Working long hours may be changing how your brain works, a new study has revealed.
The study, which was published on Tuesday, shows that people who work 52 hours or more every week may be silently damaging parts of their brain that control emotions and decision-making.
According to scientists from Chung-Ang University and Yonsei University in South Korea, “people who worked 52 or more hours a week displayed significant changes in brain regions associated with executive function and emotional regulation.”
They reached this conclusion after studying 110 healthcare workers, using MRI brain scans to compare those who were overworked to others with regular schedules.
Using advanced brain-mapping tools, they discovered an increase in the middle frontal gyrus (linked to memory, attention, and language) and the insula, which controls emotions and social understanding. These changes suggest that the stress from overworking may be reshaping the brain.
Joon Yul Choi, one of the study authors and a biomedical engineering professor at Yonsei University, explained that while the changes may be reversible, recovery takes time and depends on reducing stress levels.
Though the research focused on healthcare workers in Korea where 52 hours is the legal work limit. experts say it reflects a global problem.
In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that overworking was responsible for over 745,000 deaths in just one year.
Reacting to the new findings, Frank Pega, a WHO official who led the 2021 study, told CNN that the results add “important new evidence” showing how long hours can damage both mental and physical health.
He said, “Governments, employers, and workers can all take actions to protect workers’ health from long working hours.”
Also speaking, Jonny Gifford, a senior researcher at the Institute for Employment Studies in the UK, said the use of brain scans to back up these claims makes the study “powerful and relevant,” even though the sample size was small.
While researchers admit the study is still at an early stage, they believe it is a strong first step in showing the link between too much work and poor brain health.
The research was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
