Influences of Body Lean and Vision on Unperturbed Postural Sway

We examined the potentially exploratory and performatory nature of postural sway. Subjects stood upright or leaned forward, with eyes open or closed. Postural data were analyzed using a statistical mechanics analysis of center of pressure (COP) trajectories, which examines the fractional Brownian nature of postural sway. Positive correlations (persistence) over short time scales are hypothesized to reflect exploratory behavior, and negative correlations (antipersistence) over long time scales are hypothesized to reflect performatory behavior. When leaning, subjects exhibited decreased levels of persistence (decreased correlation) and increased levels of antipersistence (increased correlation) than when upright. With eyes open, subjects showed decreased levels of persistence and decreased levels of antipersistence than with eyes closed. Effects of vision were more pronounced when leaning. Evidence for direction-specific exploration (based upon root mean square variability analysis) was considered. Task-spe...