Here's how living without air conditioning can affect your memory

A recent study has found that living in a room without air conditioning can lower the ability to focus, harm working memory and increase reaction time. “Most of the research on the health effects of heat has been done in vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, creating the perception that the general population is not at risk from heat waves,” said the lead researcher.



“To address this blind spot, we studied healthy students living in dorms as a natural intervention during a heat wave in Boston,” he added. 44 students in their late teens and early 20's were considered for the study. While some of them lived in the dormitories without an AC, the rest lived in an adjacent building with central air conditioning. The researchers used devices that measured temperature, carbon dioxide levels, humidity, and noise levels.



The study was conducted over a period of 12 days. The students were then subjected to two tests as soon as they had woken up. The results clearly showed that students who had slept without air conditioning performed a lot worse than students who were living with air conditioning. All the data combined concluded that not only were the students with ACs in their rooms faster, their responses were also accurate.