"Doing puzzles stimulates the brain of the elderly but does not protect against mental decline"

Studies like puzzles such as crosswords and sudoku do not counteract mental decline in old age, but can be a high point from which decline begins.

The researchers found that while regular problem solving increased mental abilities in the elderly, it had no impact on the rate of mental decline associated with aging.

A team from the University of Aberdeen and the Aberdeen Royal Hospital said that intellectual activity provided a "superior cognitive point" from which to decline.

Previous studies have suggested that doing puzzles, reading early, playing board games and playing a musical instrument at least twice a week was associated with reduced risk. of dementia.

But the new study indicates that there is a lack of historical data on mental abilities in children and that the effect of practice on improving test scores has often been overlooked in studies of mental aging.

The new study, published Monday in the BMJ, studied the link between intellectual engagement and mental abilities at a later age, based on 498 people born in 1936.

The researchers used data from the Scottish Council for Education Research (SCRE) archives, which had maintained population records of the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1947.

All respondents had passed a group intelligence test called Moray House test at the age of 11 and had participated in memory speed and mental treatment tests up to five times. over a period of 15 years.

The school history and the result of the National Adult Reading Test (NART) were recorded at the beginning of the study.

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the Royal Aberdeen Infirmary also tested their current mental abilities by using matching symbols with a test of numbers and numbers. 39, a verbal memory test.

They used a version of the Standard Intellectual Engagement Questionnaire (TIE) to test existing levels of interest in reading and problem solving, thinking about ideas and intellectual curiosity.

The team found that despite intellectual activity increasing mental abilities in the elderly, this had no effect on the rate of mental decline caused by aging.

The researchers pointed out, however, that it was an observational study and that it was "impossible to infer a causal effect" due to the fact. other unmeasured factors, such as personality.

Dr. Roger Staff, an honourary lecturer at the University of Aberdeen and head of medical physics at the Royal Aberdeen Infirmary, said that although puzzles can improve mental abilities they do not protect against decline.

He said that "personality can determine how much older people are doing in these activities and why."