P300 amplitude and antidepressant response to Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY)

doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(98)00029-9

Journal of Affective Disorders

Volume 50, Issue 1, 1 July 1998, Pages 45-48

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(98)00029-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

Background: There is evidence that Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) has significant antidepressant effects. Objective: The present study examined whether pretreatment P300 ERP amplitude predicts antidepressant response to SKY. Methods: Consenting, drug-free depressed patients (n=30; dysthymics, 15, melancholics, 15) who received SKY as the sole treatment were assessed clinically at pretreatment, 1 month and 3 months. Auditory P300 was recorded before treatment. Results: Twenty-two patients responded favourably to SKY. The pretreatment P300 amplitude neither distinguished responders and non-responders nor was associated with differential rates of response. Discussion: It is concluded that SKY therapy is uniformly effective regardless of the pretreatment P300 amplitude.

Introduction

Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY: Yoga Research Group, 1995) as the sole treatment has been found to be effective in dysthymia in an open trial (Janakiramaiah et al., 1998). Low pretreatment P300 event related potential (ERP) amplitude `normalised' with improvement in both dysthymic (n=15) and melancholic (n=9) patients on SKY therapy (Naga Venkatesha Murthy et al., 1997), similar to earlier reports with somatic treatments such as antidepressant medications and ECT (Blackwood et al., 1987, Gangadhar et al., 1993).

It has been reported, from our laboratory, that depressives with severe `biological' dysfunction, as reflected by low pretreatment P300 ERP amplitude, require longer time for responding and that normal pretreatment P300 ERP amplitude predicts rapid response to a course of ECT (Ancy et al., 1996). Whether this is true with SKY therapy has not been studied. The current study is to examine whether pretreatment P300 ERP amplitude is related to variation in antidepressant response to SKY therapy.

Section snippets

Method

Fifteen patients each of dysthymia (eight males) and melancholia (depressive episode or recurrent depression with somatic syndrome: six males) confirmed by ICD-10 DCR checklist (WHO, 1992) were the sample. Bipolarity, psychotic symptoms, substance use, current drug treatment, major physical illnesses and audiological dysfunction were all excluded. Informed consent for the study was taken. Before SKY treatment auditory odd-ball P300 ERP was recorded with eyes closed, as detailed elsewhere (Naga

Results

The duration and severity of depression (HRSD and BDI scores) differed significantly as expected between the dysthymia and melancholia groups. However, the two groups were comparable on other variables including pretreatment P300 ERP amplitude and latency (Table 1). In the total sample, HRSD total scores did not correlate with the P300 amplitude at pretreatment (Pearson's r=0.07, P>0.7). The two groups were combined for further analysis.

Patients who were rated ≤2 on CGI-Severity, at both 1 and

Discussion

Depression improved significantly following SKY therapy, with significant reductions in both HRSD and BDI scores (Fig. 1). The classification into responder and non-responder groups is validated by the significant differences in these scores at 1 month. Surprisingly, the pretreatment P300 amplitude was comparable between dysthymics and melancholics despite two-fold differences in HRSD scores. Lower P300 ERP amplitude could be a non-specific state marker (Naga Venkatesha Murthy et al., 1997)

Acknowledgements

N.J. is a recipient of a NIMHANS research grant for Yoga in Depression 1994–95 (current study was conducted as a part of this project).

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Brief reportP300 amplitude and antidepressant response to Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY)

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Method

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgements

J. Affect. Disord.

J. Affect. Disord.

An inventory for measuring depression

Arch. Gen. Psychiatry

Changes in auditory P3 event related potential in schizophrenia and depression

Br. J. Psychiatry

Brief report
P300 amplitude and antidepressant response to Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY)