SCITECH DAILY – Working long hours may actually change the structure of your brain, according to new research published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. The study points to alterations in key brain areas responsible for emotional regulation and executive functions like working memory and problem solving.
Researchers believe that chronic overwork could trigger neuroadaptive changes, which might have lasting effects on both cognitive performance and emotional well-being.
The dangers of working too much extend beyond burnout. Long hours have already been linked to higher risks of heart disease, metabolic disorders, and mental health problems. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that overwork contributes to more than 800,000 deaths worldwide each year.
While the mental and emotional toll of overwork is well recognized, scientists are still uncovering what happens inside the brain itself.
Study Design and Methods
To explore this further, the researchers deployed structural brain volume analysis to compare the impact of overwork on specific brain regions in healthcare workers routinely clocking up long working hours, defined as 52 or more a week.
They drew on data from the Gachon Regional Occupational Cohort Study (GROCS) and from MRI scans carried out for a research project on the effects of working conditions on brain structure.
Participants in GROCS were asked to have an additional MRI scan, and the final analysis included 110 people after excluding those with missing data or poor MRI image quality.
Those putting in long working hours every week were significantly younger, had spent less time in work and were more highly educated than those clocking up standard hours.
Differences in brain volume were assessed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), a neuroimaging technique that identifies and compares regional differences in levels of grey matter …
