People who work too hard and for too long can end up altering parts of their brains that manage memory and problem solving, new research suggests.
A team of South Korean researchers said their findings โunderscore the importance of addressing overwork as an occupational health concern and highlight the need for workplace policies that mitigate excessive working hoursโ.
Published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, a British Medical Journal publication, the research points to overwork as a potential cause of โneuroadaptive changes that might affect cognitive and emotional healthโ.
โKilling itโ at work has long been associated with health risks that can literally kill, such as cardiovascular disease and mental health issues, with the International Labour Organization estimating the worldwide annual death toll from overwork at around 800,000.
And while the researchers acknowledged that the โbehavioural and psychological consequences of overwork are reasonably well understoodโ, they said they aimed to investigate โthe underlying neurological mechanisms and anatomical changesโ stemming from working too hard.