The study indicates that climate disasters hit the brain before children are born

When Superstorm Sandy made a line for New York City in October 2012, large areas of downtown Manhattan were flooded, and she left 2 million people Without electricity, heat and destroyer Tens of thousands From homes. The storm followed a reckless summer in New York City, with a procession of heat waves It approaches 100 degrees.

For those who were carrying at the time, these harsh conditions were not only uncomfortable – he might have left a permanent imprint on the brains of their children. This is according to a new study published on Wednesday in the Plos One magazine, which was reviewed by the peer. Using MRI tests, researchers at Queens College, City University in New York, found that children whose mothers have lived through the luxury storm have distinct differences in the brain that could hinder their emotional development. The researchers found that the effects were more dramatic when people were exposed to extreme heat while carrying, in addition to the tropical storm.

“It is not just climate pressure or one isolated event, but rather a mixture of everything,” said Donato Deedings, the main author of the study and a doctorate in nervous psychology at the Cuny Graduate Center. Deingenis’s study is the first of its kind to study the common effects of natural disasters and severe heat – the pits often coincides. A few years ago, scientists call the summer “Danger season” Since it is a collision time, including heat, hurricanes, forest fires and toxic smoke. And summer temperatures continue to climb New heights.

The study analyzed brain imaging data from a group of 34 children, about 8 years old, whose mothers were pregnant during the sandstorm – some were pregnant at a time when Sandy achieved a decline, and some of them were subjected to 95 degrees Fahrenheit or higher during pregnancy. While researchers did not find that the heat alone had a great impact, living through the wonderful storm led to an increase in the size of the base nodes, which is part of the brain that deals with the regulation of feelings.

Although this larger size may be a response compensation for stress, changes in the basal nodes have been linked to the behavioral challenges for children, such as depression and uniteDyngenis said.

“What we see is a convincing evidence that the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, but it is possible that this is nervous with future generations that will inherit our planet,” said Duke Sherine, the co -author of the study and director of the MRI at the Cuny graduate center in a press statement. Successor Sandy made global global warming more harmful High sea levels And the high levels of ocean temperatures that may be Rains.

Yuko Numura, co -author of the study and professor of psychology at Queen’s College, said that the time before birth was “very sensitive” for development because the body of the fetus changes significantly. The human brain grows faster in the womb, as it reaches more than a third of its full adult size, according to the study. Nomura said any additional pressure at the time, even if it is small, “could have a much greater effect.”

But this pure period also offers a window of opportunities. “Development Sciences, including science in this paper, exciting because it only tells us What We can do to protect children from the effects of climate change, but it also tells us when “We can intervene to protect children to achieve the biggest difference,” said Lindsey Borgardet, the chief science official at the Nami Child Center at Harvard University.

Although there is a lot of evidence that prenatal stress can generally affect the growth of the child’s brain, according to Deingeniis, the search for stress related to climate is not exactly present. “There is still a field that has the possibility of explosive growth,” said Jennifer Parkin, a professor of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Mercer in Macon, Georgia, who is studying the effects of Hurricane Helini last year on the health of the mother.

Parkin said that Deingeniis study provides concrete evidence on how climate -charged events affect the brain. “People are sometimes difficult with mental health, because not just as you can take X -rays and see a broken bone.” She said it is easier to understand photography that shows a difference in the size of the brain based on exposure to environmental stress.

Park, from Developed To measure the health of the mother after birth, he says that people have begun to pay more attention to mothers and their mental health – not only in terms of providing a healthy child, but in the long run. She said: “We tend to focus things on the child’s results, which is important, but to keep the child’s health, the mother must be in good health as well.” “Because when my mother struggles, the family will carry out.”

This article was originally appeared in Barrier in https://grist.org/health/climate-daaby-research-brain-development/. Grist is a non -profit and independent media organization dedicated to the novel of climate solution stories and a just future. Learn more in Grist.org.