Visual contribution to self-induced body sway frequencies and visual perception of male professional dancers

We studied the degree of dependence on vision, for postural control and for perception, among male adult dancers and untrained subjects. First, body sways were analyzed on a free seesaw platform. Fast Fourier transform processing allowed spectral frequency analysis of the platform sways recorded by an accelerometer. Secondly, a visual dependence test, the rod and frame test (RFT) was used. Professional dancers were significantly more stable and less dependent on vision for postural control and for perception than untrained subjects. Presumably, professional dance training strengthens the accuracy of proprioceptive inputs and shifts sensorimotor dominance from vision to proprioception. For the dancers, there was interaction between the RFT visual dependence and the visual control of posture: the less visual-dependent they were for the RFT, the more stable they were in dynamic balance conditions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.