A recent study by Harvard Medical School researchers suggests that professions requiring frequent navigation, such as taxi and ambulance driving, may help protect against Alzheimer’s dementia. The findings indicate that engaging the brain’s navigation center—the hippocampus—through spatial memory training can reduce Alzheimer’s mortality.
Researchers analyzed nearly nine million U.S. adult deaths between 2020 and 2022, focusing on primary occupation and cause of death. They found striking differences in Alzheimer’s-related mortality rates among various professions:
– Taxi drivers: 1.03% (vs 1.69% for the general population)
– Ambulance drivers: 0.91%
– Bus drivers: 1.65%
– Ship captains: 2.12%
– Airplane pilots: 2.34%
The study suggests that taxi and ambulance drivers’ constant cognitive stimulation through navigation-intensive work may maintain the health of their hippocampus, reducing Alzheimer’s risk.
Additional research is needed to confirm causation, but the findings open up new avenues for exploring how occupational cognitive demands influence brain health.
Source: https://dailygalaxy.com/2024/12/why-taxi-drivers-die-less-often-from-alzheimers