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Working long hours is often linked to stress and exhaustion, but that might not be the whole story.
Have you been clocking more than 52 hours a week?
A new study now says your brain could also be changing because of it.
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Researchers found “significant changes” in the brains of people who worked too much.
So what does this mean for you? How do long working hours affect the brain and your overall health? What did the researchers say about their findings?
We break it down in this explainer.
Let’s find out:
What does the study say?
The study found that working more than 52 hours a week may lead to changes in the brain’s structure, especially in areas linked to emotions, memory and decision-making.
Published in the journal ‘Occupational & Environmental Medicine’, the findings suggest that working too much could affect a person’s mental and emotional health over time.
Researchers from Yonsei University in South Korea observed clear changes in the brains of people who worked long hours. These changes appeared in regions responsible for decision-making and emotional control.
They noted that while there might be some short-term benefits, such as increased alertness or efficiency, the long-term effects are likely to be negative. Continued overworking, they said, may lead to fatigue, emotional imbalance or a drop in thinking ability over time.
The study showed that people who were overworked had more brain volume in certain areas, including the middle frontal gyrus, insula and superior temporal gyrus.
It was already known that long working hours could cause health problems. But this research, by showing changes in brain structure, reflects the need to treat overwork as a serious workplace health issue and to push for policies that limit excessive hours.
How was the research carried out? What did the authors say?
The study was conducted by two researchers from South Korea’s Chung-Ang University and Yonsei University. They observed 110 healthcare workers and divided them into two groups – those who were “overworked” and those who were not.
In South Korea, 52 hours per week is the legal maximum for working. However, according to CNN, working beyond this limit has become a serious public health issue.
The group working 52 hours or more each week included 32 individuals. These participants were, on average, younger, had spent less time in their jobs, and were more highly educated than those working regular hours.
To study the impact on the brain, researchers compared information from another study and used MRI scans. With the help of neuroimaging, they examined the brain volume of participants.
This technique helped them measure and compare the amount of grey matter in different brain regions. By applying atlas-based analysis, they were able to label and identify specific structures in the brain scans.
In a press release, the authors said, “People who worked 52 or more hours a week displayed significant changes in brain regions associated with executive function and emotional regulation, unlike participants who worked standard hours.”
They found increased volume in parts of the brain such as the middle frontal gyrus, which is important for attention, memory and language, and the insula, which plays a role in emotional awareness and social understanding.
The researchers believe their findings point to a “potential relationship” between heavy workloads and changes in these brain areas, offering a possible biological explanation for the emotional and mental challenges faced by overworked people.
Why the study is important
This study is one of the first to closely look at how working too much might physically change the brain. It focuses on the need to treat long working hours as a serious factor affecting mental and emotional health, the authors said.
It adds to existing research showing that overwork is linked not only to heart problems, diabetes and mental health issues, but may also cause changes in brain structure.
Although it’s still unclear whether these brain changes are harmful or a way for the brain to adjust to ongoing stress, the researchers say the findings should serve as a warning.
“This may help explain why people who work excessively long hours often report feeling mentally and emotionally drained,” they said.
Figures from the International Labour Organisation show that overwork leads to more than 8,00,000 deaths each year globally. This study discusses how the brain could be quietly affected by too much work.
That said, the researchers point out that it was a small study, and does not prove that long working hours directly cause these brain changes.
Past research has shown that people who work more than 55 hours a week face a 33 per cent higher risk of stroke and a 13 per cent higher risk of heart disease.
The new study stated, “Overwork is a combination of physical and emotional overexertion and a lack of rest. Overuse and lack of rest can negatively affect the brain.”
However, the researchers pointed out that those in the overworked group were, on average, younger and more highly educated.
It is possible that the areas of the brain being studied were already larger in these individuals, which may have “predisposed” them to take on roles that involve longer working hours.
In a 2021 statement, the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization said that long working hours were linked to 7,45,000 deaths from stroke and heart disease in 2016, a 29 per cent rise since 2000.
Most of those deaths were seen in people aged between 60 and 79, who had worked 55 or more hours weekly between the ages of 45 and 74, the report added.