2024-04-28 07:00:03
Can the type of work you do throughout your life affect your chances of developing dementia later? This question was the focus of an intriguing new study. According to the results of this study, people who work in more routine or repetitive jobs, that is, jobs that can be performed without much mental involvement, are 66% more likely to develop cognitive impairment following age of 70 years.
In contrast, researchers say that people whose jobs are cognitively stimulating in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s may have a reduced risk of later cognitive impairment. These findings, from an observational study, do not necessarily mean that such jobs cause later cognitive problems. There are other ways to strengthen cognitive reserves for people whose jobs don’t require a high degree of mental engagement.
How Types of Work Can Affect Cognition
For this study, researchers examined the work and subsequent cognitive health of 7,003 people in Norway, representing 305 different job types. Jobs were rated using a Routine Task Intensity (RTI) scale.
Routine tasks are those that are the least cognitively stimulating. These jobs often require speed and precision, but because they are repetitive tasks, they may require less mental involvement. Examples of routine tasks are factory work, record keeping, and accounting.
Non-routine tasks, which received lower RTI scores, require greater cognitive involvement. They involve regular and new challenges that may require analysis, creativity or strategic interpretation of raw information. Some of these jobs may be interpersonally oriented, where the worker must constantly interact, mentor, and persuade others. Examples of non-routine tasks include computer programming and public relations.
The researchers then divided the jobs into four groups, based on their intensity of routine tasks:
The most common jobs in the routine-intensive group were helpers and cleaners in offices and other establishments.
The intermediate high routine task intensity group consisted primarily of store salespeople and other retail personnel.
Childcare workers and nurses were most often assigned to the medium-low routine task intensity group.
The low routine task intensity group was most often represented by primary and secondary school teachers.
Among people in the high routine task intensity group, 42% were diagnosed with cognitive impairment by age 70, compared to 27% in the low routine task intensity group. The researchers took into account age, income and baseline health factors to ensure their results were not influenced by these factors.
Stimulating jobs to strengthen the brain
The results of this new study support the cognitive reserves hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, cognitive abilities acquired through education and occupation in early and mid-life provide resistance to brain changes associated with age-related cognitive decline. Maintaining cognitive reserves can be a matter of “use it or lose it” to some extent. However, our knowledge of how dementia develops allows us to consider other possible causative factors, such as genetics and environment.
New, stimulating learning experiences stimulate the survival of new neurons. Cognitively stimulating work can thus stimulate neuronal activity and help maintain a fit brain.
However, not “using it” can lead to other influences related to cognitive health. Sedentary lifestyles, social isolation, and limitation of social interactions can have detrimental effects on cognitive development throughout adulthood and lead to poor cognitive outcomes.
Does the type of work really matter?
An observational study like this cannot establish that a person’s job is directly responsible for later cognitive problems. It can only establish that certain groups of routine task intensity are associated with certain cognitive impairment outcomes in individuals at age 70.
People whose jobs are not mentally stimulating may be troubled by the results of this study. However, there are other ways to maintain brain health and prevent cognitive decline.
Our knowledge of lifestyle factors, cognitively stimulating activities, and social relationships has increased significantly in recent years and decades. People whose jobs are not mentally stimulating can still engage in a range of other useful activities, such as stimulating and fun hobbies, maintaining social relationships with friends and family members , which can benefit their brain as well as their overall health and well-being.
Of course, some people might consider finding cognitively stimulating work if that’s possible.
To be retained
The results of this study suggest that there is a correlation between the type of work and the risk of developing cognitive decline and dementia later in life. Routine and repetitive jobs are associated with increased risk, while cognitively stimulating jobs can help strengthen the brain and reduce this risk. However, it is important to note that this study is observational and cannot prove a direct cause and effect relationship. Other factors, such as genetics and environment, can also influence dementia risk.
For people whose jobs aren’t mentally stimulating, there are still ways to maintain brain health, such as engaging in stimulating activities, maintaining social relationships, and living a healthy lifestyle.
It is essential to continue conducting research in this area to better understand the impact of work on cognition and to develop effective prevention and intervention strategies to reduce the risk of dementia.
Trajectories of Occupational Cognitive Demands and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Later Life
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