Citation

Nakamura T, Kiyono K, Yoshiuchi K, Nakahara R, Struzik ZR, Yamamoto Y. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007; 99(13): 138103.

Affiliation

The Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka-shi, Osaka 560-8531, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, American Physical Society)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

17930642

Abstract

We describe the nature of human behavioral organization, specifically how resting and active periods are interwoven throughout daily life. Active period durations with physical activity count successively above a predefined threshold, when rescaled with individual means, follow a universal stretched exponential (gamma-type) cumulative distribution with characteristic time, both in healthy individuals and in patients with major depressive disorder. On the other hand, resting period durations below the threshold for both groups obey a scale-free power-law cumulative distribution over two decades, with significantly lower scaling exponents in the patients. We thus find universal distribution laws governing human behavioral organization, with a parameter altered in depression.

Language: en