1,3,4,1,3,1- 1Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC-CNR), Rome, Italy
- 2Utrecht University School of Economics, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- 3University "G. d’Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Department of Advanced Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry (DTM&O)
- 4Center for Advanced Studies and Technology (CAST), Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy
- 5Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 6Movement Disorders Center, Perugia General Hospital and University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
- 7Psychologist and Psychoterapist freelance, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
- 8Dietitian, biologist of nutrition, freelance, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy
- 9Psychologist freelance, 05022 Amelia, Italy
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of compound environmental stressors in the Mediterranean region, including heatwaves and degraded indoor air quality. While their physical impacts are well established, their influence on complex cognitive performance and high-level decision-making remains insufficiently quantified.
This contribution presents a methodological framework to assess cognitive resilience under environmental stress, leveraging structured competitive activities as natural laboratories (Künn et al., 2023). In this study, chess is used as a proxy for strategic decision-making, enabling move-level evaluation of human performance through comparison with AI engine recommendations. Quantitative indicators, such as Best-Move Gap and Average Centipawn Loss, are integrated with indoor environmental measurements (e.g., temperature, CO₂ concentration) to characterize exposure conditions during competitive play.
The framework is illustrated through its application to selected Italian chess tournaments, where environmental parameters were monitored throughout competition sessions. Preliminary analyses indicate that variations in indoor environmental conditions may be associated with measurable changes in decision quality metrics, suggesting a potential sensitivity of high-level cognitive performance to environmental stressors.
In addition, participant-reported data collected via questionnaires are used to complement objective performance indicators, allowing for a multidimensional interpretation that accounts for subjective perception, experience, and contextual factors. This integrated approach provides a novel pathway to quantify cognitive resilience in real-world settings and contributes to a better understanding of climate-related impacts on human performance in cognitively demanding activities.
Steffen Künn, Juan Palacios, Nico Pestel (2023) Indoor Air Quality and Strategic Decision Making. Management Science 69(9):5354-5377. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4643
How to cite: Dietrich, S., Felici, T., Mascitelli, A., Buso, M., Tambasco, N., Agamennone, A., Di Giuseppantonio, I., Rocchetti, S., Di Carlo, P., and Prestileo, F.: Assessing Human Cognitive Resilience to Environmental Stressors: An AI-Driven Chess-Based Framework in the Mediterranean Context, 19th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Risks, Murcia, Spain, 6–9 Oct 2026, Plinius19-100, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-plinius19-100, 2026.
