Heat disrupts animal brains, affecting behavior and learning ability, studies show
Multiple studies show that animals struggle to learn and become more aggressive when temperatures rise.
Heat waves do more than just generate high temperatures and cause excessive sweat. Research shows that heat affects animal brains, which impacts their ability to think and their behavior.
According to NASA, climate change is already having widespread effects on the environment, including more intense heat waves and the shifting of animal geographic ranges.
Some animals retreat to the cool shade on hot days, skipping meals, while others struggle to find food and hide from predators. These impacts ultimately lessen vulnerable species’ chances of survival.
A seagull drinks water from a fountain at the Place des Vosges during a heatwave in Paris, France, on May 29, 2026. (Photo by Telmo Pinto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Heat slows cognitive function and learning ability
Recent research has tied higher temperatures to direct animal behavior.
A 2023 study investigated the behavioral impact of heat on the southern pied babbler, a black-and-white bird native to southern Africa. The birds were tasked with reaching mealworms, which were visible behind a plastic barrier. On cooler days, they knew to simply go around the transparent wall to reach the snack, but on warmer days, they kept pecking at the plastic, according to the study findings.
In the same study, the pied babblers were also tasked with retrieving a mealworm that was placed in one of two holes drilled into a wooden block. Each hole had a colored lid of a different shade, and when the birds pecked at one, it would open and reveal either an empty hole or a mealworm. During heat waves, the pied babblers needed twice as many trials to learn that the mealworm was always under the same shaded lid.
A wild pied babbler (a) displaying heat dissipation behaviors (panting and wingspreading); (b) interacting with the cognitive task used to quantify associative and reversal learning while panting; (c) successfully detouring around the inhibitory control task (from the left side of the transparent wall in this case) and retrieving the mealworm. (Photo credits: Nicholas Pattinson)
Hot days tied to aggressive wildlife behavior
Meanwhile, hot days cause other animals to become more aggressive. Another 2023 study demonstrated that reports of dogs biting people are more common on hot days, with a 10 percent increased risk of an incident on a 90-degree day as opposed to a 60-degree day. Researchers were unable to determine if the increase in dog bites was a consequence of altered behavior by the victim or owner, according to the study.
During a study of chamois, a species of goatlike animals, the mammals became more combative with one another over food after high temperatures resulted in scarcer vegetation. The chamois became territorial over patches of food, assuming threatening postures and chasing each other.
Alpine Chamois on Pasubio. Trentino. Italy. Europe. (Photo by: Marco Simonini/REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
According to a study on the golden julie, these small tropical fish also demonstrate confrontational behavior during higher temperatures. When the water temperature rises from a normal 78 degrees to about 84 degrees, the fish demonstrates more hostility toward its own reflection, biting and slapping its tail against the mirror.
Research shows that animals across the planet are impacted by rising temperatures. Animal thinking becomes strained, which then affects their ability to make decisions vital to survival, such as predator recognition. These effects may ultimately lead to declines in population.
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