Blue-collar brains: brain capital and brain health movements should focus on skilled labourers
Katia Mohindra
Brain capital & brain health: whither skilled workers?
Brain capital is loosely defined as a form of capital that “prioritizes brain skills and brain health” (1, p. 1431), leading to healthier workforces and higher productivity (1-2). Brain health is variably defined but largely encompasses preserving mental and cognitive functioning over the lifecourse, regardless of whether a person lives with a neurological disease or psychiatric disorder (3-4).
Improving brain health of workers is a laudable goal, notably in the current context: aging populations, increasing automation of key employment sectors and global warming. However, brain capital and brain health movements tend to highlight certain skills (e.g. intellectual and emotional skills) while sidelining other skills (e.g. manual and motor skills) (1-2, 5). This sets up a false dichotomy of brain powers among types of workers (i.e. white-collar vs blue-collar), denigrating the cognitive powers among skilled workers.
Skilled labourers employ high cognitive-dimensional processing in real time, whether it’s an electrician tracing a complex wire grid or a heavy machinery operator using high-level executive function, rapid environmental risk assessment, working memory, and quick reaction times. A micro-second lag in cognitive processing on a construction site can be catastrophic and even fatal. Philosopher and mechanic, Matthew Crawford compares a surgeon’s technical and deliberative clinical judgement to manual skills that require diagnostics, such as motorcycle repair (6). And anyone dismissing motor skills as contributing to brain capital has never seen Ronaldo with a football—or a guitar tech performing a fret crown and level, balancing micro-level levelling with precision.
Optimising brain health among manual and skilled labourers
Focusing on ‘knowledge workers’ prioritises certain brain health issues (e.g. neurodegeneration, brain wellness), while sidelining other brain issues (e.g. occupational traumatic brain injuries (TBI), exposure to neurotoxic industrial chemicals). We argue for a subaltern neurological exposome that recognizes the specific occupational brain health hazards of manual and skilled work. These risks would vary across country contexts, type of sector, job site and trade, but may include: exposure to neurotoxins (e.g. welding fumes), risks of falls and job site injuries, structural collapse, whole-body & hand arm vibration (use of jackhammers and power tools), sleep fragmentation among shift workers and increasing vulnerability to heat and extreme weather events (especially among outdoor workers).
Advancing this agenda requires structural interventions. A few examples are:
- Neuro-Occupational Safety Standards: Enforcing strict exposure limits for airborne neurotoxins and mandating advanced protective gear.
- Routine TBI Protocols in Trades: Treating occupational head impacts with mandatory diagnostic and rest protocols.
- Subaltern Brain Health: Broadening national and global brain health initiatives to focus on working class occupational health hazards.
Building brain capital—or more specifically global brain capital—means protecting brains of all workers whether it is ensuring mental clarity of an American CEO, preventing heat stroke among farmers in rural Malawi or or mitigating traumatic brain injuries for a timber carpenter in Japan.
Hero image: Image courtesy of Pexels.com. © Sarah Caputo
References
- Eyre, H. A., Ayadi, R., Ellsworth, W., Aragam, G., et al. (2021). Building brain capital. Neuron, 109(9), 1430–1432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.04.007
- Smith, E., Ali, D., Wilkerson, B., Dawson, W. D., et al. (2021). A Brain Capital Grand Strategy: toward economic reimagination. Molecular psychiatry, 26(1), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-020-00918-w3.
- Wang, Y., Pan, Y., & Li, H. (2020). What is brain health and why is it important?. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 371, m3683. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3683.
- WHO (nd). Brain health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/brain-health#tab=tab_1.
- 5. Nail-Beatty, O., Ibanez, A., Ayadi, R., Swieboda, P., et al. (2024). Brain health is essential for smooth economic transitions: towards socio-economic sustainability, productivity and well-being. Brain communications, 6(6), fcae360. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae360.
- Crawford, M.B. (2009). Shop class as soulcraft: an inquiry into the value of work. New York: The Penguin Press.
Katia Mohindra
Founder and Scientific Director
Katia Mohindra (BSc., MSc., PhD) is a global health researcher interested in how the biological, environmental, technological and social determinants of brain health can be optimized in low and middle-income countries. She originally trained in the Dan Macintyre lab (using the kindling model to examine the role of the perirhinal cortex in temporal lobe epilepsy) and did her doctoral field work under the mentorship of the physician economist, Slim Haddad (theoretically and empirically investigating how poverty alleviation interventions can influence women’s health). She held a CIHR post-doctoral fellowship in global health at the University of British Columbia and has consulted for a range of international institutions (e.g. WHO, UNICEF) as technical lead in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research. She has also provided research and writing support to ensure latest scientific findings, as well as clinical and public health best practices, reach health practioners and policymakers.