New Research Suggests: Don’t Lose Your Brain at Work
“Don’t Lose Your Brain at Work – The Role of Recurrent Novelty at Work in Cognitive and Brain Aging,” relates new findings about how work can affect brain aging. (February 6, 2017 issue of Frontiers in Psychology)
Co-authors include Jan Oltmanns as well as Columbia Aging Center director Ursula Staudinger.
Cognitive and brain aging is strongly influenced by everyday settings such as work demands. Long-term exposure to low job complexity, for instance, has detrimental effects on cognitive functioning and regional gray matter (GM) volume. Brain and cognition, however, are also characterized by plasticity. We postulate that the experience of novelty (at work) is one important trigger of plasticity. We investigated the cumulative effect of recurrent exposure to work-task changes (WTC) at low levels of job complexity on GM volume and cognitive functioning of middle-aged production workers across a time window of 17 years. In a case-control study, we found that amount of WTC was associated with better processing speed and working memory as well as with more GM volume in brain regions that have been associated with learning and that show pronounced age-related decline. Recurrent novelty at work may serve as an ‘in vivo’ intervention that helps counteracting debilitating long-term effects of low job complexity.
For the full publication, see: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00117/full
Posted by ILC-USA
Date :25 June 2017
ILC Israel’s Semi-annual conference
On April 19th, 2017, ILC Israel and The Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev held its semi-annual conference. This year’s conference topic was “Innovations and challenges in gerontology and geriatrics: The effects of the Holocaust on the health and well-being of survivors and their offspring (children, second, and third generation).”
Date :28 June 2017
Two New Publications from Columbia Aging Center Faculty, Dr. Esteban Calvo
Faculty member Esteban Calvo has two new publications. The first is “Retirement Sequences of Older Americans: Moderately Destandardized and Highly Stratified Across Gender, Class, and Race” in The Gerontologist and "Rural pension reform in China: A critical analysis" also co-authored by Esteban Calvo appears in the Journal of Aging Studies.
Date :25 June 2017
New Research Suggests: Don’t Lose Your Brain at Work
“Don’t Lose Your Brain at Work – The Role of Recurrent Novelty at Work in Cognitive and Brain Aging,” relates new findings about how work can affect brain aging. (February 6, 2017 issue of Frontiers in Psychology)
Date :25 June 2017
Flash mob by senior citizens in Pune to mark the World Environment Day 2017
Senior citizens participated in a flash mob that spread the message on the need for saving and conserving water as part of ILC-I’s Environment protection initiatives.
Date :20 June 2017
Population ageing together with globalization and urbanization characterize the major demographic upheavals of our time. A new narrative is beginning to emerge globally where older persons are viewed legitimate participants and contributors to society.
Date :26 May 2017
