Heat doesn’t just play havoc with our body, but also our mood and mental abilities. Over the years there have been many studies conducted to see the correlation between heat and people. Most results clearly link poor academic performance with a hot and humid environment. In addition, extensive research into past events also indicate that many unrests, wars and uprisings have occurred during or just after exceptionally hot weather conditions, such as droughts.

And what more, these researchers also blame the negative impact of heat on people’s mood to increased incidences of violence and crime.

Warmer temperatures are likely to make children feel tired, lethargic and their attention span gets affected, leading them to become easily distracted and lose concentration. Lower classroom temperatures and improved air ventilation improve alertness, learning and performance.

In a study conducted at a university in Massachusetts, results showed that “high temperatures reduce people’s emotional well-being. When exposed to warmer weather, the survey respondents reported greater fatigue and increased negative emotions, including sadness, stress and anger, and reduced positive emotions, such as joy and happiness.”

On the other hand, another research conducted by an assistant professor of psychology in education, found that, “exposing participants to cold improved their cognitive control, or self-control.”

This, they concluded was because “Coldness is an indicator for alertness and self-control .... By contrast, cues such as heat and thirst may make them conserve their resources, so they are unable to invest in self-control.”

Interestingly, data shows that the human body is better able to endure cold than heat because people have been known to survive even if their internal temp drops 20 degrees. But a rise of only 10 degrees — say elevating the body temp from 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit to 108.6 would be deadly.

In a study done by a school in Oregon, US, the performance of students was observed in different temperatures. The participating students were randomly selected and given the same test composed of basic shape memorisation, colours, and basic math equations.

Data showed that students in the warmest room, 81 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 degrees Celsius, did the poorest on the test, while those in the cooler room scored higher by four percent or more, and the best performers were students in the room with temperature in the range of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 22 degrees Celsius.

This shows that students will do their best when the temperature in the room is more neutral than not.

Therefore experts suggest that the most comfortable temperature for people is around 72 degrees Fahrenheit, or 22 degrees Celsius. But frankly, for most of us, 22 degrees Celsius is actually a pretty cool temperature that we don’t get to experience much in the year and we can comfortably function at a little higher level.

While all these studies were conducted on adults, there is no reason to believe that the same affects would not be seen in children. —T.N.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 7th, 2018