When superstorm Sandy made a bine for New York City in October 2012, he left the huge swaths of Manhattan city, left 2 million people Without electricity and heat and harmful Thousands Of houses. Storm has a procession of summer waves after summer heat in New York City Close to 100 degrees,

For those who were pregnant at the time, it was not just uncomfortable to bear these extreme conditions – it could leave a permanent impression on the minds of their children. This is according to a new study published in the Peer-review Journal PLOS One on Wednesday. Using the MRI scan, researchers at Queens College, City University, New York, found that children whose mothers lived through superstorm Sandy had different differences in the brain that could obstruct their emotional development. Researchers found that the effects were even more dramatic when people were exposed to excessive heat during their pregnancy, in addition to the tropical storm, researchers found.

“This is not just a climate stress or an isolated phenomenon, but a combination of everything,” said Donato Dingenis, a key writer of the study and a doctoral student at Neurocycaology at Cuny Graduate Center. The study of dingenis is the first of its kind to examine the joint effects of natural disasters and excessive heat – which often matches. A few years ago, scientists dubbed summer “Danger season” Since it is time to avoid risks, including heat, storm, wildfire and toxic smoke. And climb to summer temperature new heights,

The study analyzed brain imaging data from a group of 34 children, at the age of about 8, whose mothers were pregnant during superstorm Sandy – some of whom were pregnant when Sandy made a landfall, and some of which were exposed to heating 95 degrees F or more during their pregnancy. While researchers did not find that heat alone had great influence, living through superstorm Sandy increased the amount of basal ganglia, a part of the brain which is related to regulating emotions.

While this large size can be a compensation in response to stress, changes in basal ganglia are associated with behavioral challenges for children, such as Depression And autismDingenis said.

“What we are seeing is evidence that the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, it is a neurological with the results of future generations,” said Duke Sherren, the co-writer of the study and director of MRI Facility at the Kuni Graduate Center, “The climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, it is a neurological with the results of future generations, which will inherit our planet.” Global warming makes superstorm Sandy more harmful rising sea levels And high sea temperature Increased your rain,

Yoko Nomura, a co-writer of the study and a psychology professor in Queens College, Kuni, said that the time before birth is “very, very sensitive” for development because the fetus’s body is changing very fast. According to the study, the human brain grows fastest in the womb, reaching more than one third of its full adult volume before birth. Nomura said that at that time a couple tension, even if small, may have a huge effect. “

But that additional-sensitive period also presents a window of opportunity. “In this letter, developmental science including science is exciting because it not only tells us What We can protect children from the effects of climate change, but it also tells us When? We can take steps to save children to make the biggest difference, ”Lindsay Bergart, Chief Science Officer at the center of the developing child at Harvard University, said in an email.

Although there is a lot of evidence that prenatal stress can usually affect the growth of the hair brain, according to Dingnesis, there is a special lack of research on climate -related stress. “This is still an area in which there is a possibility of explosive growth,” Journ, Professor Jennifer Barkin of Mercer University School of Medicine in Georgia said, who are studying the effects of last year’s Hurricane Helen on maternal health.

The study of Dingenis provides concrete evidence of how climate-charging events can affect the brain, Barkin said. “People sometimes have a difficult time with mental health, because it is not that you can take X-rays and see a broken bone.” He said that imaging is easy to understand, which shows the difference in brain volume based on exposure to environmental stress.

Barkin, who Developed an index To measure maternal health after delivery, it is said that people have started paying more attention to mothers and their mental health – not only in the case of distributing a healthy child, but in the long term. “We focus on things on the child’s result, which is important, but to keep the child healthy, the mother also has to be healthy,” she said. “Because when the mother’s struggle, the family is going to struggle.”

This article appeared originally Grain grain But https://grist.org/health/climate-disaster-baby-Research- brain-development/Grist is a non -profit, independent media organization dedicated to tell stories of climate solutions and a fair future. Leam more Grist.org,