Cognitive and physical training can help older adults with mild cognitive impairment maintain or improve their ability to move and think at the same time, but hearing ability and sex influence outcomes, according to a Concordia-led study released on Apr. 7.
The research highlights the importance of considering individual differences such as hearing loss and sex when designing interventions for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This is relevant because MCI can lead to increased risk of falls and further cognitive decline if not managed effectively.
The study used data from the SYNERGIC clinical trial, which involved 75 adults aged 60 to 85 with MCI. Participants underwent a 20-week program that included both physical training and cognitive exercises. The researchers specifically examined how hearing loss affected performance when participants walked while doing mental tasks like counting backwards or naming animals. Hearing was measured both by self-reporting and objective testing.
Findings showed that poor hearing was strongly linked to worse performance during these dual tasks. Those with poor hearing walked more slowly, had less stable gait, and struggled more when asked to walk while performing mental activities. The effect was even stronger in people who also had lower cognitive scores.
"We already know that males tend to get hearing loss earlier in life and it tends to be more severe than in females," said lead author Rachel Downey (PhD 25). "But this is the first documented study to demonstrate this relationship between hearing loss and dual-task performance in male participants." Supervising author Karen Li added, "The study is especially novel because it looks at this within a sample of people with MCI." Li continued: "Even for individuals in the pre-dementia stage - and not everyone who has MCI will progress to dementia - we see that the severity of cognitive impairment plays a role in their dual-task gait."
After completing different interventions over twenty weeks—including exercise alone or combined exercise-cognitive programs—participants who received both types of training improved most on walking stability while performing mental tasks. Among males, those with higher levels of objectively measured hearing loss showed the greatest gains; among females, those reporting poor hearing improved most. However, researchers noted that women’s self-reports did not always match objective results as closely as men’s did.
Downey said: "This study shows that even if an individual has poor hearing and poor cognitive performance, their brain is still plastic enough to benefit from this kind of training." Li added: "The risk of falling grows with aging. When you add on hearing loss and cognitive impairment, it gets even higher... There are a lot of practical health care implications for this kind of work because it's all non-pharmacological and involves exercises that can be done at home."
