title: Universal scaling law in human behavioral organization.
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.
authors.affiliation: The Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka-shi, Osaka 560-8531, Japan.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiyono
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshiuchi
authors.forename: Rika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakahara
authors.forename: Zbigniew R
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Struzik
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D012146:Rest