Poor Air Quality May Led to Cognitive Problems in Infants

Poor air quality is associated with impaired visual cognition in the first two years of life, according to a study published in the journal eLife. This finding is consistent with animal studies of early brain development. The impact of poor air quality on neurocognitive health is a global concern. This impact was recently quantified by the Global Burden of Disease Study in India, attributing 1.67 million deaths in 2019 to air pollution-related causes with an overall national economic loss of $36.8 billion.

Studies have reported that poor air quality and proximity to roadways are associated with reduced general cognitive functioning in childhood and slower growth in working memory. But, no studies have looked at the relationship between poor air quality and cognition in the first year of life, which may be particularly sensitive to toxins.

How Does Air Quality in Home Affect Infant’s Cognitive Function?

In a new study, researchers collaborated with the Community Empowerment Lab in Lucknow, India –global health research to assess the association between poor air quality in India and impaired cognition in infants under two.

They worked with families from a range of socio-economic backgrounds in Shivgarh, a rural community in Uttar Pradesh – one of the states in India that has been most strongly impacted by poor air quality.

They assessed the visual working memory and visual processing speed of 215 infants using a specially-designed cognition task from October 2017 to June 2019. On one display, the tots were shown flashing colored squares that were always the same after each ‘blink’. On a second display, one colored square changed after each blink.

Later, they used air quality monitors in the children’s homes to measure emission levels and air quality. They also considered family socio-economic status.

This research shows for the first time that there is an association between poor air quality and impaired visual cognition in the first two years of life when brain growth is at its peak. Such impacts could carry forward across years, negatively impacting long-term development.

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Reversely, our research indicates that global efforts to improve air quality could have benefits for infants’ emerging cognitive abilities. This, in turn, could have a cascade of positive impacts because improved cognition can lead to improved economic productivity in the long term and reduce the burden on healthcare and mental health systems.

One key factor the team measured was the cooking fuel commonly used at home. They found that air quality was poorer in homes that used solid cooking materials like cow dung cake. Therefore, efforts to reduce cooking emissions in homes should be a key target for intervention.

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Source-Eurekalert