An air filter in your home could help you think more clearly

An air filter in your home could help you think clearer—especially if you’re over the age of 40.

It removes impurities and pollutants in the air that can affect your cognitive abilities, researchers from University of Connecticut Health Center say.

They’ve tested a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter in the homes of 119 people, aged from 30 to 79, who lived in Somerville, Mass, a town that sits between two major highways and has high levels of car pollution.

The volunteers were given a real HEPA filter and a dummy product, and they switched between the two after a month.  After each month, they were tested on visual memory and motor speed skills, and those that were 40 years and older—around 42 percent of the participants—completed the tests 12 percent faster after using the real filter for a month.

Although the improvements may seem small, they’re similar to those achieved after exercise, the researchers say.

Air pollution seems to start affecting our cognitive abilities after we reach the age of 40, and so it might be an idea to get a filter for your home if you’re around that age or older.  Nobody is quite sure how pollutants affect cognition, but researchers think it affects the brain’s white matter.

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