Have a Tough Job? Your Brain Thanks You

You might think you want to coast through your job or spend your life sailing instead of working, but you may regret it some day.

Doing complex work might keep your brain sharp in your golden years.

Intellectually complex jobs, such as architect or graphic designer, can improve cognitive performance, according to a new study published in the journal Neurology.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh gave more than a thousand people born in 1936 a series of tests on memory, processing speed, pattern recognition, and other cognitive skills. The people were mostly retired, but those whose jobs had involved analyzing data or complex work with people—such as negotiating or mentoring others—performed better than those whose jobs involved following instructions or completing tasks that other people assigned to them. (The researchers did account for differences in the subjects’ IQ at age 11.)

Although the impact of occupational complexity was only 1% to 2%, it is statistically significant. It may imply that the brain develops new structures or functions the more it does complex tasks.

But the exact reasons for the differences are not clear. But just like the more you use a muscle the stronger it will be, the challenging the brain gets the most from it–a good thing to remind yourself when faced with a your next big problem at work.