College in Pune suggests that Yoga Nidra, an ancient yogic technique can help to improve the processing of the human brain, enhance their learning memory and even help sleep better. 

The recently published research demonstrated that using a supervised method of this ancient technique significantly improves the performance of healthy volunteers in various cognitive challenges and tasks. Both reaction times and accuracy were improved in the test group.

Commenting on the importance of the findings, Lt Gen Narendra Kotwal, Director and Commandant of AFMC highlighted the importance of scientifically validating the hidden knowledge in our ancient traditions. 

The study demonstrates the value of using a specialized yogic technique to improve human function. He congratulated the principal worker Col Karuna Datta Professor & Head, Department of Sports Medicine who is also a leading researcher in this field and principal investigator of the project. He also lauded the support of the project coordinator, Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar (Retd), Former Dean of AFMC who is currently the Vice Chancellor MUHS Nashik.

The findings were recently published by PLOS in their leading international journal, ‘PLOS ONE’ available at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0294678. 

The results pave the way for applying the technique in larger sets of people and populations to demonstrate better performance in both illness and wellness, the principal worker Col Karuna said.

Funded by Department of Science and Technology, DST SATYAM, this project has helped the institute to establish a state-of-the-art Human Sleep Research Lab and laid the foundation to do other such studies. Thanking the funding agency for its assistance, Maj Gen D Vivekanand, Dean and Deputy Commandant, AFMC Pune remarked about the project as a shining example of translational research, a key priority area for the prestigious institute