This might be a bit of a no-brainer.
The more you use your noggin at work, the better your memory and brain function will be later in life, according to a study published on Wednesday in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The research carried out in Norway studied 7,000 people from 305 different jobs and looked at how much they had to use their brains in their work, according to a press release from the American Academy of Neurology obtained by The Post. The Post reached out to one of the study authors for comment.
“We examined the demands of various jobs and found that cognitive stimulation at work during different stages in life — during your 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s — was linked to a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment after the age of 70,” study author Dr. Trine Holt Edwin of Oslo University Hospital said in the release.
“Our findings highlight the value of having a job that requires more complex thinking as a way to possibly maintain memory and thinking in old age,” he continued.
Researchers measured people’s cognitive stimulation while doing more manual tasks such as controlling equipment or factory work and compared it to the cognitive stimulation of people working in jobs where they had to analyze information and interpret it for other people.
The job that resulted in the biggest cognitive stimulation was teaching and the job with the lowest cognitive stimulation was being a custodian or a mail carrier, the study found.
They later tested the memory and cognitive ability of participants over the age of 70.
The study found that people working jobs with the lowest demands had a 66% greater risk of mild cognitive impairment compared to those who worked jobs with higher cognitive demands.
However, the authors noted that cognitive demands varied on an individual basis and even people working the same job may have different cognitive demands. They also noted that this study merely shows an association, not a cause.
“These results indicate that both education and doing work that challenges your brain during your career play a crucial role in lowering the risk of cognitive impairment later in life,” Edwin explained.
“Further research is required to pinpoint the specific cognitively challenging occupational tasks that are most beneficial for maintaining thinking and memory skills,” he added.
Another 2016 study found that the following jobs help preserve healthy brain function: manager, teacher, lawyer, social worker, engineer, physicist, physician, dentist and pharmacist.
Additionally, a study published in the Lancet last year uncovered which five jobs put people most at risk for dementia.
These vocations include salespeople — retail and other — nursing assistants, farmers and livestock producers.
Nursing and sales gigs are “often characterized by a lack of autonomy, prolonged standing, hard work, rigid working hours, stress, a higher risk of burnout and sometimes […] inconvenient working days,” the study explained.
