For too many cancer survivors, life after treatment is fraught with a decline in cognitive function known as “chemo brain.”
A newly published study by a Northeastern professor says that yoga might hold the key to restoring brain health in long-term cancer survivors in a manner unrivaled by aerobic exercise or stretching and toning exercises.
Associate professor Neha Gothe says the pilot study published in the open access journal Frontiers in Cognition is the first randomized control study to compare yoga with other forms of exercise among people treated for a variety of cancers.
The study randomized 78 people who had survived cancer for an average of eight years into three groups of 26 who did hatha yoga, aerobic exercise or stretching and toning exercises 150 minutes a week for 12 weeks.
Self-reporting from all three groups showed gains in concentration, focus and memory, but the “yoga group showed the most improvement on their perceived cognitive abilities,” Gothe says.
