Does postponing retirement affect cognitive function? A counterfactual experiment to disentangle life course risk factors

Hale, Jo Mhairi; Bijlsma, Maarten J.; Lorenti, Angelo

doi:10.4054/mpidr-wp-2020-013

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…23 A recent issued by the US Health and Retirement Study indicated postponing retirement has a remarkable protective effect on cognitive decline among highly educated people. 24 However, our data suggest that other variables, such as depressive mood, might also mediate the relationship between retirement and cognition in Koreans. 25 This study has some limitations that call for further research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…The most important moderator of cognitive function has been consistently reported to be educational attainment, 22 although it has also been shown repetitive cognitive stimulation can compensate for an initially lower cognitive reserve associated with lower educational attainment 23 . A recent issued by the US Health and Retirement Study indicated postponing retirement has a remarkable protective effect on cognitive decline among highly educated people 24 . However, our data suggest that other variables, such as depressive mood, might also mediate the relationship between retirement and cognition in Koreans 25 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retirement is not associated with age‐related cognitive impairment in Korean adults

Hwang

Ahn

Suh

2022

American J Industrial Med

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Background:The literature provides conflicting evidence as to whether retirement may harm cognition. This study aimed to determine the relationship between retirement and cognitive impairment in Korean adults.Methods: This study was performed using biennial data collected during the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing survey between 2006 and 2018. A total of 6363 adults aged 45 years or older with normal cognition were followed for up to 12 years.Linear regression, adjusted for potential covariates, was used to examine the association between retirement and cognitive impairment.Results: Retirees composed 27.6% of participants were older, and had several cohort-related features such as a lower education level and income. They were more likely to be single and to participate in religious activities, and had better healthy habits, but participated in fewer social activities and were more likely to have a depressive mood. Unadjusted models indicated that retirees were at higher risk of cognitive impairment, but this association became nonsignificant in age-adjusted models. Multivariate regression analysis identified several risk factors associated with cognitive impairment, but these did not include retirement. Conclusion:Retirement was not associated with cognitive impairment in Korean adults.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retirement is not associated with age‐related cognitive impairment in Korean adults

Hwang

Ahn

Suh

2022

American J Industrial Med

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“…found that cognitive demand late in life was the single most protective factor against AD. Similarly, multiple epidemiological studies suggest that the loss of work‐related cognitive stimulus due to retirement results in a parallel increase in the risk of cognitive decline, even after adjusting for confounders that might explain both early retirement and cognitive decline such as comorbid medical conditions 31–33 . The negative effect of loss of cognitive stimulus is also reversible, as evidenced by increased risk of cognitive decline in those that lose sensory function (e.g., sight, smell, or hearing), which can be overcome by interventions that restore the impaired sense 34–38 .…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, multiple epidemiological studies suggest that the loss of work-related cognitive stimulus due to retirement results in a parallel increase in the risk of cognitive decline, even after adjusting for confounders that might explain both early retirement and cognitive decline such as comorbid medical conditions. [31][32][33] The negative effect of loss of cognitive stimulus is also reversible, as evidenced by increased risk of cognitive decline in those that lose sensory function (e.g., sight, smell, or hearing), which can be overcome by interventions that restore the impaired sense. [34][35][36][37][38] Other types of beneficial cognitive demand including bilingualism or playing a musical instrument, with greater benefits on brain structure in those for whom the practice is more challenging.…”

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confidence: 99%

Is the lack of appropriate cognitive demand the primary driver of dementia risk?

Wood

Turknett²

2022

Lifestyle Medicine

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Is the lack of appropriate cognitive demand the primary driver of dementia risk?With the general trend of increasing lifespan alongside populationlevel success in reducing the mortality from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, the population burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has steadily accelerated. In the United States, the mortality rate due to AD has increased from less than 0.5 per 100,000 in 1980 to approximately 30 per 100,000 in 2019. 1 Worldwide, the number of individuals with dementia is expected to at least triple by 2050, 2 with some reports suggesting that AD has the potential to bankrupt healthcare systems. 3 At the same time, the development of, and investment in, multiple pharmacological agents directed toward modifying the pathological "hallmarks" of AD have yielded disappointing results.Existing pharmaceuticals offer modest symptomatic benefits, at best, without modifying the course of the disease. Taken together, these factors highlight the urgent need for a critical reappraisal of the underlying risk factors for AD and potential interventions.In an attempt to reframe potential preventative and therapeutic approaches to AD, we recently proposed a model that suggests demand-function coupling in the brain is the critical upstream factor driving long-term cognitive function. 4 In this model, we describe how the health and function of any tissue, including the brain, is shaped by the demands placed upon it. In the setting of increased demand, demand-function coupling drives increases in growth and function, but also upregulates processes of cellular repair and regeneration. The result is a tissue that is more resilient, plastic, and with a greater capacity for increased work output in the face of increased requirements. In this way, we propose that the structure and function of the brain are driven by the demands placed upon it, much as cardiac and skeletal muscles respond to exercise. And as muscle or cardiovascular function decline with bed rest or detraining, the structure and function of the brain decline in a coupled manner when adequate demands are not placed upon it. Cognitive decline is then essentially an expression of "frailty" of the brain -defined as lacking additional capacity to function above basic requirements -as a result of reduced demand. Although it may appear subtle, this reframing of the cascade may be critical in understanding the disease process and intervening as healthcare providers. Whereas the prevailing explanations to date have described cognitive activity as a mitigating force; in this model, we propose that cognitive demand instead impacts the primary pathogenetic process. In fact, given the established phenomenon of demand coupling in neu-This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Does postponing retirement affect cognitive function? A counterfactual experiment to disentangle life course risk factors

Abstract: Working papers of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research receive only limited review. Views or opinions expressed in working papers are attributable to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute.

Cited by 2 publications

References 53 publications

Retirement is not associated with age‐related cognitive impairment in Korean adults

Retirement is not associated with age‐related cognitive impairment in Korean adults

Is the lack of appropriate cognitive demand the primary driver of dementia risk?

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