
For the millions of Americans who retire each year, stopping work might seem like a well-deserved break. But it can also precipitate big changes in brain healthbra, including an increased risk of cognitive decline and depression.
Before retiring, you’re getting up in the morning, socializing with co-workers and dealing with the mental challenges of your job, said Ross Andel, a professor at Arizona State University who studies cognitive aging and retirement. “All of a sudden, after 50 years, you lose that routine.”
There’s this idea that the body and brain adapt when they’re “no longer needed,” he added. “That’s when you see the deterioration and its natural response to inactivity.”
But retirement can also be an opportunity for improving cognitive and mental health, with newfound time to socialize and take on hobbies. And even if you have started to experience some decline, there’s strong evidence that your brain can bounce back from periods of inactivity, even in older age, said Giacomo Pasini, a professor of econometrics at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, who studies the impact of economic policy on seniors’ mental health.
A Decline in Cognition and MoodOne analysis of more than 8,000 retirees in Europe found that people’s verbal memory (the ability to recall a set of words after a certain amount of time) generally declined faster once they retired,fef777 compared with when they were working. Another survey conducted in England showed a steep decline in verbal memory after retirement, though other skills, like abstract reasoning, were not affected.
A plethora of pathogens dominated headlines all summer, and some of that attention may have been warranted: Oropouche, a tropical infection, and dengue devastated South America; mpox is ravaging parts of Africa; and bird flu holds the potential to flare into a dangerous pandemic.
Ms. Torres played Jessica Pearson, the stylish and no-nonsense co-founder and managing partner of a prestige law firm, until she departed for the spinoff “Pearson.” That project, in 2019, made her the first Afro-Latina to create, star in and produce a television show.
“There’s some evidence out there that retirement may be bad for cognition, because when you retire, you don’t challenge your brain as much,” said Guglielmo Weber, a professor of econometrics at the University of Padova in Italy who worked on the Europe study.
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