Do your parents or grandparents keep a pot of coffee brewing
all day? Do they spend the morning sipping a cup of coffee while working Jumble
and the crossword puzzle in the newspaper?
“Just because there is no evidence that it works doesn’t
mean that it doesn’t work. It just means that no one has paid for research to
determine whether or not it works.” That was my response to one of the earliest
subscribers to our newsletter. He is fond of crossword puzzles and was hopeful
that solving them would help build cognitive reserve. At that point we hadn’t
seen any research that indicated that word puzzles were useful.
Guess what: our subscriber and your family members are on to
something. There now is research to support that individuals regularly working
puzzles are building some serious brain strength.
Crossword Puzzles and
Fast Brains
Here’s a quote from Professor Keith Wesnes at the University
of Exeter Medical School: “We found direct relationships between the frequency
of word puzzle use and the speed and accuracy of performance on nine cognitive
tasks assessing a range of aspects of function including attention, reasoning
and memory”. (Wesnes is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Exeter). Researchers from Exeter and Kings College
London analyzed data from over 17,000 individuals. On some measures of reasoning speed and
short-term memory accuracy, frequent puzzle solvers performed at levels 10
years younger than their actual age. Clive Ballard, Professor of Age-Related
Diseases at Exeter noted: “We know that many of the factors involved in
dementia are preventable.” More on
that research here.
Long-time readers will recognize “speed of processing” as an
essential measure of brain health. While super-fast speed of processing is an
attribute of the under-30-year-olds (in the new world of professional video
game players- i.e. “E-Sports” -competitors retire in their twenties), the level
of decline can be moderated by all the actions we continue to cover and
discuss. You won’t always think as fast as a young Einstein, but you don’t have
to accept slower thinking as inevitable either.
We Need Your Help!
One of our best-selling items is our sensory blankets, aka
fidget blankets, fidget quilts, etc. That idea came from customer requests. Do
you know of brain-building items we should carry? A game, educational toy or
something else? Please let us know.
Shameless Plug
Take a look at our brain-challenging puzzles,
educational
games for children, and brain-testing
board games. Check out Go, a 2,500 year-old board game. Easy to learn, but you soon realize it involves fiendishly complex strategy. Have some fun
while building that mega-power brain.
Coming attractions
Back-to-school is on the immediate horizon. We’re working on
a guide of brain-boosting activities for everyone from preschoolers to college
kids. It also includes some other items that might be handy at high school or
on a college campus. Working adults may find a few interesting things as well.
Look for it very soon.
Have friends who need a bigger brains? Please link this post.
www.BigBrain.Place
. Everything you need to grow a bigger brain.
Exercepted from our upcoming book: The Big Brain Guide to Brain Health. Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
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