Is it true that full-time work is bad for the brain, especially if you are over 40?

A team of scientists held, which was attended by over 6,000 workers over 40 years old. They performed various tasks, such as reading and taking memorization tests. As a result, it was found that a 25-hour work week (working five hours or three full days) is optimal for maintaining cognitive function. Moreover, if people worked less than 25 hours a week, this also negatively affected the brain: it deprived it of the flexibility of thinking, which often happens with age.

Work can stimulate brain activity and support cognitive function in workers in their forties. But at the same time, working more than 25 hours a week is no less harmful than not working at all. Long hours of work and tasks of the same type can cause fatigue and stress, which negatively affect cognitive performance.

Colin McKenzie Professor of Economics at Keio University in Tokyo

But why is the age of 40 becoming the critical point? According to Mackenzie, our mobile intelligence (the ability to perceive information) begins to fade after 20 years, and crystallized intelligence (memory and knowledge that we have already learned) - after 30 years.

Thus, 40 years can be considered a starting point for the extinction of cognitive functions. Most people by this age show worsening results on tests for memory and flexibility of thinking.

Working overtime hurts the brain

Full-time work and its effect on the brain

The current economic situation forces us to work much longer than previous generations. Biologically and emotionally, a person is not adapted to work eight hours five days a week after 40 years.

Previous research has shown that workers of all ages who work overtime suffer from chronic stress, cognitive problems, and mental illness. Back in 1996, the Boston University School of Public Health found that overtime work negatively affects the mental health of people who work on the assembly line of an automobile plant.

The negative effect of stress on the mind is a fact proven by neurological research. Basically, stress affects cognitive function through hormones, specifically through steroid hormones and cortisol, a stress hormone that negatively affects short-term memory, concentration and rational thinking.

Sleep factor

Sleep also plays a large role in the ability to handle a full day's work. Previously, successful people prided themselves on not getting enough sleep, but now sleep deprivation is equated with smoking.

The US National Sleep Foundation recommends that people over the age of 26 get more than seven hours of sleep a night. Sleep is important both for memory and for the assimilation of new information.

Experts work less

A study by Karl Ericsson, a psychology professor in Florida, confirmed that a 40-hour work week is not optimal for high productivity.

His research did not specialize in age-related changes, the task was to find out how many hours you need to work per day each week in order to give all the best. As a result, it turned out that productive experts work 12-35 hours a week, but no more than 3-5 hours a day.

No disaster

Given the retirement age, many people simply do not have the opportunity to work less than 40 hours a week, and given the size of their pensions, they continue to work even after the onset of retirement age. But, as it turned out, many do not see this as a disaster and do not feel the cognitive decline from a full day's work.

For example, Richard Salisbury, a 58-year-old Australian, finds McKinsey's study overblown. He works both for himself and remotely for various companies as an IT manager.

“I have found that with experience it has become easier for me to manage my time,” says Salisbury. - The idea of working 25 hours a week is nothing more than a fairy tale. The vast majority of people I work with do not see a noticeable effect on cognitive ability with 35 and 40 hours of work per week."

It all depends on the job

Employers' concern for the health of employees

In the UK, there is an award given to companies with the most favorable working conditions for health. Last year, it received awards from sporting goods, pharmaceutical and IT companies. All of them provided employees with opportunities to maintain physical health. For example, flexible work schedules in some companies allowed employees to leave early, while others offered sports training during lunchtime.

So, if you have a good job that allows you to live a healthy lifestyle, it doesn't matter how many hours you work - 25 or 40.