Physical stress on the job with brain and memory decline in older age

A new study out of Colorado State University has found that physical stress in one’s job may be associated with faster brain aging and poorer memory.

Aga Burzynska, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and her research team connected occupational survey responses with brain-imaging data from 99 cognitively normal older adults, age 60 to 79. They found that those who reported high levels of physical stress in their most recent job had smaller volumes in the hippocampus and performed poorer on memory tasks. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is critical for memory and is affected in both normal aging and in dementia.

Their findings were published this summer in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience under the research topic “Work and Brain Health Across the Lifespan.”

“We know that stress can accelerate physical aging and is the risk factor for many chronic illnesses,” Burzynska said. “But this is the first evidence that occupational stress can accelerate brain and cognitive aging.”

Release date: 16 July 2020