Challenging Work Yields Cognitive Gains

A career featuring mentally challenging activities may help protect your brain.   Francisca S. Then, from the University of Leipzig (Germany), and colleagues studied data collected on 1,054 men and women, ages 75 years and older, enrolled in the Leipzig Longitudinal Study of the Aged.  Subjects were administered standardized cognitive tests every 1.5 years for 8 years, and were surveyed to ascertain details about their work history so their job tasks could be categorized as executive (scheduling work, developing strategies, resolving conflicts etc), verbal (assessing information), or fluid (selective attention).  Participants whose careers included the highest level of all three types of tasks scored highest on the thinking and memory tests, as compared to subjects with the lowest level.  People with the highest level of all three types of tasks also experienced the slowest rate of cognitive decline. Over eight years, their rate of decline was half the rate of participants with a low level of mentally demanding work tasks. Among the three types of work tasks, high levels of executive and verbal tasks were distinctively associated with slower rates of memory and thinking decline.  Observing that: “: The results suggest that a professional life enriched with work tasks stimulating verbal intelligence and executive functions may help to sustain a good cognitive functioning in old age (75+ years),” the study authors submit that: “The findings thus emphasize that today’s challenging work conditions may also promote positive health effects.”