The type of work you do in your career may have a greater impact on your brain health in old age than your level of education, a new study reveals.
The research suggests that workers who spend their days developing strategies, resolving conflicts and undertaking managerial tasks may have better protection against old age memory decline.
Writing in Neurology, Dr Francisca Then, formerly of the University of Leipzig, Germany, says that work challenges could help to build up a person’s mental reserve.
In her study, she and fellow researchers used the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to measure the memory and thinking abilities of 1,054 people over the age of 75, following it up approximately every 18 months for eight years.
Participants were also asked about their work history and the team categorised the tasks the respondents completed into three groups: executive (scheduling work, developing strategies); verbal (evaluating and interpreting information); and fluid (analysing data).
People whose careers included the highest level of all three types of tasks scored most points on the thinking and memory tests – at least two MMSE points above those who recorded the lowest level – and also showed the slowest rate of cognitive decline.
Participants with a high level of executive tasks scored two MMSE points higher on memory and thinking tests at the beginning of the study and five MMSE points higher after eight years in the study compared to participants with a low level of these tasks.
Those with a high level of verbal tasks declined an average two MMSE points less than those with a low level.
“Challenges at work may indeed be a positive element, if they build up a person’s mental reserve in the long-term,” added Then.
Neurology 30 April 2015
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