Stabilizing posture through imagery

Abstract In the general population, suppression of vision modulates body sway by increasing the center of pressure (CoP) velocity, while a light fingertip touch reduces the area of the CoP displacement in blindfolded subjects. This study assessed whether imagined fixation and fingertip touch differentially stabilize posture in subjects with high (highs) and low (lows) hypnotizability. Visual and tactile imageries were ineffective in lows. In highs, the effects of visual imagery could not be evaluated because the real information was ineffective; real tactile stimulation was effective only on velocity, but the imagery effects could not be definitely assessed owing to low effect size. The highs' larger variability could account for this and represents the most important finding.