Chapter 5. Heat and Learning in a Moderate Climate: Temperature Effects on Primary School Students in the Netherlands the multiple steps and sequential reasoning. According to Hocking et al. (2001), the brain’s sensitivity to heat differs among regions. Neurological literature also describes the use of varying brain regions for reading and math. The literature suggests that while some brain regions are involved in both skills, there are distinct areas that are specific to each cognitive process (Amalric & Dehaene, 2016; Fehr et al., 2007; Kroger et al., 2008; Martinez-Lincoln et al., 2023). So, different brains regions are related to reading and math skills, opening the question how sleep disruptions affect these different brain regions. Research has shown that sleep deprivation can significantly impact brain regions involved in reading and math performance. For instance, Drummond and Brown (2001) find that sleep deprivation leads to increased activation in the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes during verbal learning, but decreased activation during arithmetic tasks. This suggests that these regions are sensitive to sleep disruptions. Similarly, Drummond et al. (1999) also report a reduction in cortical response in the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes during arithmetic performance after sleep deprivation. Choo et al. (2005) further shows that sleep deprivation can modulate brain regions involved in working memory. So, although this brain activity goes beyond the scope of this chapter, we recognize its possible mechanism. Furthermore, a potential distinct impact of temperature on reading and math performance could also be explained by task complexity. Hancock and Vasmatzidis (2003) show that heat vulnerability positively relates to task complexity, as more complex tasks ask more attention and effort. 130
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