According to all theories, when we age we do so throughout our entire system and there are some that resent the weight of the years more than others, but we can maintain a normal rhythm of aging without all the diseases coming upon us for not preventing them. That is precisely what this article is about⎯ how we can keep our brain in good shape by doing simple things like solving crossword puzzles.

According to two studies, people who solve games like Sudoku and crossword puzzles maintain their mental abilities approximately 8 to 10 years younger than their current age, that is, solving these types of games keeps our brain working better for a longer time.

There are a couple of studies that show that people who regularly play these games and who are over 50 have higher scores than their peers when they take knowledge tests such as evaluation and problem solving, as well as memory tests.

Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School, whose leader, Dr Anne Corbet, carried out these studies, carried out a project called PROTECT in which 22,000 adults between the age of 50 and 96 who frequently played the aforementioned games were studied, all of them were then given a number of cognitive tests to measure the grade-age relationship of brain functions, which include evaluation grades of attention, reasoning and memory.

The results were impressive since, as I mentioned above, they had a score of 10 years less than their biological age in the evaluation of grammatical reasoning and 8 years less than their biological age in short-term memory.

In the words of Dr Corbet: “The improvements are very clear particularly in the speed and accuracy of their performance on the assessments. In some areas these results are truly dramatic, problem solving, as people who regularly do these types of games have a performance in these tests equivalent to a person 8 years younger than the current age of the participants when compared to those who do nothing. We can say that playing these games reduces the risk of suffering from dementia later in the participants’ lives. The study supports previous findings that indicate that doing crosswords and solving puzzles (including Sudoku), help their brains work better for a longer time.”

The PROTECT study is a study designed to be carried out over 25 years and participants have an annual evaluation to see their risk of developing senile dementia later in life. Little is known about how the brain ages or what causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s and this study could offer many research opportunities in these fields of Medicine in the years to come (the studies were published in International Journal or Geriatric Psychiatry), it must be clarified that a balanced diet, regular exercise and avoiding the consumption of large amounts of food and alcohol also contributes to having a healthy brain.

So solving a crossword, putting together a puzzle or doing the Soduko exercises from time to time does us no harm, but actually benefits us.

Article written by:
Dr. Francisco Arroyo – Medical Director of SportMed