article_snippet: Scans of inner-city children from before birth until aged seven to nine revealed those exposed to high levels of air pollution had lower white matter in those exposed to high levels of air pollution left brain, impairing intelligence and causing ADHD and aggression.
article_snippet: As they grew up it caused problems in concentration, reasoning, judgment, and problem-solving.
article_snippet: The study by the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Columbia University's Centre for Children's Environmental Health involved taking brain scans of 40 children in New York, followed from before birth until aged seven to nine.
article_snippet: These included development delay by the age of three, reduced verbal IQ at five, and symptoms of anxiety and depression by seven.
article_snippet: Professor of paediatrics and psychiatry Bradley Peterson said: 'This is the largest MRI study to date of how early life exposure to air pollutants, specifically PAH, affect the developing mind. '
article_snippet: Results published in JAMA Psychiatry showed reductions in nearly the entire white matter surface of the brain's left hemisphere.
article_snippet: This loss was associated with slower processing of information during intelligence testing and more severe behavioural problems, including ADHD and aggression.
article_snippet: Prof Peterson added: 'Our findings raise important concerns about the effects of air pollutants on brain development in children, and the consequences of those brain effects on cognition and behaviour. '
highlights_snippet: US study used scans of inner-city children to investigate brain cell growth .
  