Stuff.co.nz, February 2, 2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/6355978/Stay-at-work-for-brain-health

OFF TO WORK WE GO: Today's active 70-year-olds have brain scans that look up to 15 years younger than those of their parents' generation.

 Whether it's sudoku or brain training games, there are plenty of options claiming to sharpen our brains as we get older.  But psychiatrist Ian Hickie, Executive Director of the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute, has a better idea - keep working.

"Work is your own personal cognitive training program because it keeps you challenged and engaged," he says.

"Through the whole of the lifespan if you compare people who are employed with those who are unemployed, their mental and physical health is better.

"Although problems with physical health can be the reason that health takes you out of the workplace - it's also true that those who get back to work after an illness improve their health."

Hickie believes there's something health-preserving about work - probably a mix of factors, including new experiences that help drive the growth of brain cells, as well as interaction with other people.

"But it could also be that the routine that keeps you going to bed and getting up at the same time each day helps regulate our sleep wake cycles, and this is important for our physical and mental health," he points out. "On the other hand, when people are not working they often tend to sleep more - and eat more."

The really good news for anyone nudging retirement age is that, despite all the gloom about dementia, the brains of many modern 65 to 70 year olds are in pretty good shape compared to those of previous generations - and, says Hickie, often too young to be retired.

"Today's physically active 70-year-olds who don't smoke have scans showing brains that look 10 to 15 years younger than those of their parents' generation at the same age - more of whom were smokers. We should never retire simply because of age - the best professors at this university are over 70 years of age," he says, adding that the retirement age of 65 is out of date, an anachronism from the 19th century when life expectancy was shorter and people were often worn out by tougher working conditions.

"You find that around the world the age of retirement is going up," says Hickie who, at the 2008 National Public Health Reform Summit, was quoted as saying that raising the retirement age from 65 to 72 would help reduce mental illness.