Cognitive Aging and Ability to Work

The brief’s key findings are:

• Cognitive aging could hinder productivity by reducing the brain’s processing ability (“fluid” intelligence).
• But research shows that productivity generally does not decline with age.
• Key reasons are that declining fluid intelligence is often offset by accumulated knowledge, and reserve fluid capacity can act as a buffer against decline.
• Only a minority of workers are vulnerable: those in jobs that require very high levels of fluid intelligence and those who experience cognitive impairment.