long working hours It may not only be bad for you, but your mind can also change, as a new study indicates.
the researchAnd published on Tuesday, found “great changes” in the brains of people who were working at work, which is a mixture of excessive physical and emotional, as well as a lack of comfort.
The research was conducted by two scientists at the University of Chong-Ag in South Korea and the University of Yonsei, who followed 110 health care workers classified into “high” and “non-work” groups.
In South Korea, where 52 hours of work per week became the legal upper limit, it has become excessive work A source of concern for public health.
The high group, which has been registered for 52 hours or more every week, consists of 32 people who were on average, at work for a lesser period of education and more high -teaching compared to the normative working hours.
By comparing the data from a different study and an MRI survey, the researchers enables the use of nervous imaging technology to analyze the size of the workers’ brain.
This technique allowed them to determine and compare differences in the levels of gray matter in different areas of the brain, while the application of the analysis based on the atlas means that they can identify and nominate structures in brain tests.
“People who worked 52 hours or more per week showed major changes in the brain areas associated with the executive function and emotional regulation, unlike the participants who worked for record hours,” the researchers said in a press statement.
The brain areas that showed an increase in size include the Middle Equipment, which plays a major role in cognitive functions, attention, memory and language related to language, as well as Insula, which is involved in emotional therapy, self -awareness and the understanding of social context.
The researchers believe that their results indicate a “possible relationship” between increasing the burden of work and changes in these parts of the brain, providing a biological basis for the cognitive and emotional challenges reported by people with fatigue.
John Joel Choi, co -author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of UNESE, CNN that these changes may be “at least partial, reflected” if environmental pressures are reflected. However, returning to the foundation line in your mind may take much longer.
“An important new guide”
Previous research has also found evidence of the negative health effects of long working hours. In 2021, Joint research From the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), it estimated that excessive work led to more than 745,000 deaths per year. Long hours were also found to increase a threat Diabetes in women And contribute to A decrease in cognitive ability.
The study showed that these behavioral and psychological consequences of exhaustion are known, as neurological mechanisms and changes in anatomy are less understanding.
Frank Bega, who led the World Health Organization study 2021, told CNN that these recent results constitute “important new evidence” that could better help to understand working hours “radically” on the physical health of workers.
PEGA, a technical official who did not participate in this recent study, said that the research supports the results of the World Health Organization that “the long working hours contribute to the greatest burden of illness from all the professional risk factors specified so far.”
However, the small sample size of study and focusing only on South Korea health care workers makes it difficult to generalize its results. “More studies are needed in various population,” said PEGA.
The researchers said: “While the results should be interpreted with caution due to the exploratory nature of this experimental study, it represents a first meaningful step in understanding the relationship between excessive work and brain health.”
As for anyone stuck at work long hours? Now you may have a scientific basis to reduce your time at work.
“Governments, employers and workers can take all measures to protect workers’ health from long working hours,” she advised PEGA, citing laws, regulations and policies that can guarantee healthy working hours.
The authors of the study said: “The results emphasize the importance of dealing with fatigue as a source of professional health concern.”
Johnny Jefford, a major research colleague at the Institute of Employment Studies in Brighton, England, who did not participate in the study, told CNN “some physiological reasons that work for long hours affect our well -being.”
He said: “The use of brain scanning equipment to give nervous interpretations gives strong new evidence linking excessive work with structural changes in parts of the brain participating in the executive function and emotional regulation.”
“It is a small study that included 110 health care workers in Korea, but because it is based on strong neurological measures and anxiety of basic mechanisms (fatigue and fatigue) that can affect anyone, the central results are widely related.”
The study was published in the Journal of Vocational and Environmental Medicine.
Jack Jack CNN contributed to this report.
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