The old adage, “use it or lose it”, seems to apply to our mental abilities as well as to our physical abilities.
A mathematics professor writes on the chalkboard during lecture.
A new study has found that people who use their brains more at work are better protected against cognitive problems and dementia that may come with older age. The findings were reported by a team based at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Columbia Aging Center, and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and emphasize the importance of mental stimulation during midlife for maintaining cognitive function in old age.
More than 7,000 volunteers aged 70 and above who worked in 305 occupations participated in the study. They took standard memory and thinking tests and were classified as having either no cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. After adjusting for age, sex, and education, the group with low occupational cognitive demands had a 66% greater risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and a 31% greater risk of dementia after the age of 70 compared with those in the most mentally demanding roles.
Amongst the most cognitively stimulating jobs were teaching and university lecturing, whereas the least mentally challenging jobs were those that involve repetitive manual labor, such as janitorial and road work, or delivering the mail.
“Our study highlights the importance of mentally challenging job tasks to maintain cognitive functioning in later life,” said population economist and social scientist Vegard Skirbekk, a professor of population and family health at Columbia University and a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Interestingly, higher educational attainment had a somewhat protective effect, as shown in previous studies.
“Education confounded most, but not all, of the association between occupational cognitive demands and MCI and dementia, suggesting that both education and occupational complexity matter for MCI and dementia risk,” said lead author of the study, Trine Edwin, a postdoctoral fellow and medical doctor who studies geriatrics at Oslo University Hospital.
According to Professor Skirbekk, Dr Edwin and collaborators, better educated people are more likely to lead healthier lives, and education itself appears to build a “cognitive reserve”, which is the capacity to improvise and to find alternative ways of doing things, and this skill may help stave off mental decline rather like physical exercise delays frailty.
Although concerning, this study suggests that even if we work boring, repetitive jobs, we may still escape dementia in the future if we invest our free time time into furthering our education and pursuing more cognitively challenging pastimes outside of work.
“It’s not that you are doomed or you are not — we can empower people for their later cognitive health with education and tasks that are cognitively stimulating,” Dr Edwin pointed out.
“It really shows how important work is. It’s important to go to work and use your brain, and to use your brain to learn new things.”
This study has some weaknesses. It is associative and thus, doesn’t conclusively identify any actual causes of dementia, further, this study doesn’t distinguish between the various sorts of cognitive demands that come with similar occupations and it also overlooks future evolution in work responsibilities. Nonetheless, it does highlight the role of lifelong cognitive engagement in reducing cognitive decline as we age.
“Overall, our study demonstrates that high occupational cognitive demands are related to lower risks of MCI and dementia in later life,” Professor Skirbekk stated. Further, this study strengthens already existing evidence regarding the association between mental stimulation and cognitive health throughout one’s life.
“However, we recommend the commissioning of further research to validate these findings to pinpoint the specific occupational cognitive demands that are most advantageous for maintaining cognitive health in old age.”
Source:
Trine H. Edwin, Asta K. Håberg, Ekaterina Zotcheva, Bernt Bratsberg, Astanand Jugessur, Bo Engdahl, Catherine Bowen, Geir Selbæk, Hans-Peter Kohler, Jennifer R. Harris, Sarah E. Tom, Steinar Krokstad, Teferi Mekonnen, Yaakov Stern, Vegard F. Skirbekk, and Bjørn H. Strand (2024). Trajectories of Occupational Cognitive Demands and Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Later Life, Neurology | doi:10.1212/WNL.000000000020935
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