Why a beautiful summer's day could be making you dumb

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Warm weather makes us happier, but not smarter.

The warm sun on your back may be a great mood booster, but this could have negative effects on your mind.

In Adam Atler's book "Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave," the author cites a study from researchers in Sydney, Australia, that connected sunnier days with mental stupor.

During the study, researchers ambushed shoppers leaving a small magazine shop in Sydney and asked them to recall as many of the 10 unusual objects the researchers had previously placed in the check-out area as possible.

Over a two-month period, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., shoppers recalled three times as many items on rainy days as they did on sunny days and were four times as accurate in identifying the objects they saw.

According to the researchers, gloomy weather hampers our mood, which makes us think more deeply and clearly, allowing us to recall more things accurately. In contrast, sunny weather makes us happier, which sends a signal to our brains that everything is fine and there's less need to think deeply and carefully about things.

More recent research out of Harvard also found bad weather can make us more productive by eliminating the cognitive distractions that result from good weather. Their reasoning is quite simple: When the weather is bad, we tend to focus more on our work than all the fun activities we could be engaging in outside of work.