How your job could be causing you brain damage

Feeling overworked? It could be harming your brain, the new research has found.

According to the study, memory and problem-solving skills are negatively impacted if we work over 52 hours per week, with our emotions also being affected.

Researchers from Yonsei University in South Korea say that overworking can change the structure of our brains, which affects our memory, attention, and language.

Health workers are known to work long unsocial hours, and so those who work up to 52 hours per week were studied in order to understand how this demanding schedule can impact a certain area of the brain.

Methods used to research this included examining brain structure via MRI scan, along with looking at data from a long-term study which focused on health workers.

Altogether, 110 employees were analysed as part of the study which was published in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal, and out of this number, 78 worked standard hours, while 32 worked excessive weekly hours.

Looking at the demographics, it was younger and highly educated people who were working longer hours.

Findings showed the left caudal middle frontal gyrus volume increased by 19 per cent among those who were overworked, when compared to those who worked standard hours.

"Overworked individuals exhibited significant changes in brain regions associated with executive function and emotional regulation," the team explained.

It's an area of the brain where numerous cognitive functions take place, in the frontal lobe for the most part, including anything to do with language and memory.

But that's not all... the MRI scans also found that our attention, planning and decision-making, as well as other parts of the brain which concern emotional processing, self-awareness and understanding social context, are also impacted by overworking

As a result of carrying out this research, the experts believe it demonstrates "preliminary evidence that overwork is associated with structural brain changes", especially in areas related to "cognition and emotion."

"These findings provide novel neurobiological evidence linking prolonged working hours to structural brain changes, emphasising the need for further research to understand the long-term cognitive and emotional implications of overwork.

What do the experts hope this new information will do?

They mentioned the "importance of addressing overwork as an occupational health concern" and believe there is a "need for workplace policies that mitigate excessive working hours".

Working hours continue to get longer, particularly these days, with technology and the ability to work from home, it can be difficult to completely switch off.

Global analysis from the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation also referred to longer working hours, along with the alarming statistic that overworking is to blame for one-third of the total estimated work-related burden of disease, according to Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy and public affairs at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

Additionally, a YouGov survey last year showed that nearly a quarter of UK workers regularly work more than the legal maximum hours allowed in the UK (48 hours per week).

"‘We want to see employers strip away the “small print”, identify and tackle psycho-social risks as part of risk assessment processes and become more transparent in how they treat their workers," she concluded.

Elsewhere, China reveals the world's first AI hospital with 42 AI doctors.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.