Acute particulate matter exposure diminishes executive cognitive functioning after four hours regardless of inhalation pathway

= 10.6) participated in four conditions. They were exposed to either high PM concentrations or clean air for one hour, using normal inhalation or restricted nasal inhalation and olfaction with a nose clip. Participants completed four cognitive tests before and four hours after exposure, assessing working memory, selective attention, emotion expression discrimination, and psychomotor vigilance. Results showed significant reductions in selective attention and emotion expression discrimination after enhanced PM versus clean air exposure. Air quality did not significantly impact psychomotor vigilance or working memory performance. Inhalation method did not significantly mediate effects, suggesting that short-term PM pollution affects cognitive function through lung-brain mechanisms, either directly or indirectly.