Yoga Reduces the Brain’s Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations in Patients with Early Psychosis

Abstract

Background: Exercise attracted increasing attention for improving neurocognitive functioning in patients with psychotic disorders. However, there has been limited understanding of the neural mechanism of these effects. This study aimed to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise and yoga on cerebral spontaneous functional fluctuations in patients with early psychosis. Methods: A total of 140 female patients with early psychosis were recruited and 124 received the allocated intervention in a randomized controlled study of 12 weeks of yoga or aerobic exercise compared with a wait-list group. 91 participants were scanned at baseline, and 72 had completed the scans at 12 weeks. The amplitudes of low-frequency functional (ALFF) fluctuations were compared among three groups, and the correlation between ALFF, cognition and clinical symptoms were examined. Results: Both yoga and aerobic exercise improved working memory and overall symptoms in patients with psychosis compared to the control group. There was no significant changes of ALFF in aerobic exercise group. The ALFF decreased in the left precuneus for the yoga group compared to the control group, which was correlated to the improvements of negative symptoms in all the participants. Conclusions: It is the first study to investigate the effects of yoga and aerobic exercise on brain function in patients with early psychosis. The results help to understand the possible neurobiological underpinnings for the cognitive and clinical improvements from yoga and aerobic exercise.