Air in large cities disrupts the brain
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Air pollution in large cities adversely affects the brain of people living there. Scientists have determined that it is the polluted air in the cities that is mostly responsible for the onset of negative processes in the brain, which gradually lead to changes that occur with mental disorders (schizophrenia or autism). Such conclusions were made by the research group of one of the universities in the United States.
In the course of their research, experts have established that the pollution of urban air not only affects the health of citizens, but also leads to the development of severe mental illnesses. Especially strongly, such air acts on the strong half of humanity.
For research, scientists took several rodents, which were divided into two groups. The first group of mice scientists were tested with contaminated air for two weeks, the second group of mice was a control group. As a result, the scientists found that in the mice from the first group, the indicators of development and memory significantly worsened.
Currently, the authorities of megacities are making a lot of efforts to reduce air pollutants, but unfortunately this is not enough. Scientists note that in the economically developed cities the highest indices of air pollution.
As explained by Deborah Corey-Schlecht, the head of the scientific project, when air particles enter the lungs of a person, disturbances occur in the vascular plexuses of the cerebral ventricles, which leads to an increase in their size several times. After such changes, the formation of the white matter of the brain stops. In addition, air pollutants eventually lead to the death of brain cells. Such changes cause developmental disorders, and also worsen the memory of a person.
In addition, specialists carried out research work, during which the information accumulated for several years (since 1986) by scientific centers (the Center for Biodemography and Health and the Center for Gerontology of Andrus) was analyzed.
Together, experts analyzed the condition of about 800 people.
In the second half of the 1990s, scientists began to measure the concentration of air pollutants in the areas where the experiment participants lived. Cognitive abilities specialists evaluated after testing (mathematical tests and memory tests). Based on the results of the mistakes made by the participants, an average indicator was introduced.
On average, the concentration of fine particles in the air was 13.8 μg / m3 (while the maximum allowable value was 12 μg / m3).
In the course of further research, the researchers found that those participants in the experiment who lived in areas where the air pollution was 15 μg / m3 and above, while making the tests, made one and a half times more errors than those subjects who lived in cleaner areas (level contamination of 5 μg / m3 and below).
Recent studies of scientists have shown that particles with a size of 2.5 microns or less freely enter the bloodstream and lungs of humans. Presumably, it is through the blood vessels that the contaminant particles enter the brain, causing cognitive impairment.
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