Posted on 10/22/2010 11:36:58 PM PDT by neverdem
The two economists call their paper “Mental Retirement,” and their argument has intrigued behavioral researchers. Data from the United States, England and 11 other European countries suggest that the earlier people retire, the more quickly their memories decline.
The implication, the economists and others say, is that there really seems to be something to the “use it or lose it” notion — if people want to preserve their memories and reasoning abilities, they may have to keep active.
“It’s incredibly interesting and exciting,” said Laura L. Carstensen, director of the Center on Longevity at Stanford University. “It suggests that work actually provides an important component of the environment that keeps people functioning optimally.”
While not everyone is convinced by the new analysis, published recently in The Journal of Economic Perspectives, a number of leading researchers say the study is, at least, a tantalizing bit of evidence for a hypothesis that is widely believed but surprisingly difficult to demonstrate.
Researchers repeatedly find that retired people as a group tend to do less well on cognitive tests than people who are still working. But, they note, that could be because people whose memories and thinking skills are declining may be more likely to retire than people whose cognitive skills remain sharp.
And research has failed to support the premise that mastering things like memory exercises, crossword puzzles and games like Sudoku carry over into real life, improving overall functioning.
“If you do crossword puzzles, you get better at crossword puzzles,” said Lisa Berkman, director of the Center for Population and Development Studies at Harvard. “If you do Sudoku, you get better at Sudoku. You get better at one narrow task. But you don’t get better at cognitive behavior in life.”
The study was possible, explains one of its authors, Robert Willis, a...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Man, the French must be the most forgetful people there are.
It seems to me like an excuse to have people work until the day they go six feet under. Does anyone else think this?
Not me.
This is simply reporting something that has been noted for centuries as if it were some brilliant new discovery.
Yawn.
Someone who gets it. Work your ass off until your are crippled or have a heart attack to pay politicians and lazy asses who don't want to work. The word retire has lost all meaning.
That’s it.
I would like to cut back to 40 hour weeks when I hit my 70’s in 15 years.
Damn right I do. I retired at 51 and have no regrets. I had 3 friend who passed at 52, 56 and 57 respectfully. They were good, hard working guys who, like me, worked ridiculous hours and deserved more time to enjoy life.
My real good friend of 30 years retired at 55, enjoyed a little over a year of retirement, built a new house where he wanted it, then had a massive heart attack and died. That just tore me up. He could have retired at 51 like me, but just wanted to hang in till 55.
But then their big test for "cognitive behavior in life" is for short term recall of a list of words. Isn't that a "narrow task"? It seems to me it is; in fact more narrow than crossword and Sudoku puzzles. These guys are idiots, that's all I can conclude.
Meaning the New York Times, I guess.
“Data from the United States, England and 11 other European countries suggest that the earlier people retire, the more quickly their memories decline.”
this is a set-up to raise the retirement age to seventy.
I’m in my 70’s now. Worked day and night building a business for 20 years. Sold it and retired when I was 50. No regrets whatsoever.
I’m in my 70’s now. Worked day and night building a business for 20 years. Sold it and retired when I was 50. No regrets whatsoever.
I forgot not to hit post twice.
My first thought. More science in the government-program interest.
Ya think?
Hmmm, looks like the researchers aren't brain-dead...
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