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From Cold to Hot: How Internal Temperature Affects Cognition in Seniors


The study suggests that it is crucial to consider the thermal environment of older adults’ homes as a factor that can influence their cognitive well-being, and that policies aimed at thermal comfort can have a significant impact on the quality of life of these individuals.


Climate change has the potential to alter temperature patterns around the world, which could expose older adults to more frequent and intense periods of heat.


Heatwaves are extreme weather events that have caused a significant increase in mortality rates among older adults worldwide. As temperatures reach dangerously high levels, older adults’ thermoregulatory systems, often compromised due to aging or pre-existing health conditions, become less efficient.


This can lead to dehydration, heat stroke, and cardiovascular complications, increasing the risk of death.


With climate change predicting an increase in the frequency and intensity of these heatwaves, the need for effective interventions, such as early warning systems, thermally controlled housing policies, and access to cool places, becomes essential to protect this vulnerable population.

Laboratory studies have already shown that there is a link between room temperature and cognitive abilities, indicating that increased temperatures can also affect the mental capacity of older adults.


However, there are still questions about how changes in temperature within older adults’ own homes, an environment over which they have control, unlike a laboratory, affect their cognitive performance, especially with regard to their ability to maintain attention.


To investigate this question, researchers at Harvard Medical School, USA, conducted a longitudinal observational study. This means that they followed a group of older adults over a period of time, observing how the conditions in their homes influence their cognitive abilities.


Specifically, they continuously monitored the ambient temperature of the homes and recorded the difficulty that participants reported in maintaining attention. This monitoring was carried out over a 12-month period, involving a cohort of older adults living in the community of Boston, Massachusetts.

Choosing a longitudinal study allowed researchers to observe changes over time and how temperature fluctuations affected participants on an ongoing basis.


The study included 47 adults, all aged 65 or older. This age range was chosen because aging can make people more vulnerable to temperature changes, both in terms of physical comfort and cognitive performance.


The results showed that there was a relationship between the ambient temperature of the home and the likelihood of participants reporting difficulty maintaining attention. This means that the lowest levels of difficulty maintaining attention occurred when the temperature was between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius.


When the temperature deviated from this range, increasing or decreasing by 4 degrees, the likelihood of reporting difficulty nearly doubled. This finding suggests that there is an ideal temperature range for cognitive functioning in older adults, and that going outside this range can have a negative impact.

These results indicate that even under current climate conditions, many older adults live in indoor environments that can impair their cognitive abilities.


With predicted climate change, this problem may become even more severe, especially for low-income older adults who may not have access to effective temperature control systems in their homes.


This highlights the need for public health and housing policies that consider the impact of temperature on older adults’ cognitive abilities.


Investing in housing solutions that help maintain an adequate indoor temperature may be an important way to increase the resilience of this vulnerable population to climate change.


Thus, the study suggests that it is crucial to consider the thermal environment of older adults’ homes as a factor that can influence their cognitive well-being, and that policies aimed at thermal comfort may have a significant impact on the quality of life of these individuals.



READ MORE:


Home Ambient Temperature and Self-reported Attention in Community-Dwelling Older Adults 

Amir Baniassadi, Wanting Yu,  Thomas Travison, Ryan Day, Lewis Lipsitz, Brad Manor

The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, glae286, 


Abstract:


Climate change is expected to disrupt weather patterns across the world, exposing older adults to more intense and frequent periods of hot weather. Meanwhile, lab-based studies have established a causal relationship between ambient temperature and cognitive abilities, suggesting the expected rise in temperature may influence older adults’ cognitive functioning. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether, and to what extent, the temperature variations in older adults’ own homes - which unlike lab settings is under their control - influence their cognitive functioning. Our objective was to provide proof-of-concept that home ambient temperature influences self-reported ability to maintain attention in older adults. We conducted a longitudinal observational study; continuously monitoring the home ambient temperature and self-reported difficulty keeping attention for 12 months in a cohort of community-dwelling older adults living in Boston, MA. 47 adults aged 65 and older. We observed a U-shaped relationship between home ambient temperature at the time of assessment and the odds ratio (OR) of reporting difficulty keeping attention such that the OR was lowest between 20 – 24 ˚C and doubled when moving away from this range by 4 ˚C in either direction.

Our results suggest that even under the current climate a considerable portion of older adults encounter indoor temperatures detrimental to their cognitive abilities. Climate change may exacerbate this problem, particularly among low-income and underserved older adults. Addressing this issue in public health and housing policy is essential to building climate-resiliency in this vulnerable population.

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