【时间】2026年11月5日（星期四）12:30

【地点】大学城校园文2栋401室

【主题】Polluted Skies, Aging Minds: The Impact of Air Pollution on Brain Health in Older Adults

【主讲人】陈丽萍博士

【主持人】罗章权博士

【主讲人简介】

陈丽萍，湖南大学经济学博士，华南师范大学经济与管理学院青年英才、特聘副研究员。主要研究领域为劳动经济学、教育经济学与环境经济学，聚焦同伴效应、人力资本形成与发展、环境污染的经济社会影响等问题。研究成果发表于Journal of Development Economics、Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization、Health Economics、《经济学（季刊）》《财经研究》等国内外权威学术期刊。

【摘要】

Brain health deterioration in later life is an increasing challenge in aging societies. This study examines the impact of air pollution on three dimensions of brain health among older adults: cognitive ability, psychological well-being, and physical functioning. We combine longitudinal survey data from China with satellite-derived PM2.5 concentrations and exploit thermal inversions as an instrumental variable. We find that a 1 μg/m³ increase in PM2.5 reduces these outcomes by 0.092, 0.173, and 0.043 standard deviations, respectively. We further investigate the mechanisms underlying these effects and show that air pollution disrupts key inputs into brain-health maintenance. The results suggest that pollution discourages health-maintaining behaviors and reduces family caregiving support. Although pollution also weakens household economic resources, we find no evidence that these losses translate into changes in the observed measures of nutrition or healthcare. These findings establish air pollution as an important environmental determinant of human capital depreciation in later life and highlight the broader consequences of environmental degradation for population aging.