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H2020Individual fellowship2017–2019

COGNAC · NeuroCOGNitive impact of Air pollution exposures in Childhood: Assessment of air pollution effects on the development of cognition and behaviour in children

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2017-10-01 → 2019-09-30
EU contribution
€170,122
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

NeuroCOGNitive impact of Air pollution exposures in Childhood: Assessment of air pollution effects on the development of cognition and behaviour in children

Neurocognitive disorders create huge burdens on children, families and society. In Europe, there are over 15 million children with special educational needs, 1 million with diagnosed Autism Spectral Disorders (ASD), although some autistic traits are present in a larger proportion (14 million). Potential long-term consequences of poor cognitive performance and presence of autistic traits are poor social development, low educational achievement, diminished economic productivity and unemployment, mental health issues, and increased risk of antisocial behaviour. In the case of ASD, a lifelong disorder, there is no cure and limited treatment options are available. Therefore, it is essential to identify modifiable risk factors to prevent their onset and prevalence. Air pollution is postulated as a risk factor since it is believed to cause neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, cerebrovascular damage and neurodegenerative pathology. Traffic noise shows inconclusive associations with cognitive performance. The experience of the fellow in exposure assessment methods has dovetailed nicely with the expertise in epidemiologic analysis in areas of cognitive and neurobehavioral development and wide-scale modelling at the host institution (ISGlobal), and with the expertise in different modelling approaches at the partner´s institutions (Imperial College London, King´s College London and Utrecht University). The partner institutions (Imperial College London and King´s College London) have also made available their existing air pollution exposure models for UK and London, as well as the noise exposure model for London. The support and training received in all the institutions involved in the fellowship along with other formal training conducted by the fellow have been essential to accomplish the goal of the COGNAC project. This was to explore the associations between air pollution and noise with cognitive performance and the presence of autistic traits in children using a large children cohort.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Neurological disorders such as Autism Spectral Disorders (ASD) in children are lifelong conditions for which there is no cure,treatment options are very limited AND create huge burdens on children, families and society. Potential long-term consequences of poor cognitive performance and presence of autistic traits are poor social development, low educational achievement, diminished economic productivity and unemployment, mental health issues, and increased risk of antisocial behaviour. In the case of ASD, a lifelong disorder, there is no cure and limited treatment options are available. Therefore, it is essential to identify modifiable risk factors to prevent their onset and prevalence. Air pollution is postulated as a risk factor since it is believed to cause neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and neurodegenerative pathology. Traffic noise shows inconclusive associations with cognitive performance. The experience in cognitive and neurobehavioral development epidemiologic analysis and wide-scale modelling at the host institution, with different modelling approaches and existing models available for UK and London at the partner´s institutions, and the experience of exposure assessment methods of the fellow dovetail nicely to accomplish the goal of the COGNAC project. This is to explore the associations between air pollution and noise with cognitive performance and the presence of autistic traits in children using a large children cohort. The innovative aspects of this proposal are combining multi-pollutant and noise exposure, using very detailed maps of these environmental stressors and assessing effects at critical windows of exposure. The scientific impact of this fellowship results from the identification of the effect of air pollution and noise in cognitive development and the presence of autistic traits in children. The skills acquired in this fellowship will be decisive fo establishing me in one of the leaders in environmental health applied to neurocognition.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • FUNDACION PRIVADA INSTITUTO DE SALUD GLOBAL BARCELONA · BarcelonaCoordinatorSpain

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union