45 days of common yoga practice improves memory, sleep and brain connectivity, Pune study finds
45 days of common yoga practice improves memory, sleep and brain connectivity, Pune study finds 45 days of common yoga practice improves memory, sleep and brain connectivity, Pune study finds 45 days of common yoga practice improves memory, sleep and brain connectivity, Pune study finds 45 days of common yoga practice improves memory, sleep and brain connectivity, Pune study finds Pune: A 45-day practice of the govt’s standardised Common Yoga Protocol can improve memory, sleep quality and emotional well-being, while also changing the way different regions of the brain communicate with each other, a study conducted by researchers from Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, and Central Research Institute of Yoga and Naturopathy, Nagamangala, has found. Lead researchers Sarika Chaturvedi and Prajwal Rao said, “This study provides a systematic assessment of the effect of 45-day CYP practice on cognitive functions and neural network connectivity in healthy adults. The study involved 139 healthy adults aged 18 to 55 years, who were randomly divided into two groups. the remaining 69 were placed on a waiting list and served as the control group While 70 participants underwent the 45-day yoga programme. They also conducted fMRI scans on a subgroup of 50 participants to examine changes in brain connectivity. Participants attended supervised sessions lasting an average of 50 minutes. “I am happy that a Nature portfolio journal has published our study on 45 days of the 45-minute Common Yoga Protocol. Participants who practised yoga recorded a four-point improvement in positive emotions and a 3.47-point reduction in negative emotions compared with the control group. Their sleep quality improved by 1.2 points on the assessment scale. The study was conducted between Oct 2023 and Jan 2025 by researchers affiliated with Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Savitribai Phule Pune University and other institutions. It was published in the journal Scientific Reports on Nov 9, 2026, and funded by the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy under the Union Ayush ministry. The intervention lasted only 45 days, and it remains unclear how long the benefits persist after practice stops.
The brain scans revealed changes in connectivity across several networks associated with movement, attention, language processing and coordination. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Pune | Silver Rate in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune | Petrol Price in Pune | Diesel Price in Pune | CNG Price in Pune | LPG Price in Pune Stay updated with the latest Pune news.
With neurological and mental health challenges rising and healthspan lagging behind lifespan, such simple, doable and affordable practices may help improve wellbeing and make healthcare more accessible,” said co-author Bhushan Patwardhan. The study, which used functional MRI (fMRI) brain scans to examine the effects of yoga, offers evidence of its impact on both cognitive functions and brain connectivity in healthy adults. They described it as the first assessment of the Common Yoga Protocol in a randomised controlled trial and the first to examine its effects through neuroimaging. Researchers assessed their memory, emotional health and sleep quality. The programme included physical postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), relaxation through yoga nidra and meditation. The results showed a significant improvement in participants’ ability to recall information. In a test that measures short-term memory by asking people to repeat sequences of numbers, the yoga group recorded better forward and overall scores than the control group. However, there was no statistically significant improvement in backward number recall or in the test measuring processing speed. This reflects the growing interest in and global recognition of yoga. The emotional health findings were also significant. In simple terms, different parts of the brain showed changes in the way they communicated with one another following regular yoga practice. Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines However, the researchers cautioned that the findings do not establish that yoga prevents cognitive decline. They recommended larger, multi-centre studies with longer follow-up periods to establish whether the findings apply to wider populations. Download the TOI App.
The research is significant as it is the first randomised controlled trial to assess the Common Yoga Protocol using neuroimaging.
Unlike earlier studies that examined different forms and combinations of yoga, this study evaluated a standardised programme, making it possible to assess its effects more systematically.