????今天開始了。你就像往常一樣，在擠滿各種任務的工作日中要做出決策、解決問題、評估新資訊、針對棘手狀況制定妙策，同時為所屬團隊制定各種策略。大多數經理人的日常工作就是如此種種。雖然有時候面臨著巨大的壓力，但你的大腦在處理這些接踵而至的任務中也獲的了益處：比起那些從事機械性工作的人，你更有機會在未來人生，特別是退休許久之后，繼續保持敏銳的頭腦。

????這是科羅拉多州立大學（Colorado State University）心理學講師格溫妮絲?費舍爾領導美國密歇根大學社會研究院（the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research）進行的一項最新研究得出的結論。費舍爾說，根據18年的數據，這個研究發現，“一些具有挑戰性的工作種類有益于加強和保護人們晚年時的心智能力”。密歇根大學的這項“健康與退休研究”調查共調查了超過20,000名有人口學代表性的51歲至61歲中老年美國人。從1992年至2008年，研究者每隔兩年就會向調查對象發放問卷，而這項研究共研究了其中4,182名受訪者的回復。這些受訪者崗位行業各自不同，但在退休前，他們都在同類型的崗位上工作了相當長的時間——至少10年，平均25年。

????研究人員還研究了受訪者工作所必須的“心智能力”，并使用了一系列標準化考試，用以衡量受訪者的認知敏捷程度。測試項目包括了給出一系列名詞，要求受訪者立刻和隔一段時間回憶出名單中的詞語；還要求受訪者從100開始，7個7個倒數下去。

????研究結果清楚地表明，一個人退休前的工作越具有挑戰性，他就越有可能在未來保持更好更敏銳的思維。尤其在記憶方面，他們記憶衰退的發生率和速度都顯著降低。此外，退休前在兩種不同種類崗位上工作的人，隨著時間流逝，他們的心智能力差距會不斷加劇。

????而那些在職責更簡單更容易的崗位上工作的人們，隨著年齡增大，是否就必定會像這項研究暗示的那樣，經歷更嚴重更迅速的認知能力衰退？不一定。

????費舍爾說，“在工作之外，人們的業余生活也可能是一項決定未來心智能力的因素。”如果人們有一項能刺激大腦的興趣愛好——無論是學一門外語、學習天文、還是就任何一個自己不熟悉的專業去上課學習，都可能和從事困難工作一樣，給大腦帶來同樣的益處。費舍爾還指出：“無論何時，接收處理新信息、學習新技能、或者完全一項從未接觸過的工作，都會給大腦帶來好處。關鍵還是在于，要主動讓自己思維處于活躍狀態，接受各種挑戰。”（財富中文網）

????這項研究的完整版本已經發表在《職業健康心理學》期刊三月版。

????譯者：Liam

????

????So there you are as usual, spending your jam-packed workday making decisions, solving problems, evaluating new information, coming up with creative approaches to tricky situations, and setting strategy for your team. It's what most managers do and, as stressful as it can get, all those constant demands on your brain turn out to have an upside: In later years, probably well into retirement, you may stay sharper mentally than people whose jobs are more routine.

????That's the conclusion of a new study from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, led by Gwenith Fisher, who teaches psychology at Colorado State University. Fisher says the research, based on data spanning 18 years, found that "certain kinds of challenging jobs have the potential to enhance and protect mental functioning later in life."

????In analyzing responses from 4,182 people who participate in the U-M Health and Retirement Study, which surveys a representative sample of more than 20,000 older Americans every two years, the researchers looked at eight different polls taken between 1992 and 2010, when the participants were between 51 and 61 years old. They worked in a variety of jobs and had been doing the same type of work for at least 10 years -- about 25 years on average -- before they retired.

????The researchers also looked at the "mental requirements" of each job those people reported having held, and tested their acumen on a variety of standardized tests designed to measure cognitive nimbleness, such as recalling a list of nouns immediately after seeing it and again after a delay, and counting backwards from 100 by sevens.

????The results clearly showed that the more mentally challenging a person's work before retirement, the more likely he or she was to maintain a high degree of mental sharpness, especially fewer and slower declines in memory, afterward. Moreover, the differences between people who retired from demanding jobs and those who'd had more routine occupations increased as time went on.

????Does that imply that people with less complex and demanding jobs are doomed to suffer steeper, more rapid cognitive declines as they age? Not necessarily.

????"What people do outside of work could also be a factor," Fisher says. A stimulating hobby or interest could have the same beneficial effect on the cerebrum as challenging work -- whether it's learning a foreign language, studying astronomy, or taking a class in any unfamiliar subject. "Any time you are taking in new information, learning a new skill, or doing a new task, the brain benefits from that," she notes. "The key is to be actively engaged and challenged mentally."

????The full study appeared in the March issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.