Is your
working environment dull and dirty? If so, there's a good chance you'll get
dumber as you age.
A new
study from the Florida State University researchers shows that both a lack of
stimulation in the workplace and a dirty working environment can have a
long-term cognitive effect on employees.
"Psychologists
say that the brain is a muscle, while industrial hygienists point to chemicals
in the work environment that may cause decline," said lead researcher
Joseph Grzywacz, adding "There are real things in the workplace that can
shape cognitive function: some that you can see or touch, and others you can't.
We showed that both matter to cognitive health in adulthood."
Grzywacz
and his team obtained cognitive function data from working adults participating
in the Midlife in the United States study. Their results had two major
takeaways: One was that greater occupational complexity, that is the learning
of new skills and taking on new challenges, resulted in stronger cognitive
performance particularly for women as they aged.
The second
result was that men and women who had jobs that exposed them to a dirty working
environment saw a cognitive decline.
"Both
of these issues are important when we think about the long-term health of men
and women," said Grzywacz, who also serves as the chair of the Department
of Family and Child Sciences.
"The
practical issue here is cognitive decline associated with aging and the thought
of, 'if you don't use it, you lose it,'" Grzywacz said. "Designing
jobs to ensure that all workers have some decision making ability may protect
cognitive function later in life, but it's also about cleaning up the
workplace."
The data
included 4,963 adults ages 32 to 84 from the 48 contiguous states. The sample
was 47 percent male and 53 percent female.
Grzywacz'
findings are published in the June issue of the Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine.
Representative
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Source:
ANI
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