If you have a job that doesn’t require much thinking, you better start using your noodle on your off-hours.
That’s the takeaway from a just-published Norwegian study that showed that people with repetitive jobs that don’t require much thinking have a 66% greater risk of mild cognitive impairment and a 31% greater risk of dementia after age 70 compared to those who do not.
The old adage “Use it or lose it” comes to mind.
Dr. Trine Edwin, a geriatrician and postdoctoral fellow at Oslo University Hospital, expresses, “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.”
Some of the jobs highlighted as cognitively stimulating included university professors, accountancy and other professions where accuracy was key.
On the other hand, postal carriers and custodians were on the other end of the scale.
Methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.