Working long hours? It could be altering the structure of your brain, new study says

CTV News14-05-2025

Working long hours is linked to changes in brain structure, according to a new study. Maskot/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
Long working hours might not just be bad for you, they could also be altering the structure of your brain, a new study suggests.
The research, published Tuesday, found 'significant changes' in the brains of people who were overworking, which is a combination of physical and emotional overexertion, as well as a lack of rest.
The research was conducted by two scientists at South Korea's Chung-Ang University and Yonsei University, who followed 110 healthcare workers classified into 'overworked' and 'non-overworked' groups.
In South Korea, where 52 hours of work per week is the legal upper limit, overworking has become a public health concern.
The overworked group, clocking 52 hours or more each week, consisted of 32 people who were on average younger, in employment for less time and more highly educated in comparison to those working standard hours.
By comparing data from a different study and MRI scans, the researchers were able to use a neuroimaging technique to analyze the workers' brain volume.
The technique allowed them to identify and compare differences in levels of gray matter in different regions of the brain, while the application of atlas-based analysis meant they could identify and label structures in brain scans.
'People who worked 52 or more hours a week displayed significant changes in brain regions associated with executive function and emotional regulation, unlike participants who worked standard hours,' researchers said in a press release.
Areas of the brain that showed an increase in volume include the middle frontal gyrus, which plays a major role in cognitive functions, attention, memory and language-related processes, as well as the insula, which is involved in emotional processing, self-awareness and understanding social context.
Researchers believe their findings suggest a 'potential relationship' between having an increased workload and changes in these parts of the brain, providing a biological basis for the cognitive and emotional challenges reported by people who are overworked.
Joon Yul Choi, coauthor of the study and an assistant professor at Yonsei University's Department of Biomedical Engineering, told CNN that these changes might be 'at least in part, reversible' if environmental stressors are reversed. Still, returning to your brain's baseline state could take much longer.
'Important new evidence'
Previous research has also found evidence of the negative health impacts of long working hours. In 2021, joint research from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that overworking led to more than 745,000 deaths in a year. Long hours have also been found to raise the risk of diabetes in women and contribute to a decline in cognitive ability.
While these behavioral and psychological consequences of overwork are well-known, the underlying neurological mechanisms and changes in anatomy are less understood, the study explained.
Frank Pega, who led the WHO-ILO 2021 study, told CNN that these latest findings constitute 'important new evidence' that could help better understand how long working hours 'radically' impact the physical health of workers.
Pega, a WHO technical officer who was not involved in this latest study, said the research supports WHO-ILO's findings that 'long working hours contribute the largest burden of disease of all occupational risk factors identified so far.'
However, the study's small sample size and focus only on healthcare workers in South Korea makes it hard to generalize its results. 'More studies in different populations are needed,' said Pega.
'While the results should be interpreted cautiously due to the exploratory nature of this pilot study, they represent a meaningful first step in understanding the relationship between overwork and brain health,' said the researchers.
As for anyone stuck working long hours? Now you might have a scientific basis to cut down on your time at work.
'Governments, employers, and workers can all take actions to protect workers' health from long working hours,' advised Pega, citing laws, regulations and policies that can ensure healthy work hours.
'The results underscore the importance of addressing overwork as an occupational health concern,' said the study's authors.
Jonny Gifford, principal research fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies in Brighton, England, who was not involved in the study, told CNN that the research 'confirms some physiological reasons that working long hours affects our wellbeing.'
'The use of brain scanning equipment to give neurological explanations gives powerful new evidence linking overwork with structural changes in parts of the brain involved in executive function and emotional regulation,' he said.
'It's a small study of 110 healthcare workers in Korea, but because it is based on robust neurological measures and concerns fundamental mechanisms (overwork and fatigue) that can affect anyone, the central findings are widely relevant,' Gifford added.
The study was published in the journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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Pricey TikTok skin care routines for kids raise alarms in new study

CTV News

an hour ago

CTV News

Pricey TikTok skin care routines for kids raise alarms in new study

Children as young as seven are making TikTok videos about their meticulous and pricey skin care routines. Known as 'Sephora Kids,' they are the focus of a new study that raises alarms about the trend. 'We found that the skin care routines posted by creators aged 18 and under were complicated, costly, and time consuming,' lead author and dermatologist Dr. Molly Hales told 'The skin care routines offered few benefits to the young people that they were targeting, and they carried risks of irritation, skin allergy, and sun sensitivity.' Hales is a postdoctoral research fellow at Northwestern University's medical school in Chicago. For the study, Hales and another researcher created new TikTok accounts posing as 13-year-olds. They analyzed 100 skin care videos by content creators ages 7 to 18, and recorded the number and types of products that were used, as well as the total cost of each skin care regimen. On average, the content creators used six products per video. The average cost of the products used in each regimen was US$168 while the most expensive exceeded $500. The videos the researchers analyzed had an average of 1.1 million views. The 25 most-viewed videos featured products with an average of 11, and a maximum of 21, ingredients that could potentially lead to skin irritation, sun sensitivity or skin allergy. 'We found significant dermatologic risks associated with these regimens, including a very high risk of irritation,' Hales added in a news release from Northwestern University. 'That high risk of irritation came from both using multiple active ingredients at the same time, such as hydroxy acids, as well as applying the same active ingredient unknowingly over and over again when that active ingredient was found in three, four, five different products.' Only a quarter (26.2 per cent) of daytime skin regimens included sunscreen, which Hales says is an incredibly important product for young and old skin alike. 'It's really the only product that is recommended in this age group for those who don't have a known skin condition such as acne or eczema,' Hales told 'It's particularly important given that we found in our study that the most popular active ingredients in these youth skin care routines are alpha hydroxy acids, which are known to increase sun sensitivity.' In one video, a content creator applied 10 products to her face in six minutes – and quickly regretted it. 'You can see that she's turning bright red,' Hales said. 'She wraps up the video by saying, 'If anyone knows how to get it to stop burning, that would be greatly appreciated because it actually hurts a lot.'' Senior author and pharmacist Dr. Tara Lagu also noted potential harms that went beyond just product ingredients. 'We saw that there was preferential, encoded racial language in some cases that really emphasized lighter, brighter skin,'Lagu, an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University, said in the news release. 'I think there also were real associations between use of these regimens and consumerism.' Lagu got the idea for the study after asking her 12-year-old niece what she wanted for Christmas and getting a list of $300 worth of skin care products. 'After digging around a bit, she realized that nobody had done a formal study of the skin care routines that were circulating among teens and pre-teens on social media,' Hales told 'She approached me about a potential collaboration, knowing that I'm both a dermatologist and a medical anthropologist with a background in digital and social media.' Published in the American Academy of Pediatrics, it is the first peer-reviewed study of its kind. The study's authors conclude that the videos offer little to no benefit for their young audience. They also note that it can hard for parents to track what their children are viewing on TikTok because of age-based algorithms. 'I would encourage parents to make sure that their kids understand that they don't need to be using tons of costly products in order to have healthy skin, or to take care of themselves and their skin,'Hales told 'These skin care videos can be fun and playful, and given their popularity, they likely aren't going away anytime soon. But it's troubling when this content sets an unrealistic standard of beauty and then promotes it in the name of 'health.'' Dr. Elena Hope, the head of pediatric dermatology at SickKids hospital in Toronto, was not involved in the study but echoed its recommendations. She said children should avoid using products with fragrances, essential oils and retinoids, urging parents to educate themselves about potentially harmful ingredients. 'Daily moisturizers that have been tested for tolerability and sunscreens are the only recommendations we have for children,' Hope said in an email to 'All other preparations are not needed and may be harmful.'