{"id":246681,"date":"2023-07-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/herrmann.co.nz\/?p=246681"},"modified":"2023-07-03T17:38:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T07:38:46","slug":"how-your-job-can-shape-your-brain-impact-of-work-on-cognitive-abilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/herrmann.co.nz\/2023\/07\/how-your-job-can-shape-your-brain-impact-of-work-on-cognitive-abilities\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Job Can Shape Your Brain: Impact of Work on Cognitive Abilities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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We all know that jobs have a significant impact on our lives. For most of us, Mondays to Fridays are spent working and although this earns us money, it can also affect our physical and mental health, social lives and overall well-being. There is, interestingly, another benefit of working, though: your job can also shape your brain function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognition<\/a> is the process in which knowledge is acquired, including perception, intuition and reasoning. Cognitive ability \u2014 or general intelligence \u2014 therefore, is the mental processes we go through while awake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive ability examples include basic abilities like attention, visual and special awareness, memory and language skills. These can become more complex executive functions, especially when working, and can include flexibility, decision making, problem solving, sequencing, anticipation and emotional self-regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Herrmann, we\u2019re often asked about factors that may result in changing someone\u2019s HBDI\u00ae. Major life events such as starting a new job, becoming a parent, relocating to a different city or country, or experiencing the loss of a close relationship can all have an impact on our cognitive preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous research at how your career changes your brain was famously found for London cab drivers, but the same is found for other occupations like acupuncturists, musicians and even airport security officers, like the British Psychological Society<\/a> highlights. More stimulating jobs can also bring cognitive benefits which carry on further into life. A recent study at Xin Zhao at Northwest Normal University<\/a> in China has also found that careers that challenge the updating of information held in working memory aspect of cognitive functioning also improves our brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study recruited 53 ticket collectors in Chinese restaurants and 53 security guards as a control group. Ticket collectors, who have a challenging job of remembering and managing orders, displayed better working memory updating ability compared to security guards. A second study involved training 33 student participants on a computer simulation of ticket collector tasks, resulting in improved working memory updating ability. These findings suggest that working as a ticket collector enhances this cognitive skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research affirms previous studies, like that published in the Journal of Applied Psychology<\/a>, that individuals who have more cognitively demanding jobs show stronger executive functions. Studies suggests that those in creative roles enhanced fluid intelligence and cognitive flexibility, individuals with less cognitively demanding jobs showed a decline<\/a> in cognitive abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what does this mean for you and your career? It means that the type of work you do can significantly impact your cognitive abilities over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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