The Effect of Acoustic Noise on Postural Sway in Male and Female Subjects

Acoustic sensitivity of women’s and men’s postural stability system was tested in the set of experiments. Eighty subjects: 40 males and 40 females (mean age 22,5±1,4), students of the Academy of Physical Education participated in the experiment. Their postural stability was evaluated on the force platform. Spontaneous body sway was assessed during fourteen experimental trials each lasting 25,6 sec. During the trial subjects were asked to stand still in the upright position either with their eyes open or eyes closed. During the trials subjects were exposed to white noise signals or specific audience applause applied through the headphones. The experiment schedule consisted of silence, followed by three different noise volume trials (60, 80, 100 dB SPL). The research documented diverse acoustic sensitivity in male and female stability systems. The most significant differences were registered in experiments without vision control. Under conditions of relative silence, female students showed clearly better results than male subjects. The difference was noticed with and without visual control.