Jobs that challenge may help brain age
PROFESSIONAL jobs that challenge the brain may provide the best protection against mental decline in old age, research suggests.
Memory and thinking ability is better preserved by solving problems, developing strategy, conflict resolution and information processing than less demanding work, a study has found.
Scientists regularly tested 1,054 people over the age of 75 for a period of eight years.
They also asked participants about their work history and categorised the kind of jobs they did into three groups – executive, verbal or fluid.
Executive tasks involved management, strategy development and r e s ol v i ng conflicts.
Examples of verbal tasks included evaluating and interpreting information, while fluid tasks incorporated selective attention and data analysis.
The study found that people whose working lives included the highest level of all three types of task scored highest in tests to assess memory and thinking ability.
They also showed the slowest rate of mental decline.
Over eight years, their decline rate was half that of participants with a low level of mentally demanding work.
High levels of executive and verbal t a sks were distinctly associated with slower rates of memory and thinking loss.
Lead researcher Dr Francisca Then, from the University of Leipzig in Germany, said: “Our study is important because it suggests that the type of work you do throughout your career may have even more significance on your brain health than your education does.”
The research is reported in the journal Neurology.