The purpose of this study was to determine whether the rhythmic movements or cues enhance the anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) of gait initiation. Healthy humans initiated gait in response to an auditory start cue (third cue). A first auditory cue was given 8 s before the start cue, and a second auditory cue was given 3 s before the start cue. The participants performed the rhythmic medio-lateral weight shift (ML-WS session), rhythmic anterior-posterior weight shift (AP-WS session), or rhythmic arm swing (arm swing session) in the time between the first and second cues. In the rhythmic cues session, rhythmic auditory cues with a frequency of 1 Hz were given in this time. In the stationary session, the participants maintained stationary stance in this time. The APA and initial step movement preceded by those rhythmic movements or cues were compared with those in the stationary session. The temporal characteristics of the initial step movement of the gait initiation were not changed by the rhythmic movements or cues. The medio-lateral displacement of the APA in the ML-WS and arm swing sessions was significantly greater than that in the stationary session. The anterior–posterior displacement of the APA in the rhythmic cues and arm swing sessions was significantly greater than that in the stationary session. Taken together, the rhythmic movements and cues enhance the APA of gait initiation. The present finding may be a clue or motive for the future investigation for using rhythmic movements or cues as the preparatory activity to enlarge the small APA of gait initiation in the patients with Parkinson’s disease.

本研究的目的是确定有节奏的运动或提示是否增强了步态开始的预期姿势调整 (APA)。健康人开始步态以响应听觉开始提示（第三个提示）。第一个听觉提示在开始提示前 8 秒给出，第二个听觉提示在开始提示前 3 秒给出。参与者在第一个和第二个提示之间的时间内进行有节奏的中外侧重量转移（ML-WS 会话）、有节奏的前后重量转移（AP-WS 会话）或有节奏的手臂摆动（手臂摆动会话）。在节奏提示环节，此时给出频率为1Hz的节奏听觉提示。在静止阶段，参与者此时保持静止姿势。将这些有节奏的运动或提示之前的 APA 和初始步进运动与静止会话中的进行比较。步态起始的初始步进运动的时间特征不会因节奏运动或提示而改变。ML-WS 和手臂摆动训练中 APA 的中外侧位移明显大于静止训练。节奏提示和手臂摆动过程中 APA 的前后位移显着大于静止过程。总之，有节奏的运动和提示增强了步态启动的 APA。