A new study has found that having a mentally stimulating job can not only boost your career but also protect your cognitive abilities and reduce the risk of dementia as you age. The study, published in the journal Neurology, analyzed data from over 7,000 Norwegians who were followed from their 30s until retirement in their 60s.

The researchers discovered that individuals with routine jobs that lacked mental stimulation during their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s were 66% more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment and 37% more likely to develop dementia after the age of 70 compared to those who had jobs with high cognitive and interpersonal demands.

Lead author Dr. Trine Edwin, a researcher at Oslo University Hospital, emphasized the importance of having an occupation that requires complex thinking to maintain memory and cognitive function in old age. She explained that the workplace plays a crucial role in promoting cognitive health.

The study also found that years spent in school helped offset the impact of a repetitive job, reducing the risk by around 60%. However, attending college did not entirely negate the risk of cognitive decline.

Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of research at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida, highlighted the importance of staying actively engaged in life, maintaining a sense of purpose, and learning new things to protect against cognitive decline. He emphasized that being cognitively engaged at work can have profound benefits in fighting against dementia.

The study categorized the cognitive demands of various occupations in Norway, considering routine jobs as those involving repetitive manual and mental tasks, such as factory work and bookkeeping. On the other hand, more cognitively demanding jobs required creative thinking, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. Teaching was the most common occupation in the mentally stimulating job group, thanks to the interaction with students and parents and the need to explain and analyze information.

The study's strength lies in the consistency of job complexity over time, allowing researchers to study the long-term impact of specific job types. However, it could not account for differences in duties within a particular job category.

As the study suggests, engaging in mentally stimulating work throughout one's career can help preserve cognitive abilities and protect against dementia. Being proactive in professional advancement, learning new job tasks, and refining skills can have brain health benefits. Future studies will provide more insight into which activities have the most profound impact.

Adopting a brain-healthy lifestyle, such as following a Mediterranean-style diet, limiting alcohol intake, quitting smoking, managing vascular risk factors, regularly evaluating and treating hearing and vision loss, getting adequate sleep, and managing stress, can also help slow down cognitive decline.

In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of engaging work in maintaining cognitive health as we age. By challenging our brains and seeking out mentally stimulating occupations, we can potentially reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in later life.