Retirement Causes Brain Function to Rapidly Decline, Warn Scientists

Workers looking forward to enjoying a long and leisurely retirement after years of working may need to think again. New research shows that brain function declines rapidly as soon as people stop work and put their feet up. A British study which tracked 3,400 retired civil servants found that short-term memory declines nearly 40 percent faster once employees become pensioners. It appears that the lack of regular stimulation takes a heavy toll on cognitive function and speeds up memory loss and dementia, the researchers said. The results, published online in the European Journal of Epidemiology , found verbal memory, which declines naturally with age, deteriorated 38 percent faster once volunteers had retired, reports the Telegraph .