Sometimes, when people don't drink enough water, their bodies lose water, which is called dehydration. We know that not drinking enough water can make it harder to do physical things like running or playing sports.
But it's not as clear if not drinking enough water also makes it harder to think clearly or do schoolwork. Some people think that even a little bit of not drinking enough water can make it harder to think, while others think your brain is pretty good at staying sharp until you've lost a lot of water.
The study found that not drinking enough water did make it a little bit harder to think. This was true even though many of the individual studies had different results.
They also found that some types of thinking were affected more than others. Tasks that needed a lot of attention, problem-solving skills, or moving your body in a coordinated way (like using your hands) were much harder to do when people hadn't drunk enough water. Simpler tasks, like just reacting quickly, were not affected as much.
The study also showed that the more water someone lost, the harder it was for them to think, especially when they lost more than 2% of their body weight in water. Losing water from exercise, being in a hot place, or just not drinking enough all seemed to make thinking harder.