'Complicating factors': the protective role of occupational data complexity on processing speed and brain health of...

Research indicates that complex occupations may enhance cognition in older adults, potentially serving as a proxy for cognitive reserve. However, few studies explore whether occupational complexity moderates the link between brain pathology and cognition.This study examines if occupational complexity affects cognition in later life and moderates the relationship between brain disease and cognitive performance.

Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) MRI Study across two waves (N = 346, 48% female, mean age: 71 years), we tested whether occupational complexity of data, people or things impacts processing speed and whether complexity moderates the relationship between White Matter Hyperintensities (WHM) and processing speed.

The SEM model demonstrated moderate fit (χ²(48) = 120.221, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.930, TLI = 0.908; RMSEA = 0.066; SRMR = 0.086). Only data complexity was associated with better processing speed (β = -0.100, p < 0.001). WMH were linked to poorer processing speed (β = 0.058, p < 0.5). Data complexity did not moderate this relationship.

Occupations high in data complexity enhance processing speed in older adults but do not moderate the WMH-processing speed relationship. These findings suggest limited utility of occupational complexity as a cognitive reserve measure, warranting further research.