On the length of stabilograms: A study performed with detrended fluctuation analysis

The effects associated to the length of stabilograms, a measure of the time dependence of the center of pressure of an individual standing up, are analyzed. The fractal characteristics of 27 signals with a length of 214 points, each one corresponding to a different individual, are studied by using the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis technique. The properties of the complete signals are compared to those of various subsignals extracted from them. No differences have been found between the characteristic exponents found for x and y signals. The relation between the exponents of the position and velocity signals is accomplished by the 214 point signals, while subsignals with up to 212 points do not verify it. Using artificial signals with 214 points, generated for α values given, it has been demonstrated that the exponents obtained from these signals take values larger than expected for α<0.3, while the exponents of the accumulated series are smaller than expected for 0.7<α. For CoP trajectories this indicates that DFA-1 provides feasible exponents for the short τ-end region of the velocity signal and the large τ-end region of the accumulated (position) one. It has been found that the characteristic exponents vary along the series. A slightly larger persistence is found in the last part of the signal for large frequencies in the x direction.