Occupational complexity

5 papers4 findings

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

On aging: the drug’s trials ARN judged to be about aging, of every trial that tests it for any use.

No results posted: trials that ended more than a year ago with no results on ClinicalTrials.gov and no paper in ARN’s record.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

3 independent labs in 2 countries

Humans5

Outcomes

Cognitive function

mediatesin humans1

1 study

Occupational complexity mediates cognitive function in humans (explained 57.8% of the relationship).
“Occupational complexity explained 57.8% of the relationship between education and cognitive function in the ELSI, but was not a mediator in the MHAS”
Humansin ELSI (Brazil)
Associations of education and occupation combinations with cognitive impairment in Brazil and Mexico
AAIC 2025 abstract23 Dec 2025

Associations

Global cognition

upin humans1+3.2% gain

1 study

Occupational complexity predicts global cognition in humans (3.2% gain).
“Relative contributions were education 65.4 percent, age 21.1 percent, leisure 9.8 percent, occupational complexity 3.2 percent, and work status 0.5 percent.”
Humans
Education Dominates Modifiable Predictors of Late-Life Cognition: An XGBoost Study
GSA 2025 abstract31 Dec 2025

Cognitive impairment

downin humans1OR 0.189

1 study

Occupational complexity lowers the risk of cognitive impairment in humans (OR = 0.189, p = 0.001).
“high ( p = 0.001 — associated with a substantially reduced risk (OR = 0.189) intellectual demand professions demonstrated a lower likelihood of cognitive impairment”
Humanshigh intellectual demand professions compared to lower-demand occupations
Cognitive profile and Sociodemographic factors in Brazilian Older adults: Insights from a Cross‐Sectional Study
AAIC 2025 abstract23 Dec 2025