Abstract
Cognitive decline and dementia are major burden for our aging society. The pathological processes implicated in dementia seem to be active many years before the first clinical signs. The life-course approach aims to integrate the different biological, social, clinical, psychological, and environmental components that interact all along the lifetime of a person, factors which are major determinants of our cognitive aging. Some studies illustrate how occupation and occupational exposures affect later in life cognitive functioning or dementia occurrence. Higher occupational status, complex occupational roles, or jobs that are challenging seem to have a protective effect on cognitive functioning and dementia occurrence, even when controlling for education. Conversely, high-strain work and passive jobs that lack both self