Mental body rotation with egocentric and object-based transformations in different postures: standing vs. balancing

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest better visual-spatial processing when participants are tested in postures in which dynamic stability is challenged. The question arises if this is also true for the performance in mental body-rotation tasks (MBRT). AIM: Taking the embodied cognition approach into account, the first aim of the present study was to examine the potential influence of different demands on dynamic stability for two postures (parallel stand vs. tandem stand) on solving two versions of the MBRT, inducing either an object-based or an egocentric perspective transformation strategy. The second aim was to investigate if these different demands on dynamic stability are reflected in postural sway parameters. METHOD: Thirty participants (18 females and 12 males) were tested in the two MBRTs and in a control condition. All tasks were performed while standing on a balance beam in tandem stand and in a feet parallel position on a force plate. RESULTS: The results for response time and response error revealed effects of rotation angle and task, but no effect of posture. The analyzed Center of Pressure (CoP) data revealed a reduction of body sway during the MBRT for egocentric perspective transformations. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that participants performed better for egocentric than for object-based transformations and that the egocentric transformation leads to more postural stability than the object-based.