Closed Rooms May Be Making You Dumber, Here’s How

According to a study, increased levels of carbon dioxide in closed rooms may be making you dumber.

Stuffy conference rooms may be making you dumber. 

(Photo: iStockphoto)

According to a new study, exposure to increased levels of carbon dioxide in buildings and office rooms reduces problem solving ability and decision making skills in people. This study shows that indoor air might matter more than we realized.

An article by the New York Times says, that heat and carbon dioxide emitted when we breathe can accumulate in highly insulated buildings. This in turn may lead to detrimental effects not only on the body but also on the mind.

For years scientists have studied the effects of over exposure to carbon dioxide on the brain. These effects range from dilated blood vessels in the brain, reduced neuronal and decreased communication between the brain regions. However, people are also exposed to certain albeit lower amounts of carbon dioxide within closed rooms. The school pf thought that followed, decreased carbon dioxide levels have little to no effect on the brain, is being reexamined.

After conducting a series of experiments where subjects were exposed to varying levels of carbon dioxide in closed rooms, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory came to astonishing conclusions.

The levels of carbon dioxide ranged from as low as 600 parts per million (ppm) to as high as 2,500 ppm. The subjects were given problem-solving tests measuring real world productivity and decision making skills.

The scientists found that the levels of carbon dioxide were inversely proportionate to the scores of the subject. People exposed to increased levels of carbon dioxide did worse than those exposed to lower levels. The results showed that minor adjustments to indoor air quality can lead to drastic impacts on cognitive performances.

However, these effects were not as prominent in simpler tests such as proof reading a text. Moreover, according to the article more complex tests given to submarine crews showed no such connection. Yet, the study cannot be deemed as completely redundant and flawed. A possible interaction between the stress of taking a test coupled with increased carbon dioxide conditions may lead to lower scores. Since studies have not measured stress levels in terms of carbon dioxide influencing cognitive abilities not much can be derived from these conclusions.