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Neural oscillations

Can a 120 bpm beat change how unstable ankles land?

Meng L, Wang Y, Wang Z, et al. · Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

In 20 men with functional ankle instability, adapting to auditory rhythms—especially 120 bpm—shifted drop-landing torques toward a more proximal (hip/knee) strategy versus no-beat, 60, or 180 bpm.

Study at a glance

Design
Human experiment — Within-subject drop-landing study: 20 men with FAI after auditory rhythmic adaptation (no beat, 60/120/180 bpm); two-way repeated-measures ANOVA (side × rhythm)
N
N=20 · 20 male FAI participants; unstable vs stable limb compared across four rhythm conditions
Population
Young men with functional ankle instability (mean age 23.5 years; CAIT 19.2 unstable vs 28.5 stable)
Outcome
GRF, joint torque, stiffness, and RoM during 30 cm single-leg drop landings

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Key findings

Side affected GRF, torque, and stiffness (p < 0.05). Rhythm affected hip/knee RoM, stiffness, and torque, with side×rhythm interactions on stiffness and torque. 120 bpm favored a proximal-dominant torque redistribution (higher hip/knee extension and ankle plantarflexion torques on the stable side).

Methodology

After a time-interval reproduction check, participants did single-leg drop landings from 30 cm under no rhythm and 60/120/180 bpm while Vicon cameras (100 Hz) and a force plate recorded kinematics and GRF; two-way repeated-measures ANOVA tested side × rhythm.

Limitations

A lab landing protocol in 20 young men cannot prove that 120 bpm metronomes prevent real-world ankle sprains or that the effect generalizes to women, older adults, or sport play.

How this study connects

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