Air pollution exposure linked to cognitive decline
Exposure to air pollution during midlife is linked to poorer cognitive performance and structural changes in the brain by older age according to a study in the United Kingdom. Drawing on data from the long-running 1946 British Birth Cohort, researchers examined over 1,500 individuals for cognitive performance from age 43 to 69 and over 450 participants for brain imaging at age 69–71.
The study, published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity, found that higher exposure to nitrogen dioxide and coarse particulate matter between ages 45 and 64 was significantly associated with slower processing speed but not with verbal memory. Additionally, all pollutants studied were linked to lower scores on a cognitive screening test at age 69.
Brain scans revealed that greater exposure to nitrogen dioxide and some particulate matter was associated with larger ventricular volumes, a marker of brain atrophy, while nitrogen oxide exposure was linked to smaller hippocampal volume, a region critical for memory and associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Overall, our study provides robust evidence linking exposure to air pollution to poorer cognition and shows that exposure during midlife is an important determinant of cognitive decline, and hence, potentially, the risk of incident dementia,” the authors wrote.
Read more: The Lancet
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