Air pollution and impaired lung function are independent risk factors for cognitive decline

Public Release: 18-May-2015
American Thoracic Society

Studies have shown that both air pollution and impaired lung function can cause cognitive deficits, but it was unclear whether air pollution diminishes cognition by reducing breathing ability first or whether air pollution represents an independent risk factor for cognitive deficit. Now a new study conducted by German and Swiss researchers has answered that question: air pollution directly affects cognition and is not mediated by lung function.

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"Our findings disprove the hypothesis that air pollution first decreases lung function and this decline, in turn, causes cognitive impairment by releasing stress signals and humoral mediators into the body," explains Mohammad Vossoughi, a PhD student at the Leibniz (Germany) Institute for Environmental Medicine, who led the study.

Mr. Vossoughi adds that the findings suggest other hypotheses about how air pollution affects cognition, including the possibility that particulate matter and other pollutants are translocated to the central nervous system via our sense of smell and that leads to mild cognitive impairment.

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