The Effects of Auditory Input on Balance in Healthy College-Aged Students
Open Access
- Author:
- Love, Colleen
- Area of Honors:
- Kinesiology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Ben Infantolino, Thesis Supervisor
Sandy Feinstein, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- postural stability
balance
auditory stimulus - Abstract:
- Balance ability is required for people to stay upright. In humans, balance ability can be determined through postural stability, the ability to control various movements and maintain body posture. Someone with a higher balance ability is at a decreased likelihood for falling. Balance ability can be measured using standardized tools such as the Berg Balance Scale, Wobbleboards, and Force Plates. Force Plates are a more accurate and precise way to measure stability. The purpose of this study was to determine how various auditory noises can affect postural stability. The hypothesis was that moving auditory noise playing unequally between headphones will be more destabilizing than when static noise that plays equally between headphones. Data on postural stability with no noise, static noise, and moving noise was collected using a force plate. Data was calculated and analyzed using SPSS software. Statistical significance was then calculated using a one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Among all participants, there were no statistically significant effects found when looking at 5 measures of instability including total distance moved, center of pressure (COP) velocity, movement in the Anterior Posterior (AP) directions, movement in the Medial Lateral (ML) directions, and area COP. However, when looking specifically at individuals who perceived an 8D audio as rotating around their head in a circle, a significant difference was found in area COP. This research suggests that auditory input has no overall effect on balance when looking at a population of college students. The research also suggests that how an individual perceives audio can have a significant impact on the direction of postural leaning and may influence an individual to replicate the rotating pattern found in music such as 8D audio.