Air pollution can damage children’s brains, research
Barcelona: A new study has shown that the effects of air pollution on the baby during pregnancy and in the first eight and a half years of life can damage the baby’s brain.
A study published in the Journal of Environmental Pollution confirmed the link between air pollution and cerebral white matter.
Cerebral white matter markers ensure communication between different parts of the brain. This connectivity can be measured by observing the fine structure of white matter, a hallmark of brain development.
The Barcelona Institute for Global Health experts, who led the research, say the findings are important because abnormal white matter structures have been linked to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Research has shown that the more pollution a child is exposed to by the age of five, the more brain structure is affected.
The researchers found that exposure to pollutants such as dust, smoke or polluted liquid particles in the first two years of life increases the size of the outer part of the brain.
Institute researcher Anne-Claire Binter, who was also a co-author of the study, said that enlargement of the outer part of the brain is associated with certain psychiatric diseases (schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders). happens.
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