A new study suggests that giving up early retirement to work in a person’s later years may help increase their cognitive and critical thinking skills.
Researchers at the German Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science found that working until age 67, when most Americans retire, slows their cognitive impairment and can help with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and others. diseases that can negatively affect a person’s cognitive functions.
Surprisingly, the findings show that a person will benefit from working longer, regardless of their gender, educational level, or level of job complexity.
“Our study suggests that there may be an unintended fortuitous consequence of deferred retirement,” study co-author Angelo Lorenti said in a statement.
Lorenti continued, “In this study, we approach retirement and cognitive function from the perspective that both reach the end of a long life path.
According to a new study, working past retirement age could help combat cognitive impairment
The researchers found that people with more complex jobs see a slightly slower decline than those with less complex jobs.
Surprisingly, the findings show that a person will benefit from working longer, regardless of their gender, educational level, or level of job complexity.
“… Ethnicity, gender and the social and economic state of the first life, continues with educational and work behaviors and health behaviors and reaches closer factors such as the state of collaboration and mental and physical health “. said study co-author Angelo Lorenti
Researchers found that people with more complex jobs see a slower decline than those with less complex jobs
“It begins with its social origins in ethnicity, gender and social and economic status of the first life, continues with educational and work and health behaviors and reaches closer factors such as marital status and mental state and physical health.
“All of these factors accumulate and interact throughout life to affect both cognitive function and age upon retirement.”
A separate study by researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center recently found that certain mental skills, including multitasking and prioritization, improve after age 50.
The researchers examined the observations of 20,469 individuals between the ages of 55 and 75 who were part of the U.S. workforce between 1996 and 2014.
Lorenti added that there are no changes between social and labor market dynamics, and added that many countries in the world have raised the retirement age.
The concern is the aging world population, as dementia rates tend to increase as people outnumber.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s and it is projected to increase to 13 million by 2050.
Globally, that figure is at least 50 million and could surpass 150 million by 2050 if no progress is discovered, according to Bright Focus.
“That’s why it’s relevant to understand whether retirement at older ages can have health consequences, especially on cognitive function,” Lorenti explained.
The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2035, there will be 77 million Americans 65 and older, more than 76.5 million children 18 and under.
Germany, Italy, France, Spain and other European countries already have older populations, while in Japan, considered a super-aged society, more than one in four people is 65 or older.
The study was recently published in SSM – Population Health.