Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29535617›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in human neuroscience2018

Yoga Therapy and Polyvagal Theory: The Convergence of Traditional Wisdom and Contemporary Neuroscience for Self-Regulation and Resilience.

Marlysa B Sullivan, Matt Erb, Laura Schmalzl, Steffany Moonaz, Jessica Noggle Taylor, Stephen W Porges

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
17.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

51 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 205 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Effects of Facial Muscles Exercise on Mental Health: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. A Closer Look at Yoga Nidra: Sleep Lab Protocol.International journal of yoga therapy · 2021
    Trial
  9. Understanding mind-body disciplines: A pilot study of paced breathing and dynamic muscle contraction on autonomic nervous system reactivity.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2019
    Trial
  10. Review
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  17. A pilot study of trauma-sensitive yoga and Breathe2Relax among service members in an intensive outpatient program.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Marlysa B SullivanIntegrative Health Sciences, Maryland University of Integrative Health, Laurel, MD, United States.
Matt ErbThe Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Washington, DC, United States.
Laura SchmalzlCollege of Science and Integrative Health, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA, United States.
Steffany MoonazDirector of Clinical and Academic Research, Maryland University of Integrative Health, Laurel, MD, United States.
Jessica Noggle TaylorIndependent Researcher, Decatur, GA, United States.
Stephen W PorgesKinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States.
Maryland University of Integrative Health · USIndiana University Bloomington · USSouthern California University of Health Sciences · USThe Center for Mind-Body Medicine · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Yoga therapy is a newly emerging, self-regulating complementary and integrative healthcare (CIH) practice. It is growing in its professionalization, recognition and utilization with a demonstrated commitment to setting practice standards, educational and accreditation standards, and promoting research to support its efficacy for various populations and conditions. However, heterogeneity of practice, poor reporting standards, and lack of a broadly accepted understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms involved in yoga therapy limits the structuring of testable hypotheses and clinical applications. Current proposed frameworks of yoga-based practices focus on the integration of bottom-up neurophysiological and top-down neurocognitive mechanisms. In addition, it has been proposed that phenomenology and first person ethical inquiry can provide a lens through which yoga therapy is viewed as a process that contributes towards eudaimonic well-being in the experience of pain, illness or disability. In this article we build on these frameworks, and propose a model of yoga therapy that converges with Polyvagal Theory (PVT). PVT links the evolution of the autonomic nervous system to the emergence of prosocial behaviors and posits that the neural platforms supporting social behavior are involved in maintaining health, growth and restoration. This explanatory model which connects neurophysiological patterns of autonomic regulation and expression of emotional and social behavior, is increasingly utilized as a framework for understanding human behavior, stress and illness. Specifically, we describe how PVT can be conceptualized as a neurophysiological counterpart to the yogic concept of the

Indexed as

allostatic loadinteroceptionPolyvagal Theoryresilienceself-regulationstress responsevagus nerveyoga therapy

Identifiers

PMID29535617
PMCPMC5835127
OpenAlexW2793618708

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.