Nasikagra Drishti to enhance the selective attention on performance of six-letter cancelation task by young adults

Background: Nasikagra Drishti (ND), literally called as nose tip gazing, is one among the several practices in yoga. It comes under the Dharana division. Selective attention (SA) is an important function governed by the right frontoparietal cortex. The cancelation task requires visual selectivity as well as repetitive and coordinated motor responses. Six-letter cancelation task (SLCT) is effective in assessing functions, such as SA, visual scanning, inhibition and activation of rapid responses, and focused attention. Assessing SA among the young adults is highly helpful in evaluating their academic performance. Objective: The objective of the study is to assess the immediate and later effects of ND on SA in young adults using SLCT. Subjects and Methods: Thirty young adults of both sexes with 18.9 ± 1 years of mean age volunteered for the study. The SLCT data were collected before (pre), immediately after first session of the intervention (1st post), and after the 3rd-day intervention (2nd post) of ND. Results: The Student's t-test using STATA 12.0 (College station, Texas, USA) showed a significant increase in SA scores after the ND practice. The pre and immediate post values within the group were statistically significant at P < 0.001. The pre and later post (follow-up results) values within the group are also statistically significant at P < 0.001. However, the magnitude of change was more in the later postassessment than the preassessment and the immediate postassessment. Thus, it was revealed that ND practice can increase SA and thereby improves the academic performance. Conclusion: The present study suggests that the practice of ND may enhance SA among young adults and thus may prove beneficial for their academic performance. Additional well-designed studies are needed before a strong recommendation can be made on the efficacy of ND for enhancing SA, thereby improving academic performance.