People will become smarter when it is cold and eat a lot of sweets

Elaborate studies in 2013 by scientists Amar Cheema of the University of Virginia and Vanessa M. Patrick of the University of Houston have shown that people are most comfortable and intelligent when they are in the environment. The environment must have a temperature that is not too hot, about 22 degrees Celsius, and must have the necessary amount of glucose.

These two scientists started with their own observations about the phenomenon of tourists choosing lottery tickets to Florida in the sweltering summer heat. There, visitors tend to skip the tens of thousands of lottery tickets and choose the traditional 6-digit lotto tickets. Even most visitors only take one lottery ticket and only write a few phone numbers and that. But in contrast in cool climates like Alaska, the decision-makers choose lottery tickets according to their preferences.

This difference has created different lucky opportunities. It shows that, in cold weather, travelers can weigh their options and make the best choice, regardless of the more complex circumstances. In hotter weather, lottery players often choose the most familiar and simple way. Specifically, it is to choose a 6-digit lotto lottery. This simple selection makes the odds of winning the lottery in Florida very low with only about a 1 in 22,957,480 chance of winning.

Amar and Vanessa then collected sales data for a variety of lottery games in St.Louis County over the course of a year. On that basis, they found differences in business models and interactions with temperature each day. The results are impressive. With the type of scratch-off ticket that requires buyers to make many different choices, every 1 degree Celsius increase reduces the chance of winning by $594. Meanwhile, selling lottery tickets requires fewer decisions, so winning buyers are unlikely to be affected.

In cold temperatures people can be more alert than in hot environments.

Based on these observations, the two researchers decided to test the correlation between weather and complex human cognitive choices in the laboratory with a series of experiments that compared cognitive abilities. of humans in environments with temperatures ranging from 19 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius. Research results show that test participants tend to be most comfortable around 22 degrees Celsius. It only deviated from the minimum and maximum temperatures in the study by 6 degrees Celsius, but it made a significant difference in the impact on human cognitive function.

Những người tham gia nghiên cứu trong phòng thí nghiệm đã được yêu cầu đọc lại một bài báo trong khi họ ở nhiệt độ 19 độ C và 25 độ C. Những người ở nhiệt độ phòng nóng hơn có khả năng kiểm soát tốt nhận thức kém hơn nhiều so với những người ở trong phòng mát hơn. Họ không xác định được gần một nửa số lỗi chính tả và ngữ pháp của bài báo, còn những người trong phòng lạnh chỉ bỏ sót khoảng 1/4 lỗi của bài báo. Những kết quả này cho thấy, ngay cả trong khi thực hiện những nhiệm vụ nhận thức đơn giản thì con người cũng có thể bị ảnh hưởng bởi nhiệt độ môi trường xung quanh.

Consider a simple fact: our brain is the organ of the body. And, like all organs, the control centers need energy to function. Almost everything we do, whether it's a simple muscle action or a complex thought, requires an adequate supply of glucose. Humans use glucose every time they walk, speak, breathe, and perform other actions in their daily lives. In addition, the human body itself also uses glucose when the brain performs basic activities such as making decisions, controlling body behavior or regulating emotional responses, even answering questions. math topic. Importantly, this amount of glucose we consume is the fundamental source of both physical and mental activity so they need to be properly regulated.

The abundant amount of sugar available to the brain helps the brain perform better cognitive function.

In addition, the two scientists also delved into the process of how temperature affects glucose consumption. That is also the key to solving the problem of why people can be more alert in cold temperatures than in hot environments. When it's hot, it takes more energy for the human body to cool down than it does to warm up when it's cold. Meanwhile, the energy of the human body comes from the sugar in the body. This is also necessary for the conscious motor process of the brain.

Examining glucose consumption in a group of participants in two hot and cold rooms with different temperatures, the two researchers found that the choices required complex cognition for the participants. People in the hot room were more rapidly deviated due to a significant loss of glucose than those in the cold room. That has weakened their cognitive function. On the contrary, when the body has to lose less energy when in a cool room, it will help the amount of sugar available to the brain be more abundant, helping the brain to perform better cognitive function.

In a second study, researchers asked participants to perform more complex calculations in choosing two cell phone purchase plans. A simple option is to choose a phone model that looks attractive but is more expensive. As a result, people in the hotter room spent exactly a quarter of their total time choosing and tended to choose the simple option. In contrast, people in the cold room spent more than half their time selecting and performing complex analyzes to accurately select the more efficient option, and then made the decision they thought was appropriate. physical.

Continuing with the third study, the two scientists also showed that people in hot environments are more likely to fail when it comes to making complex decisions. When asked to choose between two products: an innovative and a traditional one, those in the hot room were more likely to choose products with a physical appearance, but often with very little mobilization of the cognitive resources needed to evaluate the product. Price information about the products compared to those in the cold room.

Of course, the above study does not mean that people living in hot areas are incapable of making smart decisions or because the supply of glucose is not enough for their brains. But anyway, it shows that glucose and temperature requirements are one of the factors that affect people's intelligent decisions because it more or less has a influence on how hard people think. Before the above study, scientists long knew that glucose was the fuel for brain activity. In a study published in the American Journal of Medical Nutrition in 1998, scientists presented evidence that glucose plays an important role in improving learning and cognitive abilities. of human.