Does exposure to nature make children more intelligent? : analysis in Polish children with and without ADHD

Previous studies have shown that exposure to nature and physical activity (PA) may be associated with higher intelligence in children. We examined whether there is an association between lifelong exposure to greenspace and bluespace and intelligence in children aged 10–13 with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and whether PA mediates this association. The sample (N = 714) was collected within the NeuroSmog case-control study, where children with (N = 206) and without ADHD (N = 508) were recruited from 18 towns in Southern Poland. Nature exposure was estimated as the sum of the z-scores of the objective and perceived measures. Objective greenspace exposure was defined as the percentage of grass and tree cover in 500 m and 1 km buffers around lifelong residential addresses, respectively. Objective bluespace exposure was defined as the percentage of water cover in 500 m and 1 km buffers. Perceived greenspace/bluespace was measured as the parent-rated availability, quality, and use of greenspace/bluespace. Intelligence was assessed using the Polish version of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, 5th edition (SB5). SB5 Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Nonverbal IQ, Verbal IQ, five factor and ten subtest scores were analysed as outcomes. The associations between nature and IQ scores were assessed by linear regressions separately for cases and controls, adjusting the models for sex, parental education, and urbanicity. Structural equation modeling was implemented to test whether PA mediated the association between nature and intelligence. None of the greenspace or bluespace measures were consistently associated with intelligence. PA was not found to be a mediator. We did not find evidence that higher lifelong nature exposure is associated with higher intelligence in Polish schoolchildren with or without ADHD. This casts doubts on whether exposure to nature has relevant influence on IQ

Air pollution and attention in Polish schoolchildren with and without ADHD

Background: Development and functioning of attention—a key component of human cognition—can be affected by en vironmental factors. We investigated whether long- and short-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are related to attention in 10- to 13-year-old children living in Polish towns recruited in the NeuroSmog case-control study. Methods: We investigated associations between air pollution and attention separately in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, n = 187), a sensitive, at-risk population with impaired attention and in population based typically developing children (TD, n = 465). Alerting, orienting, and executive aspects of attention were mea sured using the attention network test (ANT), while inhibitory control was measured with the continuous performance test (CPT). We assessed long-term exposure to NO2 and PM10 using novel hybrid land use regression (LUR) models. Short-term exposures to NO2 and PM10 were assigned to each subject using measurements taken at the air pollution monitoring station nearest to their home address. We tested associations for each exposure-outcome pair using adjusted linear and negative binomial regressions. Results: We found that long-term exposures to both NO2 and PM10 were associated with worse visual attention in chil dren with ADHD. Short-term exposure to NO2 was associated with less efficient executive attention in TD children and more errors in children with ADHD. It was also associated with shorter CPT response times in TD children; however, this effect was accompanied by a trend towards more CPT commission errors, suggestive of more impulsive performance in these subjects. Finally, we found that short-term PM10 exposure was associated with fewer omission errors in CPT in TD children. Conclusions: Exposure to air pollution, especially short-term exposure to NO2, may have a negative impact on attention in children. In sensitive populations, this impact might be different than in the general population

Wpływ zanieczyszczenia powietrza, ekspozycji na tereny zielone oraz niebieskie na miary strukturalne rozwoju mózgu u dzieci w wieku szkolnym

Istniejące badania epidemiologiczne wykazały, że obecność przyrody w środowiku może mieć pozytywny wpływ na zdrowie psychiczne i fizyczne u ludzi. Łagodzenie potencjalnych szkód wywołanych przez ekspozycję na zanieczyszczenie powietrza to często rozważana droga, na której przyroda może oddziaływać na zdrowie człowieka. Niedawno pojawił się nowy odłam epidemiologii środowiskowej, który używa metod neuroobrazowania by ustalić możliwe zmiany wewnątrz mózgu w związku z ekspozycją na przyrodę. Ponieważ wielkości efektu ekspozycji środowiskowych są relatywnie małe, poprzednie badania używały metod analizy pojedyńczych wokseli by zyskać na sile statystycznej. Wyniki tych badań sugerują, że ekspozycja na przyrodę ma związek ze zwiększoną objętością istoty szarej w obrębie niektórych obszarów mózgu. Jednakże, replikowalność badań, które stosują podejście pojedynczych wokseli, jest ograniczona. W niniejszym badaniu wykorzystano dokładnie przemyślany projekt badania rodzaju case-control (ADHD vs rozwój neurotypowy), dużą próbę badawczą oraz pomiary środowiskowe wysokiej jakości, by zbadać interakcję między przyrodą, zanieczyszczeniem powietrza a mózgiem. Podejście atlasowe zostało wykorzystane żeby przeanalizować dane strukturalne (T1-ważone) pochodzące z obrazowania metodą rezonansu magnetycznego. Pomiary współczesnej ekspozycji dzieci w wieku 10-13 (N=208) na tereny zielone oraz niebieskie zostały użyte jako predyktory dla grubości korowej w obraszach mózgu wybranych a priori. Najnowocześniejsze metody analizy mediacji zostały użyte aby zgłębić rozumienie roli zanieczyszczenia powietrza w kontekście wpływu przyrody na mózg. Wyniki wskazały brak znaczącego związku pomiędzy obecnością przyrody a grubością korową w badanej próbie. Dodatkowo, zanieczyszczenie powietrza nie było mediatorem tych oddziaływań. Wyniki zerowe wskazują na to, że możliwe efekty środowiska mogą być zbyt małe by znacząco zmieniać grubość korową całych obszarów mózgowych. Więcej siły statystycznej może być potrzebne, by w wiarygodny sposób badać te efekty za pomocą podejścia atlasowego.Existing epidemiological studies have indicated that the availability of nature in the environment may have a positive effect on one’s mental and physical health. Mitigation of possible harm caused by exposure to air pollution is a commonly considered pathway by which nature impacts our health. Recently, a new branch of environmental epidemiology has emerged that uses neuroimaging methods to establish possible changes within the brain due to exposure to nature. Since the effect sizes of environmental exposures are relatively small, previous studies used a single-voxel analysis approach to gain statistical power. The results of these studies suggest that exposure to nature was related to increased gray matter volume in several areas of the brain. However, the replicability of results from a voxel-based approach is limited. The current study leveraged its comprehensive case-control study sample (ADHD vs neurotypical), and high-quality environmental measures to investigate the interplay between nature and air pollution on the brain. The Atlas-based approach was used to analyze the structural magnetic resonance imaging data (T1 weighted). Measures of contemporary exposure to greenspace and bluespace were utilized in children aged 10-13 years (N = 208) as predictors of cortical thickness in a priori selected areas of the brain. State-of-the-art mediation analysis was employed to further explore the role of exposure to air pollution in the context of the effects of nature on the brain. The results did not indicate significant associations between the availability of nature and cortical thickness in the studied sample. Additionally, air pollution did not appear to be on the pathway between nature and cortical thickness. Null findings indicate that possible effects of the environment may be too small to significantly impact the cortical thickness of entire areas. More statistical power may be required to reliably investigate such effects when using an atlas-based MRI preprocessing approach

NeuroSmog: Określenie wpływu zanieczyszczenia powietrza na rozwijający się mózg, ze skupieniem się na zespóle nadpobudliwości z deficytem uwagi

Zarówno długotrwała, jak i krótkotrwała ekspozycja na zanieczyszczone powietrze jest szkodliwa dla zdrowia i ma negatywny wpływ na nasze funkcjonowanie neuropsychologiczne. Pył zawieszony, którego często się używa jako miara ogólnego zanieczyszczenia powietrza, to mieszanka złożona z materii w jej stałej lub płynnej formie, która jest wystarczająco lekka aby utrzymywać się w powietrzu przez dłuższy czas. Dana praca zawiera dwie główne części. Po pierwsze, stworzyłem nowatorski opis asocjacji pomiędzy ekspozycją na pył zawieszony a zmianami w strukturze oraz funkcjonowaniu ludzkiego mózgu i deficitami charakteru neurorozwojowego oraz podsumowałem zarówno zmiany mózgowe, jak i behawioralne, obecne u ludzi chorujących na zespół nadpobudliwości z deficytem uwagi. Po drugie, opisałem projekt trwającego epidemiologicznego badania rodzaju kliniczno-kontrolnego, które łączy dziedziny epidemiologii środowiskowej i neuroobrazowania. Głównym celem NeuroSmogu jest zbadać które zmiany w mózgu są skutkiem długotrwałej ekspozycji na pył zawieszony oraz jak takie zmiany mogą prowadzić do zmian behawioralnych a poprzez nie, do ADHD. Do badania zostaną zrekrutowane 800 dzieci w wieku 10-13 lat, z których 300 zdiagnozowanych jako chorujące na ADHD. Przeprowadzone zostaną sesje psychologicznego testowania i skanowania w rezonansie magnetycznym. Uzyskane wyniki będą poddane analizie mediacyjnej oraz zostaną użyte m.in. do zapewnienia solidnego podłoża naukowego dla przyszłych regulacji zanieczyszczenia powietrza.Both short- and long-term exposures to polluted air deteriorate human health and have a detrimental effect on the neuropsychological function in particular. This work contains two main parts. First, I produced a state-of-the-art description of changes in the brain and neuropsychological functioning that may be caused by the exposure to particulate matter and summarised those behavioural and brain abnormalities present in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Second, I described the design of an ongoing epidemiological case-control study that combines areas of environmental epidemiology and neuroimaging. The main objective of NeuroSmog is to research which changes in the brain are due to long-term exposure to PM and how these changes may lead to behavioural changes and through them, to ADHD. The study will recruit 800 children aged 10 to 13, 300 of which with ADHD. A battery of psychological tests will be applied and Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanning sessions will be performed

Family functioning style as a predictor of the quality of cognitive functioning of primary school students with ADHD

Objective: This study aimed to specify whether family communication and satisfaction are predictors of a child’s executive functions and whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) severity lies in the pathway between these variables. Method: Two hundred Polish children with ADHD, aged 10 to 13, were tested using Conners 3, the PU1 Battery of Cognitive Tests and Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fifth Edition (SB5). Parents filled out the FACES IV-SOR questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. Results: The quality of family communication and satisfaction did not predict executive functioning in children with ADHD, and ADHD severity did not play a mediating role neither in boys or in girls. Intelligent quotient was the only predictor of executive functioning in the group of boys. Conclusion: These results contrast with those of previous studies that have shown the existence of similar associations in other cultural contexts

Association of residential and school green- and bluespace with academic performance in 10-13-year-old Polish schoolchildren with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Background: Several studies, mostly based on the USA data, have reported that school greenspace was associated with better academic performance. However, nearly all of them were conducted on aggregated data. We are among the first individual data-based studies worldwide to examine whether exposure to school and residential green- and bluespace can boost academic performance. Methods: NeuroSmog is an ongoing case-control study investigating the impact of air pollution on brain development in children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 658 children aged 10 to 13 years from 18 large and small towns in southern Poland constituted the analytical sample. Information about latest end-of-year school grades in Polish and maths was collected by the parent report while perceived academic performance in these subjects was collected by the Youth Self-Report. Tree, grass, and water cover, as well as overall vegetation, were abstracted in Euclidean buffers of 500 and 1000 m around concurrent school and residential addresses. Perceived green- and bluespace data were also collected. Adjusted for age, sex, parent education, financial situation, and urbanicity, logistic models were fitted to assess the asso ciations between each exposure-outcome pair. Result: We found no consistent associations between academic performance and school or residential green- and bluespace. This held true for children with and without ADHD. Conclusions: Higher residential and school green- and bluespace do not seem to be sufficient for better academic performance

Neurosmog:Determining the impact of air pollution on the developing brain: Project protocol

Exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) may affect neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. The mechanisms underlying these relationships are not currently known. We aim to assess whether PM affects the developing brains of schoolchildren in Poland, a country characterized by high levels of PM pollution. Children aged from 10 to 13 years (n = 800) are recruited to participate in this case–control study. Cases (children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)) are being recruited by field psychologists. Population-based controls are being sampled from schools. The study area comprises 18 towns in southern Poland characterized by wide-ranging levels of PM. Comprehensive psychological assessments are conducted to assess cognitive and social functioning. Participants undergo structural, diffusion-weighted, task, and resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). PM concentrations are estimated using land use regression models, incorporating information from air monitoring networks, dispersion models, and characteristics of roads and other land cover types. The estimated concentrations will be assigned to the prenatal and postnatal residential and preschool/school addresses of the study participants. We will assess whether long-term exposure to PM affects brain function, structure, and connectivity in healthy children and in those diagnosed with ADHD. This study will provide novel, in-depth understanding of the neurodevelopmental effects of PM pollution