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Review
. 2018 Sep;5(3):351-364.
doi: 10.1007/s40572-018-0209-9.

The Effects of Air Pollution on the Brain: a Review of Studies Interfacing Environmental Epidemiology and Neuroimaging

Paula de Prado Bert  1 , Elisabet Mae Henderson Mercader  1 , Jesus Pujol  2   3 , Jordi Sunyer  1   4   5   6 , Marion Mortamais  7   8   9
Affiliations
Review

The Effects of Air Pollution on the Brain: a Review of Studies Interfacing Environmental Epidemiology and Neuroimaging

Paula de Prado Bert et al. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose of review: An emerging body of evidence has raised concern regarding the potentially harmful effects of inhaled pollutants on the central nervous system during the last decade. In the general population, traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) exposure has been associated with adverse effects on cognitive, behavior, and psychomotor development in children, and with cognitive decline and higher risk of dementia in the elderly. Recently, studies have interfaced environmental epidemiology with magnetic resonance imaging to investigate in vivo the effects of TRAP on the human brain. The aim of this systematic review was to describe and synthesize the findings from these studies. The bibliographic search was carried out in PubMed with ad hoc keywords.

Recent findings: The selected studies revealed that cerebral white matter, cortical gray matter, and basal ganglia might be the targets of TRAP. The detected brain damages could be involved in cognition changes. The effect of TRAP on cognition appears to be biologically plausible. Interfacing environmental epidemiology and neuroimaging is an emerging field with room for improvement. Future studies, together with inputs from experimental findings, should provide more relevant and detailed knowledge about the nature of the relationship between TRAP exposure and cognitive, behavior, and psychomotor disorders observed in the general population.

Keywords: Air pollution; Brain; Cognition; Epidemiological studies; Neuroimaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Selection process of the articles
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Understanding the link between air pollution and cognition: the central role of studies interfacing environmental epidemiology and neuroimaging in humans
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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