Having a mentally demanding job may benefit the mind after retirement, the results of a new study indicate.

US researchers looked at over 4,100 people who were interviewed eight times between 1992 and 2010. All were aged between 51 and 61 at the start of the study and were employed in a range of jobs. They had been doing the same type of work for at least 25 years before they retired.

The mental requirements of the participants' jobs were assessed. These requirements included the ability to make decisions, solve problems, evaluate information, analyse data and develop strategies.

The mental functioning of the participants was also assessed using standard tests, such as making them count backwards from 100 in sevens.

"Based on data spanning 18 years, our study suggests that certain kinds of challenging jobs have the potential to enhance and protect workers' mental functioning in later life," the researchers said.

They found that those who had worked in more mentally challenging jobs were better at remembering things before they retired, and had slower declines in memory after they retired, compared to those in less mentally challenging jobs.
While the differences at the time of retirement were not big, they did increase over time.

"These results suggest that working in an occupation that requires a variety of mental processes may be beneficial to employees. It's likely that being exposed to new experiences or more mentally complex job duties may benefit not only newer workers but more seasoned employees as well.

"Employers should strive to increase mental engagement at work and, if possible, outside of work as well, by emphasising life-long learning activities," the researchers commented.

Details of their findings are published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.