Climate Disasters Hit the Brain Before Babies Are Even Born, Study Suggests

When Superstorm Sandy made a line line for New York in October 2012, he flooded huge stretches in downtown Manhattan, leaving 2 million people without electricity and heat and damage tens of thousands Houses. The storm followed a stifling summer in New York, with a heat waves procession Almost 100 degrees.

For those who were pregnant at the time, the suppression of these extreme conditions was not only uncomfortable – it may have left a lasting imprint on their children’s brains. It is according to a new study published Wednesday in the Reading Committee Plos One Committee. Using MRI analyzes, researchers from Queens College, City University of New York, found that children whose mothers lived through superstorm Sandy had distinct cerebral differences that could hinder their emotional development. The effects were even more dramatic when people were exposed to extreme heat during their pregnancy, in addition to the tropical storm, revealed the researchers.

“It is not only a factor of climatic stress or an isolated event, but rather a combination of everything,” said Donato Deingeniis, the main author of the study and a doctoral student in neuropsychology in Cuny Graduate Center. Deringeniis’ study is the first of its kind to examine the joint effects of natural disasters and extreme heat – of events that often coincide. A few years ago, scientists nicknamed Summer “Danger season” Since it is a period of risk collision, in particular heat, hurricanes, forest fires and toxic smoke. And summer temperatures continue to climb to new summits.

The study analyzed the cerebral imaging data of a group of 34 children, aged about 8, whose mothers were pregnant during the storm of Superstory, some of which were pregnant at the time when Sandy led to earth, and some of which were exposed to a heat of 95 degrees F or more during their pregnancy. Although the researchers did not find that heat alone had a lot of impact, living through the superstorm Sandy led to an increase in the volume of central gray nuclei, part of the brain which deals with the regulation of emotions.

Although this larger size may be compensation in response to stress, changes in central gray nuclei have been linked to behavioral challenges for children, such as depression And autismDinguenis said.

“What we see is convincing proof that the climate crisis is not only an environmental emergency, it is potentially neurological with consequences for future generations which will inherit our planet,” said Duke Shereen, co-author of the study and director of MRI at Cuny Graduate Center, in a press release. Global warming made the Sand Superstory more damaging following Ris at sea and higher ocean temperatures that might have amplified by its precipitation.

Yoko Nomura, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at Queens College, Cuny, said that time before birth was “very, very sensitive” for development because the body of the fetus changes so radically. The human brain is developing the most quickly in the uterus, reaching more than a third of its complete adult volume before birth, according to the study. Any additional stress at that time, even if small, “can have a much more important impact,” said Nameura.

But this extra-sensitive period also has an opportunity window. “The science of development, including the science of this article, is exciting because it does not only tell us What We can do to protect children from the effects of climate change, but that also tells us When We can intervene to protect children to make the biggest difference, “said Lindsey Burghardt, head of science at the center of the development child of Harvard University, in an email.

Although there are many evidence that prenatal stress can generally affect children’s brain development, according to Deingeniis, research on stress related to the climate is specifically lacking. “It is always an area that has an explosive growth potential,” said Jennifer Barkin, a professor at the Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia, who studies the effects of Héragan Hélène from last year on maternal health.

Deringeniis’s study offers concrete evidence of how climate -responsible events can affect the brain, said Barkin. “People sometimes have trouble with mental health, because it’s not like you could take a radiography and see a broken bone.” But it is easier to understand imagery showing a difference in brain volume based on exposure to environmental stress, she said.

Barkin, who developed an index To measure maternal health after giving birth, people are starting to pay more attention to mothers and their mental health – not just in terms of delivery of a healthy baby, but in the long term. “We tend to focus things on the results of the child, which is important, but to keep the child healthy, the mother must also be healthy,” she said. “Because when mom has trouble, the family is going to fight.”

This article originally appeared in Grist has https://grist.org/health/climate-disaster-baby-research-brain-development/. Grist is an independent non -profit media organization dedicated to telling stories of climatic solutions and a fair future. Learn more about Fat.