Climate changes impact on brain, cognition and mood

The scarcity of empirical research on the impact of climate change on brain health is mainly due to the challenge integrating interdependent environmental, socio-economic and demographic variables into a statistical analysis framework that accounts for the inherent inter-individual variability in brain and behaviour. Given this, the research team aims to establish a comprehensive approach for understanding the neurobiology of the impact of short- and long-term climate change on mental health and cognitive decline. They intend to do so by integrating large-scale climate, geographical space, brain imaging and behavioural data from the population over a period of 20 years. Progress in understanding the impact of climate change on mood and cognitive performance will give a major boost to prevention centred research. Any advance in this field would have not only a major socio-economic impact given the costs of dementia and mental disorders care, but it will also potentially reduce the suffering of patients and their caregivers.