Scientists reveal the truth about crosswords by preventing dementia

The researchers found that solving crossword puzzles or sudoku throughout your life did not slow down mental decline or dementia in the elderly, but only improved their mental abilities.

Experts have long believed that people who engage in complex activities or who replace intellectual brainstorms that require more brain effort are protected from mental decline, but also the brain exercise of these activities during their lifetime slows the rate at which it declines. A new Scottish study published by the Daily Mail showed that it was unrealistic and that such activities had no effect on mental decline, but that regular intellectual activities throughout life could improve mental capacity. and provide a "superior cognitive point" through which they can retreat.

The team of scientists from Aberdeen University recruited 498 participants aged 64, followed them over the next 15 years and monitored their mental abilities throughout this period.

Scientists found that those who regularly exercised intellectual stimuli had a higher mental capacity at the beginning of the study, but there was no difference in the speed with which their abilities decreased over the next 15 years.

The findings suggest that engaging in problem solving does not protect the individual from retirement, but supports the theory of "cognitive reserve", the ability that some people need to maintain their memory and their intelligence despite the effects of aging.

Since regular use of the brain for complex tasks creates a greater number of connections between brain cells, the brain then has backup networks that can be used when the brain process begins to break down with the brain. Age, or when dementia begins to attack.