Working shifts may cause significant damages to people’s memory and ability to think, while being on that clock for at least a decade, the brain “ages” by more than six years, according to the results of a study published in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal. Our body’s internal clock is designed for us to be active in the day and asleep at night. Working against the body clock could initiate damaging effects, some of which are already well known, such as breast cancer and obesity. A team at the University of Swansea and the University of Toulouse has now shown an impact on the mind as well.

It is natural for the brain to decline as we age, but working antisocial shifts may forcefully accelerate the process, say the researches. Those with more than 10 years of shift work had shown the same results as someone six and a half years older.