Measurements using accelerated plethysmography were carried out for 80 persons aged twenty to seventy to obtain the dependence of blood circulation at the body extremities on pulse rate, and they demonstrated a negative correlation. In middle-aged or elderly persons, blood circulation, as indicated by the APG index, depended on their life styles, e. g., their daily sports practices. The effects of Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) were clarified by measurements before and after practicing TCC for 20-30 minutes. The effects were a slight decrease of pulse rate and increase of blood circulation in the extremities. This tendency was different from that observed for doing Japanese archery or playing soft-ball tennis. The increase of blood flow after Tai Chi Chuan was also confirmed by using a single square voltage pulse method for electrical measurements. Moreover, the time variations of blood circulation during daily movement or mental tasks were investigated for the same subject.

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The purpose of the present work was to investigate the effects of visual imagery, e. g. meditation, at meridian points on an electroencephalogram and pulse waves by chaos theory analysis. Imagery visualization of a sunlight incident at Dantian, Danzhong and Yingtang and of filling a body with sunlight showed a slowing of the electroencephalogram over the whole region during the imagery. A remarkable increase of θ-waves and α1-waves was observed for a certain subject. In addition, a decrease of the pulse interval and an increase of the intensity of pulse waves were observed upon imagery. Chaos theory analysis showed that the Lyapunov exponent and entropy of brain waves increased during the imagery, and that the Lyapunov exponent of pulse waves decreased. The present results indicated that the visual imagery promoted the neurochaos phenomenon based on the neuron activity and parasympathetic-division activity.

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The target of this study was to clarify the role of regional brain function by applying different exercise loads. This study was composed of two parts (quantitative and semi-quantitative) carried out discretely. Two kind of exercise tasks (14 and 26 participated) were loaded for 35 minutes followed by FDG injection. 3D brain scans and arterialized venous blood samples were collected during exercise for the quantitative approach. Brain areas activated or deactivated were searched with SPM 99 software. Quantitative analysis showed no activated region when the global value was not corrected at p<0.001 but absolute rate decreased with increase of task load. For image analysis, a linear increase in activity was found with exercise load in motor and pre-motor cortex and deactivation was found mostly in the base of the brain

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Diao Xi (consciously regulating the breathing pattern) is an important basic step in Qigong training. Bi Xi breathing exercise is one of many methods of Qigong training. Our prior experiment identified significant rises in the temperature of hands and feet in the subjects when practicing the Bi Xi breathing exercises. This increase showed that blood circulation had improved and led to a state of deep relaxation based on the changes of EEG and pulse. In this study, we used optical topography (OT), to measure various brain functions. This device measures the cerebral activity state caused by a change in the quantity of blood in the cerebral cortex when the Qigong master is practicing Bi Xi breathing exercise. It showed an increase in the quantity of blood in the frontal lobes and a decrease in the parietal lobes during and after the Bi Xi breathing exercise. We can compare the results of this experiment to those found in our prior experiment to determine the relationship of the increase of alpha and theta waves activities and the increased quantity of blood in the frontal lobes when doing Bi Xi breathing exercise. The possibility of cerebrum development is also discussed.

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In a previous report we discussed the results of EEG analysis and optical topography measurement with an experienced meditator. Now we have analyzed the data of cardiac variability of R-R interval and its correlation with slow wave activities of EEG. Compared with that of the control task, the breathing rate lowered to O.1Hz, the LF/HF ratio increased (p<0.001), while HF/TP (total spectral power) decreased significantly (p<0.005) during qigong task, reflecting a shift of sympathetic dominance in cardiovascular system resulted from respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). The results are consistent with other studies on meditation and Zazen practitioners, indicating that increased oscillation amplitude during slow breathing is caused by resonance between cardiac variability caused by respiration and that produced by physiological processes underlying slow rhythms. On the other hand, close correlation was observed between LF/HF ratio and the power of alpha activity over Fp_1 O_1, T_5 and T_6, while between LF/HF ratio and theta power over C_4 and T_6 areas, which suggest the possibility of influence of general autonomic homeostasis on subjective psychological state during qigong task.

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Though reactive oxygen promotes aging and is connected with diseases such as cancer, superoxide dismutase (SOD), originally provided to the human body is an enzyme whose function is scavenging reactive oxygen. However, deterioration of the living environment and increasing stress lead to the amount of reactive oxygen being over the processing capacity of SOD ; foods are required which work like SOD. In this study, light emission in scavenging reactive oxygen was measured, and reactive oxygen scavenging ability of liquid foods such as coffee, soymilk and so on were examined. A very strong scavenging ability of coffee was recognized.

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Kurita's Speed Reading System was first proposed in 1987. The system began to be taught as a regular course in 1991, and by 2002 as many of 405 courses had been taught. Detailed data on more than 13,000 students that passed through the course is now available. The purpose of the training is to shift the conventional paradigm of character information to a new method which consists of "distributed input, parallel processing, and integrated output". To achieve this purpose, the training uses the mind and body correlation in an original way, activates the route from the peripheral visual field to the subconsciousness, establishes a new transfer method for information processing, and improves intellectual activity. The present study examines the degree of improvement of intellectual function through a series of five-day classes in the intermediate level of this course. The subjects comprised 160 adult participants enrolled in four intermediate classes held in 2001 and 2002. The average reading speeds tested just before the start of training in the beginning class, just before the start of training in the intermediate class, and just after the completion of training in the intermediate class were 916, 6,886, and 56,881 characters/min, respectively. Compared to the reading speed in the first of the three reading tests, the reading speed increased an average of 63.7 times in the third test. Compared to the reading speed in the second of the three reading tests, the reading speed increased an average of 11.3 times in the third test. The calculation speed (number of single digit additions performed within one minute, treated as an index of work efficiency) rose from an average of 98 points to an average of 114 points, indicating average improvement in efficiency of 17%. The maze unraveling speed (number of unit mazes solved within 20 seconds, treated as an index of cognitive ability) rose from an average of 21 points to an average of 36 points, indicating an average increase by a factor of 1.7. The number of Kurita finger rotations accomplished, an index of the agility and skill of the motor system, increased remarkably. The degree of bodily vigor was also increased. Thehese results suggest that the abilities of adult subjects increase more dramatically in the intermediate class of Kurita's speed reading course than in the beginning class.

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