{"id":235928,"date":"2026-04-25T22:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/hepa-air-purifiers-may-boost-brain-power-in-adults-over-40"},"modified":"2026-04-25T22:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:11:45","slug":"hepa-air-purifiers-may-boost-brain-power-in-adults-over-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/hepa-air-purifiers-may-boost-brain-power-in-adults-over-40","title":{"rendered":"HEPA air purifiers may boost brain power in adults over 40"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/hepa-air-purifiers-may-boost-brain-power-in-adults-over-40.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Using an in-home HEPA purifier for one month spurs a small but significant improvement in brain function in adults age 40 and older. That\u2019s the result of <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41598-026-48063-8\" target=\"_blank\">a new study we co-authored<\/a> in the journal Scientific Reports.<\/p>\n<p>HEPA purifiers\u2014HEPA stands for high efficiency particulate air\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph191811517\" target=\"_blank\">remove particulate matter from the air<\/a>. Exposure to particulate matter has been connected to <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.envint.2022.107262\" target=\"_blank\">respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses<\/a> as well as neurological diseases such as <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.pharmthera.2020.107523\" target=\"_blank\">Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s<\/a>. Environmental health researchers increasingly recommend that people use HEPA air purifiers in their homes to <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/10789669.2014.975056\" target=\"_blank\">lower their exposure to particulate matter<\/a>, but few studies have examined whether using them boosts mental function.<\/p>\n<p>We analyzed data from a study of 119 people ages 30 to 74 living in Somerville, Massachusetts. Somerville sits along <a href=\"https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2025-03-vehicular-emissions-premature-deaths-year.html?utm_source=embeddings&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=internal\" rel=\"related\">Interstate 93<\/a> and Route 28, two major highways, resulting in relatively <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.cct.2021.106520\" target=\"_blank\">high levels of traffic-related air pollution<\/a>. This makes it an especially good location for testing the health effects of air purifiers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Using an in-home HEPA purifier for one month spurs a small but significant improvement in brain function in adults age 40 and older. That\u2019s the result of a new study we co-authored in the journal Scientific Reports. HEPA purifiers\u2014HEPA stands for high efficiency particulate air\u2014 remove particulate matter from the air. Exposure to particulate matter [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1495,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-health","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}