In the heat, the spirit flows

How does heat affect cognitive abilities?

Temperatures increase during the summer. How higher temperatures affect brain performance? Researchers have now found that extreme heat can have a negative impact on cognitive abilities. These will continue even when temperatures have already dropped.

Harvard T.H. Scientists The Chan School of Public Health has discovered in recent research that extreme heat has a negative effect on cognitive abilities. The doctors published the results of their study in the English language journal "PLOS Medicine".

High temperatures affect perception

The study focused on the impact of intense heat waves on participating students. Of course, it was already known that extreme weather conditions (such as heat waves) can negatively affect physical health, experts say. This applies in particular to the health of the elderly. However, this study is one of the first to suggest that elevated temperatures may affect perception regardless of age, the researchers explain.

The study included 44 subjects

The study included 44 students in two groups, One group was housed in an air-conditioned building, while the other group was housed in a building without air conditioning. The study lasted 12 days and was conducted in the height of summer 2016. The first five days of the study were hot, followed by a five-day heat wave. The remaining two days of the study marked a significant cooling period.

How was the study done?

The current study required all subjects to do a quick test on their smartphone every morning after waking up. Students without air conditioning did worse. In addition, five different measures of perception have also deteriorated. If the protesters had to answer basic arithmetic questions, participants without air conditioning scored 13.3 percent lower than those with air conditioning. In addition, it took 13.4% more to answer a test where participants had to identify the color of specific words in the text.

Influence of persistent heat waves after temperature drop

That in the remaining two days of the study When temperatures cooled, the effect continued. This suggests, according to the authors of the study, that the influence of a heat wave may persist for at least some time after a temperature drop, which is partly due to the design of the buildings. Buildings were often designed to store heat, experts say. Such a conception naturally has unpleasant consequences, since American adults spend 90% of their time indoors, the authors add to the study. There are many indications that people in the hottest months suffer from altered perception without knowing their situation or their causes. With global warming, temperatures are still rising, the problem could become even more serious.

Inform the public

The researchers involved in the study hope that more people will be concerned about climate change if they are sensitized to the personal effects of extreme heat and global warming. Raising awareness about how climate change affects people at an individual level could encourage people to be more proactive in the fight against climate change, scientists say. (As)