Walking Behavior Research Articles

Toxicity and Behavioral Effects of Amending Soils with Biochar on Red Imported Fire Ants, Solenopsis invicta.

Solenopsis invicta, often known as the red imported fire ants (RIFAs), is a well-known global invasive ant species that can be found in agricultural, urban, and natural environments worldwide. Simultaneously, it also inhabits the soil. Biochar is generated by the pyrolysis of organic matter under high-temperature anoxic environments and widely used in agricultural ecosystems and soil amendment. However, to date, it remains unknown as to whether soil application of biochar has a negative effect on RIFAs. In our study, we investigated the toxicity and irritability effects of different amounts of biochar (0%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, and 20%) introduced into the soil on red fire ants; upon comparison with the control soil (0% biochar), the application of 1%, 2%, and 5% biochar did not result in significantly different results. But the utilization of biochar at a concentration over 10% effectively repelled the RIFAs, resulting in their departure from the treated soils. High doses of biochar were able to cause death of red fire ants; the mortality rate of red fire ants reached 55.56% after 11 days of 20% biochar treatment. We also evaluated the effects of biochar on four behaviors of red fire ants, namely aggregation, walking, grasping, and attacking; 20% of the biochar treatment group reduced aggregation by 64.22% and this value was 55.22%, 68.44%, and 62.36% for walking, grasping, and attacking. Finally, we measured the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) enzyme activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in red fire ants; the results showed that the activities of the three enzymes increased with the increase in biochar addition, which indicated that a high dose of biochar induced oxidative stress in red fire ants. Our results indicate that biochar has the potential to cause toxicity and repel red imported fire ants (RIFAs) in a manner that is dependent on the concentration. We propose that biochar could be utilized in the control and manufacturing of baits for red fire ant management. This work establishes a foundation for the prevention and management of red fire ants and the logical utilization of biochar.

Perceived importance of context-specific built-environment factors of walking: A new perspective for prioritizing policy measures for promoting walking

Walking as one type of physical activity generates benefits for personal health and contributes to sustainability in its environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Based on a cross-sectional survey for a representative sample of German cities with at least 100,000 residents, this study investigates determinants of residents’ walking behavior. Two contexts of promenading in the city for leisure walking and the trip to the supermarket for utilitarian walking are distinguished in order to investigate differences in respondents’ perceived importance of built-environment characteristics and to bridge the gap between the individual level of residents’ behavior and the streetscape level. In addition, the analyses distinguish between frequent and less frequent walkers in order to understand differences in characteristics, behavior, preferences, and perceptions between these two groups. The results of this study with a sample of n = 4,637 respondents show that the relevance of the built environment is higher for leisure walking than for utilitarian walking and higher for frequent walkers compared to less frequent walkers. For leisure walking, “protection”-variables are ranked high (e.g. safety, security), followed by “comfort” (e.g. space, surface quality) and by “delight” (e.g. attractive buildings, greenery). Distance is key for utilitarian walking. Significant differences between frequent and less frequent walkers are identified mainly for the “Delight”-variables, this is attractive buildings and greenery for utilitarian walking, and space availability and street furniture for leisure walking. These differences should be considered in future research and street design practice which might preferably focus on the most demanding person group of frequent walkers.

Explaining the survival of the sickest: altered walking patterns are linked with improved adult survival in Drosophila melanogaster grown with predators during larval development

Abstract Stress caused by predator exposure can lead to various behavioural, physiological, stoichiometric, and biochemical changes in prey. Prior research has shown that growth under predation stress can cause the development of a diabetes-like biochemical phenotype in fruit flies. Exposure to predator risk during larval development decreases flies’ walking activity, improving their antipredator strategies. However, it is unclear which elements of walking behaviour make flies less conspicuous to predators. This study shows that fruit flies () grown with spiders walk shorter distances, accelerate faster and spend more time in a state of motion without movement (i.e., stomping in place) than control flies (). Under predation risk, adult flies grown with spiders survived better than control flies. We suggest that motions without movement may resemble sickness behaviour for predators, which we propose as the main reason for their better survival under direct exposure to predator attacks.

Sociodemographic matters: Analyzing interactions of individuals' characteristics with walkability when modelling walking behavior

The concept of walkability encompasses a multitude of features of the built and social environments that impact walking behavior, leading to the creation of a wide range of walkability indices. While past studies have compared the research outputs from multiple walkability indices, little research has looked at how relevant each index is across sociodemographic groups and how the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and behavior vary from one index to another. Using trip data from Montréal, Canada, this paper evaluates two commonly used walkability indices at different scales – Walk Score© (meso-scale) and the MAPS-Mini audit tool (micro-scale) – and their interactions with sociodemographic characteristics. Weighted binary logistic regressions are used to model the probability of adults taking a homebased utilitarian walking trip. A total of ten models are generated, including eight models in which one of four socio-demographic variables – gender, age, household income, and presence of children below 13 years old in the household – is interacted with one of the two walkability indices. Sensitivity analyses are then conducted using the interaction variables' outputs by varying the values of the interacted sociodemographic variable. Results show significant interactions for all variables for both indices except from Walk Score©’s interaction with gender. Opposite effects are observed between the two indices in the sensitivity analysis for household income. The differential results observed between the indices and between sociodemographic groups underscore the need to properly test the equity implication of using certain walkability measures in research.

The Effects of the RANI Project on 6-Month Physical Activity Among Women Living in Rural India: A Randomized-Controlled Trial.

Anemia is associated with fatigue, low physical activity, and poor quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a field trial on 6-month change in anemia and physical activity among nonpregnant women living in rural India. The Reduction in Anemia through Normative Innovations (RANI) Project is a cluster randomized controlled trial of a social norms-based intervention to reduce anemia among women (15-49 years). Participants (n = 292) performed a modified Queen's College Step Test (QCST) and wore an ActivPAL accelerometer for 3 days. Hemoglobin concentrations (g/dL) were determined using a HemoCue 301 photometer. Linear regression tested the effects of the intervention on 6-month change in hemoglobin and physical activity, while adjusting for age, body mass index, education, parity, and predicted VO2max. We observed no differences in hemoglobin (11.8 ± 1.2 vs.11.6 ± 1.4 g/dL) or overall physical activity (36.6 ± 2.1 vs. 35.3 ± 5.8 metabolic equivalent of task-hours/day) at 6 months between the treatment and control groups, respectively. In contrast, steps/day was significantly higher in the treatment, compared with the control group (β = 1353.83; 95% confidence interval: 372.46, 2335.31), independent of other covariables. The potential to modify walking and other health-seeking behaviors using a social norms approach is worthy of further investigation among women living in rural India.Clinical Trial Registry - India: CTRI/2018/10/016186.

Subjective Baggage-Weight Estimation Based on Human Walking Behavior

Subjective Baggage-Weight Estimation Based on Human Walking Behavior

Slatted floor reduces the welfare and increases the foot pad dermatitis and growth performance of Turkeys under Egyptian conditions.

When Turkeys' legscome in contact with their dropping during the growing stage results in footpad dermatitis condition which affects the poult's welfare and productivity. Our experiment aimed to detect the impact of various bedding substrates on the wellbeing, and performance of growing Turkey under Egyptian conditions. 180-day-old Turkey poults were allocated into three treatments. In treatment I, the poults [60 each with three replicates (n = 20 birds)] were kept on wood shavings (WS); in the second treatment, the poults were housed on chopped wheat straw (CWS). However, in the third treatment, they kept on a plastic slatted floor (PSF). The greater feed intake and body weight were recorded in poults reared in PSF compared with those kept in other treatments (WS and CWS). Feed conversion ratio did not show any significant difference. The mortality percentage was higher in the PSF group than in the WS one. The frequency of feeding and drinking behavior was higher in poults reared on WS treatment compared with other treatments CWS and PSF. On the other hand, resting behavior showed the highest frequency in poults kept in PSF. Contrary, the lowest frequency of walking behavior was recorded in poults reared in PSF treatment. In addition, the poults kept in WS had a longer tonic immobility reaction period followed by those kept in PSF and CWS. Concerning foot-pad dermatitis, the highest score of 0 was observed in the CWS group, while the highest score of 1 was recorded among poults kept in the WS group. On the other side, the highest score 2, 3, and 4 was observed in the poults reared in the PSF group. Heterophil/Lymphocyte ratio of Turkey poults was higher in PSF. While T3 and T4 concentrations in blood were not affected by using different bedding materials. It is concluded that the slatted floor was good for Turkey producers from the point of performance but, it is the worst from the point of welfare.

Effects of environmental enrichment on ostrich behaviours

This study was aimed to investigate the behavioural differences of ostrich (Struthio camelus) breeders reared under environmental enrichment with natural vegetation in farm conditions. The effect of enriched environment with vegetation on eating, drinking, foraging, pecking, defecation, walking, running, alert, standing, sitting, sleeping, dust bathing, preening, head shake, thermoregulation, kantel, mating, laying, threat and fight behaviours of ostriches were found similar (P > 0.05). The ratio of boom, courtship and displace behaviours were found higher in enriched than in gravel floor (P=0.050; P=0.028 and P=0.001). The foraging, dust bathing, boom, laying and displace behaviours of ostriches were affected by gender (P=0.029, P=0.040, P=0.050, P=0.025 and P=0.001). The eating, foraging, standing, sitting, dust bathing and laying behaviours of ostriches were affected by time of day (P=0.010, P=0.023, P=0.049, P=0.026, P=0.018 and P=0.009). There was a significant interaction of enriched environment and gender effect on eating, standing, boom and displace behaviours of ostriches (P=0.047, P=0.031, P=0.050 and P=0.001). The pecking and standing behaviours of ostriches were affected by enriched environment and time of day interaction (P=0.027 and P=0.023). As a conclusion, enriched environment with natural vegetation in paddock only affected ostriches’ courtship behaviours, also affected male and female eating and standing behaviours differently.

The availability and visibility of animals moderate the association between green space and recreational walking: Using street view data

IntroductionAwareness is amounting that understanding the people-animal-environment relationships and further considering it in city design are important to make future cities and society more resilient and sustainable. The presence of green space stimulates recreational walking behaviour. Also, animals in urban outdoor spaces have a restorative effect. However, scant attention has been paid to whether and how green space and animals have a synergistic effect on recreational walking behaviour. MethodUsing survey data collected from 26 neighbourhoods in Guangzhou, China, this study is the first to explore the potential moderating effect of the availability and visibility of animals on the associations between green space and recreational walking behaviour using street view data and a machine learning approach. Multilevel linear and logistic regressions were used for the statistical analysis. ResultsResults showed that the quantity and quality of green space, and availability and visibility of animals were positively associated with recreational walking propensity and duration. Also, the availability and visibility of animals may strengthen the associations between green space and recreational walking behaviour. ConclusionsPolicymakers should consider animal-inclusive green space to maximize the beneficial effect of urban green space on recreational walking.

Diurnal Activity Patterns of Burchelli Zebra (Equus burchelli) in Captivity at Zoological Garden, Alipore, Kolkata, India

A study was conducted on the diurnal behavioural pattern and activity time budget of a captive female burchelli zebra (Equus burchelli) in the Zoological Garden, Alipore, West Bengal, India, from 10.00 to 17.00 h between October 2022 to June 2023including winter and summer seasons by using focal sampling method with 25,200 minutes of observations. Data were analyzed by assessing mean time spent percentage for different activities in different hours and different seasons. Differences in the seasonal and hourly time budget were tested using one-way ANOVA, followed by DMRT. Grazing was dominant with significantly (P<0.05; DMRT) maximum time spent, followed by standing, feeding of offered feed, resting and then locomotion during both the seasons. Between seasons, significantly higher (P<0.05; DMRT) grazing (32.72%±0.92), walking (7.58%±0.77) and sleeping (7.18%±0.24) behaviours were observed during summer, while the other activities during the winter. During summer, from 12:00-13:00 h, grazing was the lowest, while resting was most. During winter, resting was more in the 1st hour of observation. The zebra devoted 2.12% to 2.21% of their time towards vigilance behaviour which was with higher rate during winter. This individual-based behavioural study on captive zebra will be useful for taking a well comprehensive management plan to ensure its successful in-situ conservation as well as its welfare.

TESTING WEAK-FORM EFFICIENCY FOR THE SAUDI PARALLEL MARKET (NOMU)

Market efficiency is essential for a thriving stock exchange and has a substantial impact on capital investments, particularly in emerging markets. This article examines the weak-form efficiency of Nomu, the Saudi Arabian parallel stock exchange. The study employed various statistical tests on the collected closing values of the Nomu index from May 1, 2019, to May 31, 2023. The return normality and stationarity were investigated using the Jarque-Bera, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests. The Variance Ratio (VR) test was used to assess autocorrelation, while the Wald-Wolfowitz Runs (WWR) test was utilized to examine random walk behavior. While the Runs test indicated some randomness, all other tests rejected their null hypotheses, indicating that the Nomu market is inefficient according to the weak-form model. This inefficiency suggests that historical trading data may predict future prices, which could discourage foreign capital inflows, thereby limiting Nomu's growth and investment appeal. The significance of these findings for regulators and policymakers in formulating market regulations and policies aimed at enhancing Nomu's efficiency and investor appeal cannot be overstated. This paper, with its robust methodology, is believed to be the first to evaluate the Nomu market's weak-form efficiency since its inception, contributing to a better understanding of market dynamics in emerging stock exchanges.

By cyclists, for cyclists: Road grade and elevation estimation from crowd-sourced fitness application data.

Road grade or slope is a key factor for walking and cycling behavior and outcomes (influencing route, speed, energy, etc.). For this reason, the scarcity of precise road grade data presents a challenge for travel information and analysis. This paper examines the accuracy of using crowd-sourced GPS data from a fitness application to estimate roadway grade profiles, which can then be used to develop network-wide road grade datasets. We externally validate an elevation estimation method described by McKenzie and Janowicz using field surveying data, and then propose and evaluate modifications for estimation of road grade (which is more directly relevant than elevation for walking and cycling analysis). We find that a modest amount of crowd-sourced GPS data can be used to generate relatively accurate road grade estimates: better than commonly-used low-resolution elevation models, but not as accurate as high-resolution data derived from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). We also find that the grade estimates are more reliable than the elevation estimates, relative to alternative data sources. The most accurate method to aggregate crowd-sourced GPS data builds a composite roadway grade profile using partition-around-medoid clustering of individual grade sequences, first smoothed with a Savitzky-Golay filter and cleaned with Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN). Implementing this method with an average of 150 GPS traces per location yields a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1% road grade. The findings in this paper can be used to incorporate precise road grade information into street network datasets over a wide spatial scale, which is necessary for walking and cycling analysis that fully considers the physiological aspects of active transportation.

Understanding complex interactions between neighborhood environment and personal perception in affecting walking behavior of older adults: A random forest approach combined with human-machine adversarial framework

The population aging is a growing problem worldwide. Walking is one of the most important ways of self-management of health for older adults, determined by many factors, such as neighborhood environment (NE) and socio-economic attributes. Although the previous studies have typically predicted elderly walking behavior through NE, they are limited by the methodological system and data collection, resulting in low prediction accuracy. To this end, this study incorporates residents' subjective perceptions of the environment and objective neighborhood environmental attributes into the evaluation system, uses human-machine adversarial framework and machine learning methods to predict elderly walking behavior, and assesses the nonlinear effects of each factor. The results show that (1) combining subjective and objective factors, the prediction accuracy of elderly walking behavior has been effectively improved based on human-machine adversarial framework and machine learning methods. (2) The nonlinear and threshold effects of environmental and perceptual factors on the walking time of the elderly were revealed. (3) The neighborhood attributes were incorporated into the walking behavior prediction, and were found to be of comparable importance to the influence of the NE on the behavior of the elderly. These results provide more reliable qualitative and quantitative auxiliary suggestions for planners.

Walking Behavior of Older Adults and Air Pollution: The Contribution of the Built Environment

Although an increase in walking is recommended to improve physical activity and public health, especially among older adults, the frequency of outdoor pedestrian activities, including walking, should be reduced when there is increased air pollution. There is limited understanding of the inter-relationships between two research fields, namely, older adults walking behavior and air pollution. This study investigates these factors and identifies their relationships with associated built environment factors. More than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles that met the selection criteria were analyzed. The factors pertaining to air pollution in the built environment were classified based on the scale of the urban environment. Comparing the built environment factors related to both fields of study, several common features such as the type of street enclosure (urban spatial), sky view factor (urban spatial), percentage of front gardens (urban design), and land use patterns were identified. Furthermore, we found that it is important to understand how the subjective/objective measures of the urban-design-related factors identified on the street are linked to air pollution at both street and neighborhood scales. A wide range of urban vegetation factors (pattern, size, and density) in both fields of study at a street scale were also identified. These inter-relationships need to be examined by future studies to get a clearer picture of the factors which might improve walking behavior among older adults while reducing the air pollution in urban environments.

Structural equation modeling of negative emotion and walking behavior by smoke-filled model-scale tunnel experiments

This study investigated the relationship between emotion and evacuation behavior in smoke for future modeling of irrational behavior by conducting experiments using a model-scale smoke-filled tunnel. Furthermore, the causal relationship between emotions and walking behavior was investigated through structural equation modeling. The results show that emotions influence slow walking behavior. The increase in heart rate due to the walking exercise was smaller than that caused by emotions. Moreover, the heart rate change degree with emotion corresponded to Proulx’s proposal order, from low-stress to anxiety.

Obstacles shape the way we walk at home

IntroductionWalking indoors, particularly at home, presents a distinct experience compared to the conventional pedestrian walking classically described. Our homes encompass intricate, confined, and cluttered architectural spaces that necessitate a predominantly curvilinear walking pattern. Despite the growing interest in studying our home, spurred by successive COVID-19 lockdowns, there remains a dearth of information regarding our walking behaviors inside homes, yet rich in data on the physical and sensory links between humans and their daily interior environment.MethodsThis study presents the outcomes of a controlled experiment conducted in an apartment in Montpellier, France. Participants were tasked with traversing the living room at a natural pace, encountering two natural obstacles-a large dining table and a small coffee table. They then walked back in opposite direction, circumnavigating the same two obstacles. To examine walking behavior within a pseudo-natural context, three conditions were tested: a controlled condition and two conditions that perturbed the natural curvilinear trajectory perceptually, by imposing an unpleasant sound, or physically, by suddenly displacing the coffee table between conditions. Twenty participants performed 30 trials in each condition. We approximated the position of their center of mass and computed various metrics related to their trajectories, including walking speed, obstacle clearance distance, its adaptation over time, and inter-trial trajectory variability.ResultsFindings revealed a greater visual clearance distance for the dining table compared to the coffee table, a difference reduced by the perturbation caused by displacing the coffee table. This clearing distance diminished with repetitions, showing that over time we tend to walk closer to obstacles around us. These adaptations were clearly the result of an active visuo-motor regulation, as evidenced by the reduced trajectory variability at, or just before, the location of the obstacles.DiscussionCollectively, these results demonstrate that walking at home is a flexible behavior necessitating continuous perceptual adaptations in our daily trajectories. These findings could contribute to a detailed analysis of walking indoors under natural conditions, and the investigated metrics could serve as a baseline for comparing the embodiment of physical and mental health in walking patterns, for instance during lockdowns. Furthermore, our findings have consequences for safer mediated human architecture interaction.

Effect of dietary concentrations of Metabolisable energy and crude protein on the performance and behavior of ducks

ABSTRACT 1. The study evaluated the effect of dietary metabolisable energy (ME) content and crude protein (CP) level on the growth performance and behaviour of ducks. 2. A total of 720, Cherry Valley ducks were allocated to 36 pens in groups of 20 birds. For the initial period, from 1 to 21 d age, six diets, containing a standard (SME), low (LME) and high (HME) ME of 12.14, 11.93 and 12.35 MJ/kg, and standard (SCP) or high (HCP) CP contents of 210 or 220 g/kg diet, respectively, were mixed. For the period from 22 to 42 d age, the diets contained ME of 12.98 (SME), 12.77 (LME), 13.19 (HME) MJ/kg and the levels of CP were 170 (SCP) or 180 (HCP) g/kg, respectively. 3. An ME by CP interaction was seen from 1 to 21 d age in ducks fed HME + HCP diet, which had greater weight gain than those fed LME + SCP (P < 0.05). Compared to LME + SCP, dietary HME decrease feeding but increased walking behaviour compared to LME + SCP and SME + SCP (P < 0.05). High CP in LME and SME diets increased drinking behaviour (P < 0.05), but there was no change in HME diet. Compared to LME, feeding HME reduced ground pecking (P < 0.05). Feeding HME reduced feeding behaviour (P < 0.05) from 22 to 42 d age. During the same period, standing behaviour was reduced in HCP + LME (P < 0.05). Drinking was reduced in LME + SCP compared to SME + HCP and HME + HCP (P < 0.05). 4. A diet formulated with HME and HCP is effective for enhancing growth performance of ducks aged 1-21 d and saving time for feeding or ground pecking, which may induce spending more time on other activities.

Calibrating walkability indicators for commute walk trips: A structural equation modeling approach

Walking plays a significant role in promoting public health, decreasing air pollution, and vitalizing cities. Walkability is an important notion that transportation planners and policymakers often use to quantify the suitability of and to promote travelers’ propensity for walking in an urban area. This paper adopts a data-driven approach using structural equation modeling for simultaneous estimation of 1) a latent construct of walkability using different walkability indicators (thus estimation of weights of the indicators), and 2) the effect of walkability on commute walking behavior for an urban area. Doing so accounts for the effects of various indicators of walkability as well as socio-economic and security characteristics. A Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model is developed to estimate both direct and indirect effects of walkability on the share of commute walk trips in total commute trips for the city of Chicago using census tract-level data. We find that walkability is the most important factor affecting the share of commute walk trips. Among the indicators of walkability, transit- and job density-related indicators are the most important ones. Some socio-economic factors, especially travel time, vehicle ownership, and college student share, also critically influence the propensity for walking to commute. We further find that our calibrated walkability score results in a different hotspot distribution in Chicago than using the uncalibrated walkability score, as is currently practiced by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, but is more consistent with hotspot distribution of the actual commute walk trips in the city. These findings advance the understanding and characterization of walkability and actual walking behavior in urban areas, which in turn helps inform pedestrian infrastructure investment and policy making.

DeepCPG Policies for Robot Locomotion

Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) form the neural basis of the observed rhythmic behaviors for locomotion in legged animals. The CPG dynamics organized into networks allow the emergence of complex locomotor behaviors. In this work, we take this inspiration for developing walking behaviors in multi-legged robots. We present novel DeepCPG policies that embed CPGs as a layer in a larger neural network and facilitate end-to-end learning of locomotion behaviors in deep reinforcement learning (DRL) setup. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on physics engine-based insectoid robots. We show that, compared to traditional approaches, DeepCPG policies allow sample-efficient end-to-end learning of effective locomotion strategies even in the case of high-dimensional sensor spaces (vision). We scale the DeepCPG policies using a modular robot configuration and multi-agent DRL. Our results suggest that gradual complexification with embedded priors of these policies in a modular fashion could achieve non-trivial sensor and motor integration on a robot platform. These results also indicate the efficacy of bootstrapping more complex intelligent systems from simpler ones based on biological principles. Finally, we present the experimental results for a proof-of-concept insectoid robot system for which DeepCPG learned policies initially using the simulation engine and these were afterwards transferred to real-world robots without any additional fine-tuning.

Hearing loss moderates cognitive‐motor dual‐tasking before and after combined exercise and cognitive training in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: Findings from the SYNERGIC and COMPASS‐ND studies

AbstractBackgroundAge‐related hearing loss is associated with poor cognitive‐motor dual‐task performance and is a risk factor for dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Although different interventions have shown to improve dual‐task performance in older adults, it is currently unclear whether hearing ability affects training efficacy in individuals with MCI.MethodsSecondary data analyses of 75 participants with MCI (Mage = 73.66 ± 6.67) who completed the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging SYNERGIC and COMPASS‐ND studies. We investigated how hearing ability (normal hearing (n = 56), hearing loss (n = 19)) moderated the efficacy of a 20‐week intervention (combined exercise and cognitive training (n = 32), exercise training alone (n = 31), control (n = 12)) on single‐ and dual‐task working memory performance (serial one or seven subtractions, semantic fluency) and spatio‐temporal gait characteristics.ResultsAt baseline, participants with hearing loss had slower gait speed and higher step time variability while concurrently completing the semantic fluency task, compared to participants with normal hearing. Participants with hearing loss also had higher accuracy on the semantic fluency and serial seven subtractions tasks while dual‐tasking, compared to participants with normal hearing. Single‐ and dual‐task gait speed increased significantly following combined exercise and cognitive training, with greater improvements observed in participants with hearing loss compared to those with normal hearing. However, older adults with hearing loss showed a significant decrease in dual‐task serial seven subtractions and semantic fluency following combined exercise and cognitive training.ConclusionThese findings help clarify the relationship between hearing loss, cognition, and mobility in old age and inform training recommendations for persons with MCI based on hearing ability. Combined exercise and cognitive training appears to have increased attentional and physical resources, allowing participants with hearing loss to shift postural prioritization strategies while dual‐tasking from a posture‐second strategy to a posture‐first strategy. Thus, combined exercise and cognitive training may be particularly beneficial for older adults with both MCI and hearing loss, in order to improve safe walking behaviours while multi‐tasking and mitigate further decline.