踩車運動訓練對於健康老年人以及年輕人之行走能力以及腦部動作皮質活化之影響背景與目的：運動訓練對老年人的效益是否與年輕人相當，仍未有定論，而對於大腦動作皮質的活化作用有何影響，也仍待探討。本研究目的是比較踩車運動訓練對於健康老年人與年輕人在行走能力表現的差異，並探討對大腦皮質活化的影響。方法：本研究徵召24位健康老年人和30位健康年輕人，進行連續一個月的固定式踩車運動訓練。以6分鐘行走測試、10公尺行走測試和下肢肌力測試評估個案訓練前後之成效;兩組受試者中各7位個案接受經顱磁刺激檢測。結果：6分鐘行走測試、10公尺行走測試以及下肢肌力測試改變量於兩組之間未達顯著差異，各組組內之三項參數皆達顯著進步(P<0.05)。經顱磁刺激結果顯示訓練後改變量於各組組內或兩組之間皆未達顯著差異。結論：本研究結果證實連續四週踩車運動訓練能有效改善老年人和年輕人的功能性行走能力，以及下肢肌力，且老年人接受踩車運動訓練可以達到與年輕人相當之進步量。然而，踩車運動對於腦部皮質活化之影響則仍有待進一步探討。臨床意義：本研究之踩車運動訓練模式可提供臨床改善社區健康老年人之行走能力之參考。

Background and Purposes: Whether the effect of exercise for the elderly is equivalent to that for the young adult remains controversial. In addition, the effect of exercise training on motor cortex activation is not fully explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of leg cycling motion training on walking ability and motor cortex activation in healthy older and young adults. Methods: This study recruited twenty-four healthy older adults and thirty healthy young adults. All participants underwent cycling motion training at moderate exercise intensity for 30 minutes/day, 5 days a week for a month. Each subject was assessed by 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT) and a dynamometer test, prior to the start of the training, after the training, and one-month after the training. Seven subjects from each group were assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Results: Between-group differences on the change scores for the 6MWT, 10MWT and the dynamometer test were non-significant; however, within-group differences were significant (p<0.05). No significant differences on TMS were found for each group after training. Conclusion: The results suggested that the cycling training protocol used in this study can effectively improve functional walking capacity, walking speed, and lower extremity muscle strength in both older and young adults. The degrees of improvement by cycling motion training are similar for healthy older and young individuals. The effect of cycling motion training on cortex activation still needs to be examined in future studies. Clinical Implications: The protocol of cycling motion training in this study can be used in clinics to improve walking ability in healthy older adults. (FJPT 2014;39(1):32-41)