Pole walking (PW) has received attention not only as a whole-body exercise that can be adapted for elderly people with poor physical fitness but also as a possible intervention for the restoration of gait function in normal walking without the use of poles (i.e., conventional walking CW). However, the characteristics of PW, especially how and why PW training affects CW, remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of locomotor adaptation in PW from the perspective of kinematic variables. For this purpose, we compared the locomotor adaptation in PW and CW to that when walking on a split-belt treadmill in terms of spatial and temporal coordination. The result showed that adaptations to the split-belt treadmill in PW and CW were found only in interlimb parameters (step length and double support time ratios (fast/slow limb)), not in intralimb parameters (stride length and stance time ratios). In these interlimb parameters, the movement patterns acquired through split-belt locomotor adaptations (i.e., the aftereffects) were transferred between CW and PW regardless of whether the novel movement patterns were learned in CW or PW. The aftereffects of double support time and step length learned in CW were completely washed out by the subsequent execution in PW. On the other hand, the aftereffect of double support time learned in PW was not completely washed out by the subsequent execution in CW, whereas the aftereffect of step length learned in PW was completely washed out by the subsequent execution in CW. These results suggest that the neural mechanisms related to controlling interlimb parameters are shared between CW and PW, and it is possible that, in interlimb coordination, temporal coordination is preferentially stored in adaptation during PW.

极地步行（PW）不仅作为一种适合身体不佳的老年人的全身运动而受到关注，而且还作为不使用极点的正常步行中恢复步态功能的一种可能干预措施（即，常规步行CW）。但是，PW的特征，特别是PW培训如何影响CW的原因仍不清楚。这项研究的目的是从运动学变量的角度检查PW的运动适应性特征。为此，我们在空间和时间协调方面将PW和CW的运动适应性与在皮带式跑步机上行走时的适应性进行了比较。结果表明，仅在中间参数（步长和双支撑时间比率（快/慢肢））中发现对PW和CW的皮带式跑步机的适应，而在内部参数（步长和站立时间比率）中则没有发现。在这些插值参数中，无论是在CW还是PW中学习到新的运动模式，通过裂带运动适应（即后效应）获得的运动模式都会在CW和PW之间转移。在CW中学习到的双支撑时间和步长的后效应被随后在PW中执行完全消除了。另一方面，在PW中学习到的双重支持时间的后效并没有被CW中的后续执行完全消除，而在PW中学习到的步长的后效应却被随后在CW中执行而被完全淘汰。这些结果表明，在CW和PW之间共享了与控制中间参数有关的神经机制，并且在中间协调中，有可能在PW期间将时间协调优先存储在适应中。