smog in our brains article review

smog in our brains article review

Introduction

The dream of every author is always to capture the audience and to make the work memorable. In the article, ‘smog in our brains’, the author uses a captivating heading in relaying the research to the readers. The ultimate motive of every research is to instill knowledge based on facts that can be proven. The ultimate goal of the author is to challenge other researches about the wide perception and effects of air pollution. The author persuasively stages the arguments in convincing the readers. This by use of real and practical research examples in highlighting the arguments as discussed below.

It is always of an assumption that air pollution is mostly associated with respiratory, cardiovascular and renal complications. The researches mostly highlight the risks of early deaths that are always associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Its effects on mental wellness and cognitive ability has not always been understood well.  A research study of ‘smog in our brains’ has brought up a challenge that air pollution has also been associated with adverse effects of the brain. The argument of the study bases its points on the relationship that exists between air pollution, retarded cognition and the general wellbeing of the affected population. The study tends to prove that the smog that is always visible in the sky is more than just a stain as observed but also always perceived, but a health hazard that can be devastating to the human brain.

The connections of pollution to cognition

The focus of this argument is on particulate matter as the major pollutant responsible for cognitive retardation. The particles are very tiny and mostly come from factories, motor vehicles, and power plant emissions. It is mostly associated with effects on the cardiovascular system. This has always been the reason that it is categorized as one of the major environmental pollution. However, the devastating effects of the particulate matter are beyond the cardiovascular system. For instance, the research found out that older women that were exposed to particulate matter pollution had a significant mental decline as compared to other women o their age. The author of the article gives the statistic of the research used from a large number of older women from the united states. In proving the connection of reduced cognitive functions particulate matter, the estimated exposure duration of over seven to fourteen years were sampled. By deploying the use of cognitive skill test, it proved that exposure to high-level pollution had serious cognitive decline effects on older women. The investigation based on exposure to the smallest and larger particulate matter on the cognitive status proved valid. Conventionally, it’s of great wisdom in realizing that the larger particles are as significant human health as the smaller particles. This is given by the fact that the smaller particles can penetrate the defense of the human body. In this sense, the small particle can pass through the lungs and into the blood. After getting access to the bloodstream, the particles often are transported via the nerves to brain cells. In another illustration, a study of black carbon, a fine particle emitted from diesel vehicles results in cognitive decline. In the research, a sample of older men exposed to the black carbon particle had a positive test for the cognitive decline test. The black carbon provided a baseline for the overall pollution often associated with traffic. It is proved that cognitive performance decreased by a margin of two years concerning age. The above cumulative results according to the research, therefore, prove that air pollution should be given critical attention This is given with the facts given by the author through real-life experiments. It gives a platform of essence to pay attention to air pollution since the research proves it as a risk factor for cognitive impairment and general brain damage.

Pollution effects on young minds

In this argument, the author explains how air pollution results in the harm in children’s cognition. The research involves using intelligence quotient tests on the children exposed to pollution. The study proves that the children exposed to pollution scored worse in the test than those not exposed. The research involved follow-ups of children from birth to about seven years. The children purportedly might have been exposed to fossil fuel by-products had attention problems in attention and exhibited signs of depression. Another related study conducted involved school attendance of children in schools located near sources of industrial pollution. The children exhibited low attendance rates and performed poorly in the testing standards o the state. In another investigation in Mexico, dogs were used to relate the effect of smog pollution to human beings. In the study, the brains of dogs from polluted and non-polluted areas were dissected. The results showed signs of inflammation and the pathological composition contained particles that are responsible for the cause of Alzheimer’s disease in humans. In the same follow-up research, attention was turned to children in Mexico coming from smog polluted and non-polluted areas. Imaging scan conducted revealed that the children exposed to smog pollution had a significant brain inflammation and signs of possible brain damage. The study proved that the smog causes disruption of the blood-brain barrier, damaging the central nervous system resulting in Alzheimer’s disease. The study also showed that children from areas free from pollution scored better in tests of intelligence, memory and general cognitive functions. In the above argument, the author deploys a strong persuasion tactic to the readers in proving the point of pollution effects in children. Tabling experimental evidence from vast areas and using relevant scenarios such as dissection of the dog’s brain gives a vivid interpretation of the argument. Taking into account that the research was done to find evidence of the specific particles that caused brain damage. The comparison of the same particle that causes Alzheimer’s disease in humans being found on the dog’s brains and the scan on children is quite convincing. The author’s trade on the conventions of practical scenarios are his standing ovation in making the argument to a flow. The word choice is exceptional and the reader yearns to read more of the article to the end. The general information in the research is to advocate for the need to prevent air pollution near public schools since it affects the children learning ability.

Effect of smog pollution in brain changes

The previous arguments tend to clarify the effects of smog on brain damage. Some questions still arise concerning the study. In this study, mice are used to find more information that may lead to proving the effects of smog on the brain. The study conducted by doctoral students involved exposing the mice to pollution of fine particulate matter about five times i9j a week. This is in an attempt to subject them to the environment of pollution making an assumption of humans who would have lived in the same suburbs. They deployed the use of maze tasks to find out the level of effects the pollution had on the mice’s brains. It was found out that the mice that had been exposed to pollution made mistakes and took longer to learn the task compared to those that were not exposed. The mice that were exposed to pollution also exhibited signs that equals depression. The study also uses a swimming test and sugar sipping tests for the mice. In this, it is noted that the mice with depressive signs gave up easily on swimming and did not sip the sugar that is usually a source of attraction to them. The study proved the objectives that the exposed mice scored higher on the depressive exhibiting responses. In an attempt to find out more underlying factors that resulted in brain changes, they derived a cytokine in the brain of mice that were exposed to pollution. Cytokines are chemical components responsible for initiating inflammation responses. It proves the point since the previous research on pollution harms to the cardiovascular systems studies showed that the component was involved in causing body inflammation on the mice. It was also noted that the pollutants affected the hippocampus regions of the mice’s brain. This is the brain region that helps in spatial memory. The changes that occur in the brain region, therefore, results in compromised memory. A similar study involving pollution and depression in humans has also been carried out as the author states. The psychological study proved that those individuals exposed to particulate pollution showed signs of anxiety and depression. The effects of change in brain functions from pollution is therefore proved to be factual. The study on mice had some limitations as the research stated. The clarity on the effects of pollution if the mice were exposed to pollution in other regions of pollution is guaranteed. This is giving the fact that the mice that were sampled for the study were from the same region and not sampled from different places. The other shortcoming in the study came up that the mice used in the study were identical genetically. In relating the same effects to humans, it is not clear whether genetically different people would exhibit a difference in brain changes subject to particulate pollution. The above illustrations point out effectively to how particulate matter results in causing brain damage. The author deploys the use of extensive research system in relaying the information to the audience. Word choice of scientific terms and biological effects that can be proven is quite convincing. The major attention in the argument is the urgent actions that need to be put in place. The author is advocating for the policies that could help in minimizing if not eliminating particulate pollution.

In conclusion, the author deploys literary skills exceptionally in the research article of the effects of smog in the brain. The command in scientific language is exceptional and the use of realistic examples has proven audience captivating in advocating for urgent actions concerning the same matter