Key Points
Children and foetuses exposed to hot and cold environments impact their brains white matter, responsible for connecting various brain regions and enabling communication, a new research has found...
They also found that early exposure could have lasting effects on the microstructure of white matter in the brain..
We know that the developing brain of foetuses and children is particularly susceptible to environmental exposures, and there is some preliminary evidence suggesting that exposure to cold and heat may affect mental wellbeing and cognitive performance in children and adolescents, said lead researcher Mnica Guxens, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Spain, and the studys corresponding author..
For this, the researchers assessed the preteens white matter connectivity by measuring how water flowed and spread in their brains, or mean diffusivity..
The team found that exposure to colder-than-usual temperatures during pregnancy and the first year of life, and exposure to hotter-than-usual environments from birth until three years of age were linked with more mean diffusivity at preadolescence, pointing to a slower maturation of their white matter..
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