Early retirement may speed up memory loss

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Retiring early can accelerate cognitive decline and memory loss, according to a study that links it to a decline in social relationships and a lack of tasks that require mental acuity.

Early retirement may speed up memory loss

Humans are social beings and our emotional well-being depends to a large extent on the relationships we establish with others, perhaps for this reason many people are overwhelmed and feel isolated when they retire, or do not feel valued for the mere fact of not doing a paid activity. While retirement may bring relief to many others, a study has found that taking early retirement can negatively affect health, specifically accelerating cognitive decline and memory loss.

This is at least the conclusion reached by an investigation carried out by professors from Binghamton University, State University of New York, and which has been published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, in which the effect of an early retirement program (the National Rural Pension Plan) launched in China on the cognitive performance of individuals who have adhered to it. The researchers have drawn on earlier work, the China Longitudinal Health and Retirement Survey (CHARLS), which includes a nationally representative sample of participants aged 45 and older.

The results of the analysis of this population found clinically significant adverse effects on several cognitive functions, especially immediate memory retrieval, delayed retrieval, and total vocabulary retention. This cognitive decline is a predictor of the risk of developing dementia in older adults. Researchers estimate the decline in cognitive function at around 12%.

Avoid social isolation and maintain mental acuity in old age

Plamen Nikolov, an assistant professor of economics, and Shahadath Hossain, an economics doctoral student, both at Binghamton University, and their team found that pension and retirement benefits contribute to better health, but the program played a powerful and much more negatively in other aspects of life, such as social activities, activities associated with mental fitness, and social engagement.

We found that greater social isolation is strongly related to more rapid cognitive decline among the elderly.

The pension program had more negative effects among women, and Nikolov says the results support the hypothesis that a reduction in mental activity worsens cognitive abilities. These negative effects, however, according to the researchers, would not be due to leaving work activity early, but rather to the factors that are usually associated with it, such as having fewer social relationships or performing fewer tasks that require mental acuity.

“Program participants report substantially lower levels of social engagement, with significantly lower rates of volunteering and social interaction than non-beneficiaries. We found that greater social isolation is strongly related to more rapid cognitive decline among the elderly. Interestingly, we found that the program improved some health behaviors,” Nikolov explained.

To delay the aging of the brain and prevent cognitive deterioration, measures can be adopted that promote activities such as volunteering or study, that favor social participation and in leisure and intellectual activities. Nikolov has said that he hopes this research will help shape new policies to improve the cognitive functioning of the elderly in retirement. “We hope that our findings influence how retirees view their retirement activities from a more holistic perspective and pay particular attention to their social engagement, active volunteering, and participation in activities that foster their mental acuity,” he concludes.

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