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Oe day, we may have to thank the legendary puzzle maker Will Shortz for defending our brains against the ravages of aging. Scientists have shown that spending time with crossword puzzles or numbers has incredible potential for keeping memory alive, even when the weather begins to wreak havoc on the brain.
Anne Corbett, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in dementia research at Exeter University, has been working on two studies that demonstrate the anti-aging power of word-based puzzles, such as words crossed and the numbers. based puzzles like Sudoku.
In both studies, she harnessed data from the UK PROTECT study, a broad survey of brain aging data. Corbett and his team used data from 19,708 participants aged 50 to 93, and found that people who used word or number puzzles were much better at testing 14 types of cognition. She and her team reported on their findings regarding mystery words in November 2018 and enigma numbers in February 2019. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
These studies show that older adults who frequently raise a puzzle tended to have the short-term memory ability of their younger eight-year-old and the grammatical reasoning of someone a decade younger.
"We hope this will encourage people to think regularly about how they are challenging their brains, and perhaps also to consider riddles or evidence-based brain training games as part of a lifestyle-oriented approach to keeping their brain healthy, "said Corbett. Reverse.
The benefits of word and number puzzles
Corbett's study is one of the few studies showing that frequent engagement with puzzles has lasting effects on memory and cognitive decline, slow memory loss, and other problem-solving skills that accompany aging (and which also characterize brain diseases such as Alzheimer's). Other studies include the Bronx Aging study, which showed that dementia patients who had made crosswords had begun to lose memory after 2.54 years later than those who did not do crossword puzzles.
No other study has this size cohort completing tests of so sensitive brain function. "
We can not draw exactly clinical For now, the findings of the Corbett study – all of its participants were healthy people who did not suffer from brain diseases – but its results are powerful for anyone just wanting to keep their mental balance more late in life. "PROTECT is the largest online cohort of older adults," she says. "No other study in this size cohort completing tests for such sensitive brain function."
Comparing the puzzle writers with those who did not, Corbett found the most striking differences between grammar reasoning tests, pattern recognition tests, and attention-intensity indices. Those who never did puzzles were "significantly inferior" to those who did any level, even a few times a week.
Meanwhile, people who frequently engaged in digital puzzles had better episodic memory – long-term memories that incorporated emotions and context in addition to facts. They have also performed well in space work memory tests, which involves keeping track of information about a physical environment, and they have shown improvements in attention, processing speed and accuracy. the executive function.
Why these puzzles protect the brain
These results double the idea of "using or losing it," says Corbett, a sentence that sums up the hypothesis of cognitive reserve. This idea postulates that there are things we can do in our lifetime to protect ourselves against memory decline or even dementia in the years to come.
Education is often cited as one of these things (although there is some evidence that complicates this idea). Recreational activities, such as exercise, can also help strengthen the brain. Now, based on Corbett's results, we can add crosswords and Sudoku to the list.
"Making words and numbers puzzles stimulates parts of our brain that handle problem solving and memory, as well as other functions such as concentration and attention. That's probably the reason why these aspects of brain function have had the most impact in our research, "she says.
Corbett herself is not a crossword designer every day. "I'm trying!" She said, pointing out that she is getting into a headache and occasionally. His results suggest, however, that it's worth adding a little extra time with a puzzle book or an app to your daily schedule. Even if it does not pay now, results can come when they really matter.
Abstract:
Goal: The development of affordable lifestyle interventions that can maintain cognitive function in the aging population and subsequent generations is an increasingly important area of research. The PROTECT study data was used to determine if the use of puzzles is related to cognitive function in the elderly.
The methods: Data from 19,078 healthy volunteers aged 50 to 93 enrolled in the PROTECT online study were evaluated to determine the self-reported frequency of running numerical puzzles. Two sets of cognitive tests were used to assess essential aspects of cognitive function, including reasoning, focused and sustained attention, information processing, executive function, working memory, and cognitive function. episodic memory. Covariance analysis was used to establish the differences between the six frequency groups.
Results: Highly statistically significant main effects of the frequency of numerical puzzles were observed on the 14 cognitive measures, with p values less than 0.0004. Interestingly, participants who reported participating in numerical puzzles more than once a day had cognitive performance greater than 10 major measurements compared to all other frequency groups, although not all of them were statistically significant. . Conclusions: This study identified a close relationship between the frequency of using digital puzzles and the quality of cognitive function in adults aged 50 to 93 years. In order to determine the value of these findings as a potential intervention, additional research must explore the type and difficulty of numerical puzzles. These results also contribute to the growing evidence that participation in mental-stimulating activities may be beneficial to the brain function of the aging population.
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