The Effects of Yoga on Brain GABA Levels

描述(由申请人提供)：随着补充和替代医学(CAM)技术(如瑜伽)的使用增加，阐明瑜伽发挥其有益健康作用的机制是很重要的。这项研究使用磁共振波谱(MRS)评估了为期12周的瑜伽干预对大脑主要抑制性神经递质伽马氨基丁酸(GABA)水平的影响。使用MRS，GABA水平在抑郁、焦虑、癫痫、可卡因依赖和酒精依赖的受试者中被证明是低的。所有这些疾病都是用已知的增加GABA系统活性的药理药物治疗的。对照研究表明，练习瑜伽还可以减少抑郁、焦虑和癫痫的症状。在之前的一项使用MRS的研究中，经验丰富的瑜伽练习者在60分钟的瑜伽课程后显示出大脑GABA水平增加了27%，相比之下，对照组在60分钟的阅读课程后发现了0.001%的变化。这表明瑜伽会提高大脑中的GABA水平，因此应该将其作为治疗大脑中GABA水平较低的疾病的一种治疗手段。这项申请提出了一项对60名受试者的纵向研究，这些受试者将被随机分为瑜伽组或阅读组。每组将参加为期12周的干预，包括60分钟的艾扬格瑜伽或每周三次阅读，最多36次干预。情绪量表将在每节课的开始和结束时收集。个人还将参加三次成像会议，包括情绪量表，然后在以下时间进行MRS扫描：随机化前的基线扫描1；瑜伽或阅读干预12周后的扫描2；扫描2后约1小时的扫描3，在此期间，受试者将根据小组分配参加60分钟的瑜伽或阅读会议。本研究将探索以下假设：1)瑜伽组和阅读组在扫描1的基础上GABA水平没有差异；2)瑜伽组的大脑GABA水平比阅读组的基线水平有更大的提高(扫描2-扫描1)；3)扫描干预后瑜伽组的GABA水平比阅读组表现出更大的急剧增加(扫描3-扫描2)；4和5)在为期12周的干预过程中，瑜伽组的前后情绪量表显示出比阅读组更大的情绪改善；6)与阅读组相比，瑜伽组的情绪量表(Post-Pre)的急性变化更大；7)情绪状态的改善与大脑GABA水平的增加将呈正相关。 公共卫生相关性：与大脑GABA水平低相关的疾病，如抑郁和焦虑，每年给美国造成数十亿美元的治疗成本和生产力损失，更不用说个人成本了。这项研究将检验瑜伽练习显著提高大脑GABA水平的假设。如果得到证实，这将表明探索瑜伽作为治疗低GABA状态的有效性的风险与收益比是极好的，因为瑜伽练习促进了整体健康，如果练习正确，几乎没有副作用，而且没有二次依赖的风险，这种风险经常发生在一些药物治疗中。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) techniques such as yoga increases, it is important that the mechanisms through which yoga exerts its salubrious effects are elucidated. This study assesses the effects of a 12-week yoga intervention on the level of the brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA), using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Using MRS, GABA levels have been shown to be low in subjects with depression, anxiety, epilepsy, cocaine dependence, and alcohol dependence. All of these disorders are treated with pharmacologic agents known to increase the activity of the GABA system. Controlled studies have shown that the practice of yoga also decreases symptoms in depression, anxiety, and epilepsy. In a previous study using MRS, experienced yoga practitioners demonstrated a 27% increase in brain GABA levels following a 60-minute yoga session in contrast with a .001% change found in controls after a 60-minute reading session. This suggests that yoga increases brain GABA levels, and should therefore be explored as a therapeutic intervention in disorders in which brain GABA levels are low. This application proposes a longitudinal study of 60 subjects that will be randomized into a yoga group or a reading group. Each group will participate in a 12-week intervention that will be composed of 60- minutes of Iyengar yoga or reading three times a week for a maximum of 36 interventions. Mood scales will be collected at the beginning and end of each session. Individuals will also participate in three imaging sessions comprised of mood scales followed by a MRS scan at the following times: Scan 1 at baseline prior to randomization; Scan 2 after 12-weeks of either a yoga or reading intervention; Scan 3 approximately one hour after Scan 2 during which time subjects will participate in either a 60-minute yoga or reading session depending on the group assignment. This study will explore the following hypotheses: 1) There will be no difference in baseline GABA levels at Scan 1 between the yoga group and the reading group; 2) The yoga group will exhibit a greater increase in brain GABA levels from baseline than the reading group (Scan 2 - Scan 1); 3) The yoga group will exhibit a greater acute increase in GABA levels after the intrascan intervention than the reading group (Scan 3 - Scan 2); 4&5) Pre and Post session mood scales will show greater improvement in mood over the course of the 12-week intervention in the yoga group compared to the reading group; 6) Acute changes in mood scales (Post-Pre) will be greater in the yoga group compared to the reading group; 7) Improvement in mood states and increases in brain GABA levels will be positively correlated. Public Health Relevance: Disorders associated with low brain GABA states such as depression, and anxiety, cost the U.S billions of dollars each year in treatment costs and loss of productivity, not to mention the personal costs to the individual. This study will test the hypothesis that the practice of yoga significantly increases brain GABA levels. If confirmed this would suggest that the risk-to-benefit ratio of exploring the efficacy of yoga as a treatment for low GABA states is excellent, in that the practice of yoga promotes general health, has few side effects if practiced correctly and has no risk of secondary dependencies, which often occur with some pharmacologic treatments.