This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)

As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of an invisible threat: air pollution.

• SOURCES:

• Angela Duckworth (angeladuckworth.com), psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Michael Greenstone (michaelgreenstone.com), economist at the University of Chicago, director of the Energy Policy Institute, co-director of the Climate Impact Lab.

• Stephan Heblich (sites.google.com/view/stephanheblich/about), economist at the University of Toronto.

• Andrea La Nauze (sites.google.com/site/andrealanauze), economist at Deakin University.

• Steve Levitt (freakonomics.com/author/steven-levitt), professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago.

• Edson Severnini (sites.google.com/site/ersevernini), economist at Boston College.

• RESOURCES:

• "Most Polluted Cities (lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-poll…)," (American Lung Association, 2026).

• "Air Pollution and Adult Cognition: Evidence from Brain Training (journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/730390)," by Andrea La Nauze and Edson Severnini (Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2025).

• "Air Pollution and Student Performance in the U.S. (nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30061/w3…)," by Michael Gilraine and Angela Zheng (NBER Working Papers, 2022).

• "Billions of people still breathe unhealthy air: new WHO data (who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-peopl…)," (World Health Organization, 2022).

• "Evolution of the Clean Air Act (epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean…)," by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2020).

• "The Death of U.K. Coal in Five Charts (ourworldindata.org/death-uk-coal)," by Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data, 2019).

• "The Colour of Pollution (economist.com/united-states/2014/05/27/the-col…)," (The Economist, 2014).

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