If You're Over 65, Your Thermostat Could Be Affecting Your Brain Health, New Study Finds

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While a well-functioning furnace can keep our hands and feet from freezing, dialing the thermostat up to the highest setting can also have its consequences. Researchers now claim that keeping your home too warm (or conversely, too cold) can have a negative impact on your brain, particularly among those 65 and older.

Rising temperatures can impact mental performance.

According to their research, turning up the thermostat can actually decrease someone's ability to pay attention.

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Keeping a thermostat at a temperature between 68-75 degrees Fahrenheit is associated with improved concentration in older adults.

A one-year study monitored 47 adults aged 65 and older from Boston, with their home temperatures ranging from 61 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Participants themselves reported having trouble paying attention, noting where they had set their home thermostat at the times they experienced mental fogginess (i.e., poor concentration).

Studies revealed that sharper mental clarity was linked to older individuals who kept their home thermostats set between 68 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other hand, reports of difficulty concentrating increased significantly when the temperature deviated by up to seven degrees in either direction.

Experts state that living in homes with poor environmental temperatures can impair the human brain's health. Specifically, adults over 65 years old living in low-income households or disadvantaged neighborhoods are most vulnerable due to limited or nonexistent access to resources.

"Researchers are emphasizing the importance of public health initiatives and housing policies that prioritize climate resilience for elderly individuals. As global temperatures continue to rise, it is expected that providing access to climate-controlled environments will be crucial in safeguarding their mental health and cognitive well-being," Baniassadi explained.

Studies in a laboratory setting provide additional evidence to support this theory.

This can lead to impairments in thought processes, causing us to become snappish, reckless, and readily annoyed.

In a study where temperatures varied by four degrees, people in the warmer room had an average 10 percent decline in memory, reaction time, and executive function compared to those in the cooler room, as measured through a series of cognitive tests taken in temperature-controlled rooms.

Researchers discovered that college students living in unairconditioned buildings showed "substantial declines in cognitive test scores" during heatwaves, in contrast to students living in dorms with climate control.

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