A study identified a relationship between indoor temperatures and cognitive performance in older adults, revealing that exposure to excessively high or low temperatures can double attention difficulties in certain age groups. The study involved 47 community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older, monitoring home temperatures and their self-reported ability to maintain attention throughout the day. The findings were published in The Journal of Gerontology: Series A.
The study discovered that older adults experienced the fewest attention difficulties when their home temperatures stayed between 68–75°F (20–24°C), which most effectively helps maintain attention at a high level. Outside of this optimal temperature range, the likelihood of attention difficulties doubled with a 7°F (4°C) variation in either…