ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2025
Overwork and changes in brain structure: a pilot study.
Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Changes in working hours and burnout levels among physicians: a cohort study.Human resources for health · 2026Article
- Occupational circadian disruption and brain structure: evidence from normative developmental brain lifespan trajectories.Brain structure & function · 2026Article
- Assessing health, wellbeing, and working life impacts of a 4-day week: a multimodal protocol.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Improving Work-Related Challenges in Psychiatric-Psychosomatic Clinics: Study Protocol for an Internet-Based Needs Assessment and Co-Design of a Training.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Shift work and dietary behaviors among Korean workers.Journal of occupational health · 2025Article
- Association between shift work and brain age gap: a neuroimaging study using MRI-based brain age prediction algorithms.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate the effects of overwork on brain structure to better understand its impact on workers' cognitive and emotional health. The goal was to provide evidence for the potential neurological risks associated with prolonged working hours.
methodsA total of 110 healthcare workers were classified into overworked (≥52 hours/week; n=32) and non-overworked groups (n=78). Brain volume differences were assessed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and atlas-based analysis. General linear models adjusted for age, sex and total intracranial volume were applied, and correlation analyses explored relationships between weekly working hours and brain volume in regions with significant differences.
resultsOverworked individuals exhibited significant changes in brain regions associated with executive function and emotional regulation. Atlas-based analysis revealed a 19% increase in left caudal middle frontal gyrus volume in the overworked group compared with the non-overworked group (p=0.006). VBM showed peak increases in 17 regions, including the middle frontal gyrus, insula and superior temporal gyrus (p<0.05). Correlation analyses indicated a positive association between weekly working hours and brain volume changes in the middle frontal gyrus and insula.
conclusionsThis study provides preliminary evidence that overwork is associated with structural brain changes, particularly in regions linked to cognition and emotion. These findings provide novel neurobiological evidence linking prolonged working hours to structural brain changes, emphasising the need for further research to understand the long-term cognitive and emotional implications of overwork.
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Registered trials
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